The Magic Toyshop

this was a great buy, very low on cost and great for its price.the used book was priced at around 3 dollars and came in as if new, the quality of the book was better then some of my own used books, the only thing that could have made this purchase better would have been already knowing the quality of the book (aka: if it had creases, or was torn, etc.)

There is not much to the overall plot of this book. The strength of it lies within the wierd characters and dialog among them. I felt a few things were thrown in for shock value like the unexplained severed hand in the kitchen drawer or the 'don't see it coming revealed secret' at the end... that could have been either left out entirely or at best given us a hint about the secret.The peek hole was just down right creepy and some of the descriptions like the uncle's false teeth in the jar in the bathroom made me shudder. I had trouble with Melanie's attraction to her aunt's dirty brother with his nasty breath and teeth and unwashed stinky body. However it was this sort of thing that draws you in and makes you love the book because it IS SO macabre!The ending is lousy but in reality the whole story was not that great but it's the characters and their weirdness that will keep you reading so even with a bad ending you will go away whispering... wow...

It's truly excellent because of the fairy tale/children's story element. It's also a story about life in England for young people in the early 70's. Suddenly, what was at the center of English social life is in ruins, and young people with imagination find themselves as misfits. This is merely my take on what the novel might represent. If you are not interested in reading books this way, you will still find The Magic Toyshop mesmerizing, entertaining, controversial, or whatever type of reading experience you wish to have. Get it.

The puppets cut the strings of the puppetmaster. The woman silenced by patriarchy finds her voice. The romantic day, or rather night, dreams of a teenaged girl turn into a grimy, grim reality.This novel has all the earmarks of a feminist tale, tapping into the gothic feminist writings of Bronte, Alcott, Wharton, Shelley, Perkins Gilman, etc., but beyond Aunt Margaret finding her voice and the vanquishing of the creepy, grander, overt representation of patriarchy the story doesn't maintain it's feminist footing. Plus, I'm disturbed by the ambiguity of the fates of the characters...I don't need a big bow tying up the details nice and tidy, but this conclusion doesn't even bring the details into the same zipcode.The power of this novel is the cache of the author, not the story.

It starts with an idyllic situation but very soon it deteriorates and turns into horror. The end is dramatic but in my opinion a little bit fabricated.

After I wrote a mock fairy tale a professor I had suggested I read Angela Carter. She felt that I would love the satire and female strength within her books. So far I agree, this book is a funny, sweet, but in your face approach to certain genres. It is a really fun read, but doesn't waste your time. This book has many layers to it and it is breaks a lot of fairy tale taboos. It is not a children's book.

An incredible book. It's inspiring, well written, and positively intriguing.

Graphic story to begin with. Entertaining.

Good read.

Un meraviglioso romanzo di formazione incentrato sul difficoltoso passaggio dalla fanciullezza all'età adulta, sulla scoperta della propria sessualità e sull'inevitabile perdita dell'innocenza che queste esperienze comportano. Viviamo tutto questo sulla pelle della protagonista Melanie, una quindicenne benestante che, proprio nel periodo in cui inizia a scoprire il proprio corpo e a sperimentarne i cambiamenti con la curiosità mista ad insicurezza tipica di quell'età, perde i propri genitori in un incidente aereo. Lei e suoi due fratellini saranno costretti a trasferirsi a Londra dallo zio materno, una giocattolaio misogino animato da una furia quasi demoniaca, che governa la casa come un burattinaio: e della moglie irlandese Margaret. Insieme a quest'ultima e ai fratelli di lei, il pittore Finn e il violinista Francie, Melanie cercherà di trovare piccoli attimi di felicità e sprazzi di bellezza in una vita grigia e opprimente, continuando al contempo a esplorare i propri cambiamenti e la propria femminilità. La Carter esprime tutto questo con una prosa carica e sensuale, capace di generare un senso di oppressione onnipresente, piena di lirismo eppure disarmante nella sua semplicità, In cui non manca una certa ironia pungente. Più che un romanzo ricco di avvenimenti, si tratta di un libro che punta a descrivere un momento molto particolare nella vita di una giovane ragazza: un'opera che vuole costruire una determinata atmosfera attraverso pennellate vivide e suggestive più che raccontare una mera successione di eventi. E forse proprio per questo rapisce ancora di più. Un libro che mi sento di consigliare caldamente, uno dei romanzi che mi ha più emozionato in questi ultimi tempi.

