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lorriemore 's review for:

Poor Things by Alasdair Gray

cards on the table i hated the lanthimos film when i watched it. thankfully i enjoyed the book much more - i think what lanthimos chose to adapt from the original text wasn't really what made this as interesting as it is, and i think the book benefits from not being laden with the unspoken perspective of the film on bella's development.

the film aside, gray's prose is great fun. the absurd characters, layered meanings exploring empire, scotland, gender, etc. and competing accounts of the events of the book are all wonderfully executed. victoria's reassertion of her own narrative after the successive attempts by blessington, baxter, wedderburn and mccandless to deny her autonomy and any claim to herself elevates it all even further