Absolutely gripping story of a runaway. Helen Potter using storybooks, circumstance, and resilience to overcome the psychological fallout of abuse- toAbsolutely gripping story of a runaway. Helen Potter using storybooks, circumstance, and resilience to overcome the psychological fallout of abuse- to try to lead a happy life. A girl and her rat.
This story is three things. Something loved, something fascinating, something meaningful. Talbot wanted to tell a tale of the Lake Country, using the miserable youth and liberated adulthood of Beatrix Potter and its relation to the North as a means to linger on Hill Top, told by a sexually abused homeless girl whose obsession with Potter drove her to follow their parallels. The abuse Helen underwent caused her to become a vagrant, gave her unreal visions the reader gets to share, left her socially destroyed, disgusted by touch, guilty, confused. Lost in a world- in a universe- where she didn't matter.
A Tale of One Bad Rat follows Helen and her once-real-then-imaginary pet Ratface from city squats to country paths. She deals with her past, her feelings of uselessness, the life she has to lead, and it is breathtaking. Meticulously researched in all aspects (abuse, the North country, Beatrix Potter's life). Painful. Vindicating. A damned amazing work....more
If I could give this book six stars, I would. I enjoyed this read more than anything else I've come across in quite some time. The imagery is subtle aIf I could give this book six stars, I would. I enjoyed this read more than anything else I've come across in quite some time. The imagery is subtle and gripping. Its side characters and locales, the harpy, the witch-bent castle, the skull, the cat, the sea, they make the book, which isn't a fair statement at all, as the trio that steer the story are impeccable. The unicorn, the magician, the gypsy. I just love every single damn character in this whole damn thing. The story itself is flawless, paced gloriously, comfortably slowly and yet capable of a number of totally shocking twists. The Last Unicorn is consistently surprising. A reader's delight. I say that because the language the story is told with is also utterly enchanting. Not as whimsical as Tolkien but as matter of fact as Peake, as freewheeling as Lord Dunsany, and unlike any of those fellows because it was written in 68 and plenty of random contemporary references. It is otherworldly. I really, really loved it. One of the best Fantasy books I've ever read, for serious....more
The style of these folktales is a kind of Aesop's Fables meet Lord Dunsany vibe. Princes, paupers, wise men, and parents go on journeys to elevate theThe style of these folktales is a kind of Aesop's Fables meet Lord Dunsany vibe. Princes, paupers, wise men, and parents go on journeys to elevate their station or better understand the mysteries of the world. Thing is, pass high enough into the mountains or deep enough into the woods and you're still likely to find demons, magic items, magic animals, giants and blind magicians, storytelling corpses. The descriptions are vividly unique and always hiding between the words, a deep understanding of the Way makes each page pulse with life. Delightful. More delightful still is there is no one type of story. You get the adventures that tell a tale of moral balance, but you also get open-ended stories with no discernible meaning, and stories of mixed morals the narrator prompts the reader to puzzle out themselves. Surprisingly pre-20th century in its style for something originally compiled in 1975 (except for an odd reference here and there), but timelessly approachable. Humor, depth, lust, the surreal, the mundane, the beauty of skies and mountains and the voices of the trees....more
I truly believe scientific study needs stuff like this to make it make sense. Scholarly papers are important, but data needs context to generate underI truly believe scientific study needs stuff like this to make it make sense. Scholarly papers are important, but data needs context to generate understanding. Making it funny also helps. This book hit on a lot of points for me, both in my personal interest in positive psychology, making choices and being happy, and in my personal life. Reading this book whilst freshly dumped and trying to navigate "phone world" and "real world" was not the best choice for my self-esteem. Now at the end I am glad I did. It is the long, sensible chat that no one is having with me, with someone whose life is similar to mine- but someone who has their shit considerably more figured out than I do (and for some reason is still interested in my concerns).
So why read this if you aren't interested in relationships? Modern Romance is about dating because it is about how passion works and the politics of communication. The way we commingle is different now and examining it when the stakes are the highest- LOVE- is an insightful way to examine how we think about how we talk all the time....more
Breathtaking. Gets the Walker Bean award for comic I want to give to the most people. I spent the entire last chapter with my heart in my throat. FantBreathtaking. Gets the Walker Bean award for comic I want to give to the most people. I spent the entire last chapter with my heart in my throat. Fantastic read....more
75% engrossing 25% gross. Everything adventure yarn is quite satisfying, the opinions on society and race are a disappointing sign of the times- She w75% engrossing 25% gross. Everything adventure yarn is quite satisfying, the opinions on society and race are a disappointing sign of the times- She was written 130 years before I read it. A slog at times, beautifully executed on occasion, some solid philosophy that doesn't try to hard. I found myself lost within it with some frequency, but spent a lot of the back half wondering why I was bothering. In the end, I am left wanting something I can't quite put my finger on....more
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