Hearth and Pages: The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter

“I was a young girl, a virgin, and therefore men denied me rationality just as they denied it to all those who were not exactly like themselves, in all their unreason.”

I will forever be thankful to the person who post a line from this book on tumblr. That post got me so curious and lead me to maybe one of the best fairy tale retellings anthology I’ve ever read. Whoever you are, thank you so much! The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories is an anthology of fairy tale retelling short stories written by Angela Carter. Unlike most of fairy tale retellings I’ve read, the stories in this books are dark, sensual, and quite gruesome. The only fairy tale retelling that I feel to have a quite similar dark feeling to this book is Carolyn Sturgeon’s The Fairest of Them All. But, while The Fairest of Them All lacks of subtlety and the quality of power in its characters, The Bloody Chamber managed to deliver it.

There are 10 short stories in this book inspired by fairy tales like Bluebeard, Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast, and more. Angela Carter took these fairy tales and in a way, managed to mystify it more and made them more beautiful while still maintains the dark aspect of the stories. I have to admit, The Bloody Chamber—however beautiful it was written—is not a book that I can understand in one sitting. This is an example of books that made me think again and again after I finished each story. I genuinely think that if I reread this book, I will find some new meanings to her stories. That actually makes me enjoy this book more and don’t want to finish it quickly.

Carter really doesn’t sugar-coated her stories. It is sensual, bloody, dark, raw and gruesome. I should warn you, if you are uncomfortable with sexual scene that is “aggressive” in a way, then maybe this book is not for you. That being said, the sexual and “aggressive” part of the stories is written with messages and often, feminist symbolism. The feminist symbolism that Carter uses in her stories is so rich yet so subtle and appealing. It gives nuances of the stories that makes me think and have a lot of feelings toward her stories. One of the symbolism that I’m quite amazed is how Carter use “The Bloody Chamber” in each stories as the place or vessel where the characters transform and found a realization. The other things that I really love is how Carter use both virginity and sexuality as the source of feminine powers. She also adds a lot of female agency into the stories in many different ways, which I really love. Her writings through out the book is pretty sophisticated and elegant, it is so delightful and really catch my heart. Here’s one of my favorite line as an example:

“And I saw myself, suddenly, as he saw me, my pale face, the way the muscles in my neck stuck out like thin wire. I saw how much that cruel necklace became me. And, for the first time in my innocent and confined life, I sensed in myself a potentiality for corruption that took my breath away.”

In conclusion, I highly recommended The Bloody Chamber. This book gives me the same kind of awe and chill as the TV series Black Mirror and that kind of things rarely happen. This is a book that you can enjoy both for study and fun read. This is a book of fairy tale retellings made for people who really appreciate the raw and grim nature of original fairy tale stories. This is not a book that leave you with a light and happy feeling, this is a book that will makes you think over and over again. It’s a really great book that has become one of my favorite, and I can’t wait to read Carter’s other books.