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deea_mc 's review for:
Poor Things
by Alasdair Gray
challenging
funny
sad
medium-paced
Poor Things feels like a matter of 'he said, she said' leaving us, the readers, to decide who we believe to be right.
We have a story within a story within a story. The book begins with the introduction performed by Alisdair Gray informing us of how he happened upon the book <i>Episodes from the early life of Archibald McCandless M.D. Scottish Public Health Officer</i>. Performing his due diligence, Alisdair investigates the characters in the book to ascertain whether it is a work of fiction or not.
The main part of the book focuses on Archibald McCandless' work, presenting the book exactly how it was written by him. This is when we meet Godwin Baxter and we learn of how Bella came to be.
The last part of the book represents a letter written by Archibald's wife to their prospective heirs, Victoria McCandless, presenting her accounts of the story.
The book itself can trigger some strong emotions, particularly if you think about Bella. Although in a woman's body, her mind was still developing. Men lusted and desired her, and made no secret of it, and Archibald was no exception.Godwin himself created her in order to groom her into being the perfect companion to his needs. None of the men around her thought of her bodily autonomy, of what she might actually want to do, but purported to care for her. It was no wonder that Bella ultimately became a suffragist and a women's advocate.
All in all, I enjoyed listening to the book, and am looking forward to (finally) watching the movie.
We have a story within a story within a story. The book begins with the introduction performed by Alisdair Gray informing us of how he happened upon the book <i>Episodes from the early life of Archibald McCandless M.D. Scottish Public Health Officer</i>. Performing his due diligence, Alisdair investigates the characters in the book to ascertain whether it is a work of fiction or not.
The main part of the book focuses on Archibald McCandless' work, presenting the book exactly how it was written by him. This is when we meet Godwin Baxter and we learn of how Bella came to be.
The last part of the book represents a letter written by Archibald's wife to their prospective heirs, Victoria McCandless, presenting her accounts of the story.
The book itself can trigger some strong emotions, particularly if you think about Bella. Although in a woman's body, her mind was still developing. Men lusted and desired her, and made no secret of it, and Archibald was no exception.
All in all, I enjoyed listening to the book, and am looking forward to (finally) watching the movie.