A review by icelacs
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter

5.0

I am not a very patient reader, and [a:Angela Carter|27500|Angela Carter|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1241164068p2/27500.jpg] is not a very fast-paced writer. Nonetheless I found myself immersed in her stories--in this case strange and disturbing retellings of fairy and folk tales we all thought we knew and understood. It is a challenge for every writer who attempts a retelling to not only portray perhaps a different light, but to weave at the same time an organic tie to the original, which not everyone is able to succeed in (mostly they alter key elements of the original or attempt to hide the inconsistencies with some other strange new element). These stories succeed in just that, and here maybe perhaps the almost agonizing pace helps in that the reader is allowed to settle comfortably within the confines of each story, until the rug is abruptly pulled from under you and you lose yourself in the strange and suddently unfamiliar tale.
Haaaaa. Remembering is sending shivers up my spine now. I strongly recommend these stories, more so because of the acute and bold handling of female protagonists, which lend a much more credible voice to them.