I started At Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept this morning, and was only a page in when I knew it wouldn’t work for today’s book. So I took a quick look through my paperback shelves, trying to find the sort of thing I fancied (at the right length, of course) – and landed upon Several Perceptions (1968) by Angela Carter.
I hadn’t heard of this until I came upon it in an Oxfam a year or two ago – I bought it despite this dreadful cover. I think it’s only the second Carter novel I’ve read, after Wise Children. It concerns Joseph – a moody, miserable gent who has recently broken up with his girlfriend (not his choice) and whose only friends seem to be an overly-sexed man called Viv, his prostitute mother, a slightly mad homeless man, and (perhaps) the mousy new resident in his building, Annie Blossom. Looking for purpose, Joseph releases a badger from a local zoo (did zoos ever cage badgers?!) and starts having flirty, desperate, or philosophical conversations – sometimes all three – with the aforementioned group of people.
This is a slightly baffling novel, not least because Joseph seems to sometimes wander into the unbalanced – and I never worked out what the title was about – but Carter is such a fine writer. Her choice of words is so clever – often unexpected, and yet finding the deeper truth in the cracks between cliches. Every page has an example, but one I particularly liked was his view of Annie:
Miss Blossom, the husk of a woman, what was she doing? Making herself a small lunch of beans on toast or performing some other flat, thin activity, ironing rayon underwear or filling in a form?
That ‘flat, thin activity’ is so unusual, and yet creates a vivid impression on the reader. Unusual and vivid is a pretty great description of Carter, actually. I’m not sure why Several Perceptions isn’t better known – or perhaps it is, and I just haven’t noticed it being mentioned – but it was quite the experience.
Btw, for a much more thorough review, check out Helen’s from a few years ago.
This sounds like an odd book. I haven’t read any books by this author.
Sounds interesting and strange. ‘Unusual and vivid’ certainly describes Carter well. I first read her Bloody Chamber Stories for a book group some years ago. Then more recently, The Magic Toyshop, Wise Children, and Nights at the Circus. They enthralled me but at times baffled me but I also loved them. I am worried that her other novels don’t always appeal to me. She is such a good writer though.
Not a Carter I’ve heard of I think, which is a bit odd. She’s a one off that’s for sure!