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But you must not expect a love story or a murder story. Expect a tale of picaresque adventure or even of heroic adventure, for I was a great hero in my time though now I am an old man and no longer the 'I' of my own story and my time is past, even if you can read about me in the history books - a strange thing to happen to a man in his own lifetime. It turns one into posterity's prostitute. And when I have completed my autobiography, my whoredom will be complete. I will stand forever four square in yesterday's time, like a commemorative statue of myself in a public place, serene, equestrian, upon a pediment. Although I am so old and sad, now, and, without her, condemned to live a drab, colourless world, as though I were living in a faded daguerreotype. Therefore -
I, Desiderio, dedicate all my memories
to
Albertina Hoffman
with my insatiable tears
Possibly the maddest book I've ever read. Oh, I love you, Angela Carter, with your gang-raping Moroccan acrobats, peep-shows, eccentric somnambulists, Lithuanian counts, cannibals and centaurs...but is there such a thing as too much? As much as I enjoyed The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman, it often felt like it was just jumping from weird event to the next, and to a certain extent, the plot was rather repetitive. Desiderio meets eccentric after eccentric, is subjected to sexual abuse, narrowly escapes death...and so on and so forth. It's because of this, I think, that I much preferred The Passion of New Eve, which retains the weirdness but has the advantage of a stronger plot and less of an emphasis on weird sex. Judging by reviews, there are many people who wanted to like this book but couldn't cope with the sex - although I wasn't that bothered by it, I suppose "oversexed" might be an adjective that could be applied to this...
One problem that I had was the issue of Albertina - she's supposedly Desiderio's soul-mate, and yet her appeal is never fully explained. As I think I've mentioned before, I don't think character development is one of Angela Carter's stronger points, but whereas her later novels have other qualities which make up for this, I'm not so sure about TIDMODH (ergh, too much effort, typing out that title). It's a short novel, and Albertina doesn't play much of part until the end, which may be part of the problem. And to a certain extent, I felt that the confrontation with Doctor Hoffman was almost an anti-climax...
The concept was fascinating, and trying to wrap my head around the whole reality idea was fun - I especially enjoyed the earlier chapters, describing the attacks on Desiderio's city - but I'll admit that by the end of it I was a bit "Er, what?" and I'm not sure that I fully understood. In fact, if I'm honest...did I truly understand the novel as a whole? Is there something I missed? I'm not sure if it's my fault or Angela Carter's - more likely mine, but we'll have to see. I'll read it again in a few years, and see if my opinion changes.
This all sounds rather more negative than I intended, as I did enjoy it, which is more than can be said for many other books I've read. It's not the kind of novel that I'd recommend to....well, anyone, unless they were an Angela Carter fan interested in reading her earlier novels, as I can't see that many people enjoying it. According to Wikipedia, it "failed to achieve commercial success", which doesn't surprise me. It's a picaresque blend of feminism, surrealism and god knows what else, so I can see why it would have limited appeal...But I'm glad that I read it, as it's especially interesting when you compare it to her later novels, and see how she was developing as a writer. There are just two more Carter novels left - Several Perceptions (1969) and Love (1971), and then I've read them all.
P.S
Hmm, I seem to be falling behind in updating this journal. I actually finished TIDMODH about a week ago. And I haven't been reading as much as I'd like to, mainly because of the exams and procrastination on the revision front which led to me wasting time on the computer instead of doing something productive. I've been reading Middlemarch, which I'm about a third of the way through, and it may take me a while, but I'll write something about that eventually. I may also start something else at the same time - possibly give On the Road another go. Oh, and I'm planning on attempting Ulysses soon, once I find a copy....may be too ambitious, and I'm not expecting to finish it, but I can try, at least...
One problem that I had was the issue of Albertina - she's supposedly Desiderio's soul-mate, and yet her appeal is never fully explained. As I think I've mentioned before, I don't think character development is one of Angela Carter's stronger points, but whereas her later novels have other qualities which make up for this, I'm not so sure about TIDMODH (ergh, too much effort, typing out that title). It's a short novel, and Albertina doesn't play much of part until the end, which may be part of the problem. And to a certain extent, I felt that the confrontation with Doctor Hoffman was almost an anti-climax...
The concept was fascinating, and trying to wrap my head around the whole reality idea was fun - I especially enjoyed the earlier chapters, describing the attacks on Desiderio's city - but I'll admit that by the end of it I was a bit "Er, what?" and I'm not sure that I fully understood. In fact, if I'm honest...did I truly understand the novel as a whole? Is there something I missed? I'm not sure if it's my fault or Angela Carter's - more likely mine, but we'll have to see. I'll read it again in a few years, and see if my opinion changes.
This all sounds rather more negative than I intended, as I did enjoy it, which is more than can be said for many other books I've read. It's not the kind of novel that I'd recommend to....well, anyone, unless they were an Angela Carter fan interested in reading her earlier novels, as I can't see that many people enjoying it. According to Wikipedia, it "failed to achieve commercial success", which doesn't surprise me. It's a picaresque blend of feminism, surrealism and god knows what else, so I can see why it would have limited appeal...But I'm glad that I read it, as it's especially interesting when you compare it to her later novels, and see how she was developing as a writer. There are just two more Carter novels left - Several Perceptions (1969) and Love (1971), and then I've read them all.
P.S
Hmm, I seem to be falling behind in updating this journal. I actually finished TIDMODH about a week ago. And I haven't been reading as much as I'd like to, mainly because of the exams and procrastination on the revision front which led to me wasting time on the computer instead of doing something productive. I've been reading Middlemarch, which I'm about a third of the way through, and it may take me a while, but I'll write something about that eventually. I may also start something else at the same time - possibly give On the Road another go. Oh, and I'm planning on attempting Ulysses soon, once I find a copy....may be too ambitious, and I'm not expecting to finish it, but I can try, at least...
Current Music: Pyjamarama - Roxy Music
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