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A review by videotape
The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter
3.0
The magic toyshop is one of Angela Carter's earliest works. Published in 1967, it's clear the ideas behind her writing were ahead of her time - approaching topics that were scarcely spoke about like the sexuality of young women, without being scared of backlash. This was a trend across all of Carter's writings, but being so early in her career, The Magic Toyshop feels like a rush of these interesting ideas that aren't really built upon.
There is no real plot throughout the entirety of the book after about page 50, just a boring list of events that don't add anything in terms of progression and only acted as character building. The sad part is, none of the characters are particularly interesting. The antagonist, Uncle Phillip, feels wholly bad - with no reason for his atrocious actions given making him a very boring villain in this Dickensian plot. The brother, Jonathan is incredibly forgettable and is completely ignored by Carter for the entirety of the narrative. The two twin brothers were so underdeveloped that I could only tell them apart after reading about 60%. Its sad, but I suppose as with most of Carter's works she was too focused on building strong female characters instead of caring for the development of the male ones.
However there is no denying that Carter's writing is amazing. She is a metaphorical mastermind and left me in awe when tackling her most complex imagery. This remains throughout her writing, along with many classic Carter tropes such as using the idea of marriage as a way of demonstrating maturity in Young Women. It was almost scary though, when reading this parralel to The Bloody Chamber (arguably her most famous work), how so many similar ideas, words and objects crop up between the two texts. Its almost as if through her career she had no need to develop her writing style; but rather she need to make sure the plot is not neglected.
The Magic Toyshop is a bit of a boring narrative, blessed by having such an amazing wordsmith at the helm. It definitely has its flaws, but without it we may not have called Carter the maestro that she's seen as today.
There is no real plot throughout the entirety of the book after about page 50, just a boring list of events that don't add anything in terms of progression and only acted as character building. The sad part is, none of the characters are particularly interesting. The antagonist, Uncle Phillip, feels wholly bad - with no reason for his atrocious actions given making him a very boring villain in this Dickensian plot. The brother, Jonathan is incredibly forgettable and is completely ignored by Carter for the entirety of the narrative. The two twin brothers were so underdeveloped that I could only tell them apart after reading about 60%. Its sad, but I suppose as with most of Carter's works she was too focused on building strong female characters instead of caring for the development of the male ones.
However there is no denying that Carter's writing is amazing. She is a metaphorical mastermind and left me in awe when tackling her most complex imagery. This remains throughout her writing, along with many classic Carter tropes such as using the idea of marriage as a way of demonstrating maturity in Young Women. It was almost scary though, when reading this parralel to The Bloody Chamber (arguably her most famous work), how so many similar ideas, words and objects crop up between the two texts. Its almost as if through her career she had no need to develop her writing style; but rather she need to make sure the plot is not neglected.
The Magic Toyshop is a bit of a boring narrative, blessed by having such an amazing wordsmith at the helm. It definitely has its flaws, but without it we may not have called Carter the maestro that she's seen as today.