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Nights at the Circus, Angela Carter

You’ve got to be in the mood to enjoy magical realism. Rather pathetically, this book was hard! I do enjoy a good Angela Carter story… The Bloody Chamber is brilliant. But this required a level of concentration I don’t use reading a lot of my books. You’ve got to pay attention or you’ll come round wondering how on earth you got to where you are.

Nights at the Circus follows a girl born with wings, part swan part human, with the tag line: Is she fact or is she fiction? But turn of your logical, questioning brains and remember: MAGICAL REALISM. The story follows a trip around Siberia with a circus, as Fevvers (our cockney swan heroine) charms an american journalist who runs towards her circus. Adventures and mishaps ensue. It is charming, and a typical twisted fairy tale; with the stories of loads of quirky characters mixed in.

A Single Man

A Single Man, Christopher Isherwood

It is official. I love Christopher Isherwood. A lot.

Does this suffice for a review? Maybe not, but its definitely going to be the main theme of mine. Writing so beautiful it makes your heart break. I did this the wrong way though, and did see A Single Man at the cinema when it came out, which has obviously left a big gap in between seeing and reading. But my interest was re-ignited after watching the BBC film Christopher and His Kind.

He writes very human characters, they are completely believable even when you only see snap shots of them. The narrative does create a cinematic feel – it is a very sense oriented film, even though the underlying tones of grief are almost existential. And I much prefer the more enigmatic ending the book provides. An excellent read, will be picking up more.