A review by soinavoice
Heroes and Villains by Angela Carter
3.0
The thing about Angela Carter is that even when she's mediocre, she's mediocre Angela Carter, and even when you're flipping through going "meh," and "wow, this is dated," and "what exactly are you trying to do here," everything is still written in the most glorious prose. Much can be forgiven an author who writes passages like this:
and this:
(I'm not sure why all my favorite passages had to do with the passage of time, that's just how it panned out.)
But yeah, as a novel, this really didn't work for me, and went steadily downhill from its opening. As a piece of aesthetics, well. It's Angela Carter. 'nuff said.
She never felt that time was passing for time was frozen around her in this secluded place where a pastoral quiet possessed everything and the busy clock carved the hours into sculptures of ice.
and this:
She lost the very idea of time, for the Barbarians did not segment their existence into hours, nor even morning, afternoon and evening but left it raw in original shapes of light and darkness so the day was a featureless block of action and night of oblivion.
(I'm not sure why all my favorite passages had to do with the passage of time, that's just how it panned out.)
But yeah, as a novel, this really didn't work for me, and went steadily downhill from its opening. As a piece of aesthetics, well. It's Angela Carter. 'nuff said.