![]() ![]() Carter’s descriptions are as lush and detailed as mediaeval tapestries: “There was a little tangled mist in the thickets, mimicking the tufts of old man’s beard that flossed the lower branches of the trees and bushes, heavy branches of red berries as ripe and delicious as goblin or enchanted fruit hung on the hawthorns… One by one, the ferns have curled up their hundred eyes and curled back into the earth. ![]() ‘The Erl-King’, a retelling of a Scandinavian legend about a sinister forest spirit who lures a young woman into his woodland dwelling, is my favourite. All the stories are deliciously rich in symbolism, sensual language and allusions to fairy tales. The Bloody Chamber is one of my favourite collections, and plays a key part in what I hope will be my next published novel. Leave a comment ‘The Erl-King’ by Angela Carter (from The Garden Party, Penguin Modern Classics, 1977, first published 1922 or it can be read here) Posted on FebruFebruby Jonathan Gibbs Posted in Rowena Macdonald Tagged Katherine Mansfield. I now press this story on my own students and they generally fail to understand its brilliance. A quietly tragic story about the stifling grip of convention and timidity but with flashes of humour. Two unmarried sisters contemplate the past, future and immediate present in the aftermath of their domineering father’s death and almost, but don’t quite, admit to themselves and each other how much they have missed out on in life. It took several re-readings to realise this story’s subtle brilliance. As with all Katherine Mansfield’s stories, this is about subtle human interplay rather than dramatic events, although, in fact, ‘The Daughters of the Late Colonel’ has more plot than many of her others. When I first read this on my MA I couldn’t understand why our tutor (the poet, Michael Hulse) thought it was so good.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |