- Hardcover
- Publisher: Random House Value Publishing (Oct 11 1986)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0517627531
- ISBN-13: 978-0517627532
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
"'Angela Carter has influenced a whole generation of fellow writers towards dream worlds of baroque splendour, fairy tale horror, and visions of the alienated wreckage of a future world. In Nights at the Circus she has invented a new, raunchy, raucous, Cockney voice for her heroine Fevvers, taking us back into a rich, turn of the 19th century world, which reeks of human and animal variety' The Times. * 'Nights at the Circus is a glorious enchantment. But an enchantment which is rooted in an earthy, rich and powerful language...It is a spell-binding achievement' Literary Review * 'A glorious piece of work, a set-piece studded with set-pieces. The narrative has a splendid ripe momentum, and each descriptive touch contributes a pang of vividness. By doing possible things impossibly well, the book achieves a major enchantment' Times Literary Supplement * 'A mistress-piece of sustained and weirdly wonderful Gothic that's both intensely amusing and also provocatively serious. This is a big, superlatively imagined novel' Observer * 'A remarkable book by any standards' Guardian"
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Smartly Entertaining!,
By Amenophis III (West Hollywood, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Nights at the Circus (Paperback)
"Is she fact or is she fiction?" This is the central question that drives journalist Jack Walser to join the circus in an investigative attempt to follow the source of his inquiry-the aerialiste Sophie Fevvers, renown for her uncanny ability to fly thanks to her seemingly magical endowment-a pair of wings. A fancifully imaginative tale, Nights at the Circus takes the reader on a journey from fin de ciecle London to St. Petersburg and finally to the wilderness of Siberia, as the tale grapples with such themes as love and female identity. The story itself is altogether fun with a cast of charmingly eccentric characters ranging from the outlandish, entrepreneurial circus owner Colonel Kearney, whose companion is an oracular pig named 'Sybil,' to the character of Boffo the Clown, whose outwardly comical appearance belies the disturbing and tragic pagliaccio figure within. The most prominent aspect of the portrayals in the text, however, is found in the female characters who are presented as strong and triumphant, outshining their often emotionally infantile male cohorts. From the naïf turned musical ingenue Mignon to the main character Fevvers, whose wit and charm is balanced by her down to earth portrayal (a woman who eats!), the representation of females challenges the depiction of women by the male authorial voice that had dominated throughout the centuries. Smartly set at the tail end of the Victorian Era, the images of femininity in the text are made to break free from the restrictive representation of women in literature as either the goddess on the pedestal or the imbecilic whore. Carter has an amazing ability to subtly incorporate philosophical and historical elements in her humor, ranging from existential musings on the nature of the self to a satiric portrayal of the impact of sensationalist journalism on proto-revolutionary peasants in turn of the century Russia. With the overarching structure of the circus setting, the tale is amusing and funny with its lively romp through the lives of its characters, while maintaining an awareness of the more darkly disturbing aspects of life and human behavior. Nights at the Circus is an enjoyable read that also delivers a more profound and intelligent assessment of society and culture.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Earthily airborne,
By
This review is from: Nights at the Circus (Paperback)
Only Angela Carter could have devised the coarse golden character of Fevvers, the Cockney miracle around whom this tale spins. Girl takes wing, boy flies after, girl loses and gets wing and boy -- that's mad enough, but it gives not the least taste of the crumbled, intricate, and ultimately wonderful world of this particular circus. Carter's ability to interlace sharp doses of political and intimate realities into the mix not only teaches you lessons unaware, but opens you to a larger definition of what can be. Once upon a time, or somewhere right now, chimpanzees condescend to humans, monstrosities speak with wise prophesy, a pig manages a business better than her owner. So open up another bottle of champagne, and surrender. It will be rough, it will hurt, it will be uproarious. It will ultimately be wonderful. So is this book.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Imagination has no limits!,
This review is from: Nights at the Circus (Paperback)
"This world of imagination is infinite and eternal, whereas the world of generation, or vegetation, is finite and temporal. The true vine of eternity, the human imagination." -- William BlakeThat quote describes Angela Carter's work. Nights at the Circus couldn't have possibly been better. You enter the realm of various characters whose descriptions are eclectic and vague at the same time. Angela truly captures the essence of magical realism in this book. How to describe the narrators of this book? There is no easy way to go about it. The characters are surreal and at times cartoonish. Even so, the strangeness and vagueness draw you in anyway. I can't help but compare Amanda Filipacchi -- of Vapor and Nude Men fame -- and Banana Yoshimoto -- Kitchen and NP fame -- to Angela Carter. The best quality of these authors is that they use their imagination to the fullest! Have you noticed my vagueness when describing this book? That is because you have to read it in order to grasp the meaning of this fabulous literary experience. Let your imagination go wild and enjoy!
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