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Please add your book reveiws here, using the guidelines below. I hope you will be inspired to read some of the texts discussed here...

**Fairy Tales Ed. Angela Carter**

Fairy tales; female focused - as you would expect from Carter. But not in a ‘feminist’/obvious kind of way e.g. //The Old Woman Against the Stream -// she is "so cross and contrary that she was hard to get along with": her husband kills her and we are not invited to judge him for this, in fact we are invited to sympathise with, understand his actions. Her body floats upstream symbolising her, even in death, going against the flow, contrary to even natural forces...powerful even! Introduction suggests that fairy tales offer a means of “finding and telling an alternative story, of shifting something in the mind, just as so many fairy tale characters shift something in their shape”. I’m not entirely sure about this idea, but one story that might support it is //Pretty Maid Ibronka;// this story is quite boringly repetitive, but it’s focus on the female protagonist and her dilemmas, range of threats and themes are resonant…possibly universal. Initially we are told "There was a pretty girl in the village...But what of it, if all theother girls...had a lover and she had none"; not what we expect - in the land of fairy tales and in reality we expect the pretty girls to get the guys; so our assumptions are confounded straight away. Our attention is directed to her lack, despite her looks; suggesting that looks aren't everything/as important as we are led to/tempted to believe. This could be seen as causing a shift in our mind - away from cultural mores/traditions (looks as important for women). A collection of fairy tales from all over the world, offers range of themes, and ways of telling (styles).


 * Interesting Features:** These kind of texts can be seen as childish or 'twee', however I would argue with the editors and publishers that these stories are just as, if not more, relevant to adults than children. The length alone of these stories might make them seem so easy they must be for kids. Adults are equally equipped to appreciate the short form; it's a self-contained experience.


 * Key Passages/quotes: **


 * Analysis/explorations- style: **

**Key themes:** Bret Easton Ellis // American Psycho // //American psycho// is a novel constructed in the stream of consciousnessstyle of its anti- heroic protagonist Patrick Bateman. Bateman lives a life symbolising both the American dream and male wish fulfilment. He is young, immaculately dressed and extremely handsome and wealthy. His addictions include cocaine, sex, exercise, hardcore pornography and Huey Lewis and the News. Throughout the novel Bateman’s inflated ego is brought into question, his own lawyer calls him a ‘brown nosing goodie goodie,' and those outside his social circle see him as ‘yuppie scum’. The first third of the novel shows Bateman’s extremely dull lifestyle which is a soulless and empty cycle of mysogny, dinner reservations and casual sex. Throughout the first third several bizarre and surreal incidents appear which only make sense in hindsight. When Bateman begins to realise how dull and empty his life is his thoughts become very sick. He begins to take out his self rage on those who he sees as below him: females, the elderly, animals and children are amongst them raped, tortured, disembowled and eaten, these atrocities are described in the same deadpan style as the socially acceptable aspect of Bateman’s life. The fact that Bateman’s mind sees eating a vagina and dinner with friends as similar activities can be seen a s a commentary on the society Bateman lives in. The wall street firm with which he works will inevitably have been built upon persecution and massive greed and ruthlessness, the suggestion seems to be that Bateman’s acts of terror are in the same vein as the society he lives in. Thoughtless greed which only serves to heighten the pleasure of certain people with no regard for those who have to suffer.

The book is extremely hilarious in places, when Bateman’s psychosis leaks into his daily life (in one panic attack he runs through Manhattan stuffing himself with canned ham before vomiting in the face of a fellow yuppie. A recurring theme is mistaken identity, so similar are Bateman’s friend’s that they often mistake themselves for each other-while humourus this can be seen as a comment on the conformity present in capitalist society. The ending is open ended and leaves a question in the mind of the reader, are we dealing with the ultimate serial killer, an example of the biggest excess in the age of excess, or a delusional fool who’s has too much time and money on his hand and a too creative imagination?. This is entirely left up to the reader and is a perfect example of a postmodern ening.











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