ein Initiationsmärchen von Angela Carter, über die Ängste eines kleinen Mädchens, das sich an der Schwelle zum Frausein befindet.Parabelhaft, verzaubernd

I've not read a huge amount of Angela Carter, but I've found this novel captivating, ever since I first read it as a teenager. A strange mixture of realism, magical realism, symbolism and modern fairytale, 'The Magic Toyshop' pulls you into a vivid and fascinating world and keeps you there for the duration of the book.Carter's heroine, Melanie, is an intelligent and attractive 16-year-old, innocent, but also in the process of discovering her own physicality, and beginning to long for love. At the start of the novel, she is living with her two younger siblings Jonathan and Victoria in a luxurious house in the country, looked after by the housekeeper Mrs Rundle while her father, a wealthy novelist, and her mother, are on a lecture tour. Following a bizarre night in which Melanie inadvertently destroys her mother's wedding dress, she learns that her parents have been killed in an accident. Strangely (one of the more 'fairytale' aspects of the novel) there is no money left, and Melanie, Jonathan and Victoria are sent to live in South London (Gypsy Hill, I think, from Carter's descriptions) with their uncle Philip, a toymaker, his mute Irish wife Margaret and Margaret's brothers, Francie, a musician, and Finn, an artist. From being a fairly conventional middle-class girl, Melanie finds herself catapulted into a strange world, with an uncle who hates mankind but adores his puppets and other toys, and the three strange Irish siblings: the mute Margaret, desperate for love and trapped by her bullying husband, the quiet, gentle and wonderfully gifted violinist, Francie, and Finn, who rarely seems to wash, but who, from his speech, it is clear has the soul of a poet, and who paints strange, symbolic pictures, Finn, with whom Melanie finds herself, almost against her will, falling in love. But this love is threatened by the sinister presence of Uncle Philip, who hates Margaret's family and Melanie, and longs to hurt them in whatever way he can. Will Melanie and Finn be able to escape his influence? Or will Uncle Philip destroy them all?Carter's narrative is utterly gripping from start to finish. Her descriptions of the strange world of the toyshop, and of the streets of South London beyond it, are entrancing, and there are a series of wonderful and memorable scenes: Melanie's walk in the moonlit garden; her first evening and morning at Uncle Philip's; her walk with Finn in the pleasure garden; Uncle Philip's puppet shows, in which Melanie begins to play a decidedly eerie role; the music-making of Francie and Aunt Margaret - and more. Carter's richly poetic language makes every page of this book an absolute treat to read and (unlike some of her other books that I've looked at) she also shows here that she can create very believable, varied and likeable characters. Melanie the vulnerable adolescent; Finn with his poetic speeches; the gentle Francie; the almost inhuman Jonathan (another Uncle Philip in the making, though less malign); the elderly Mrs Rundle; the mysterious Margaret - all are wonderfully brought to life. Even Uncle Philip, unknowable to some degree and terrifying, is a very memorable figure. I found myself increasingly liking Melanie and the Irish siblings and hoping that they could escape the toyshop. And I felt that Carter got the balance between realism and fantasy spot on in this book - I was drawn into the characters' story, while also appreciating its dreamlike elements. I also found the secret revealed at the end believable, and not at all shocking in the way that Carter revealed it. My one quibble was with the ending. I felt that Carter cut the book way too short, and couldn't quite believe in the action in the final pages. The secret may have been believable, but it came far too near the end of the book to be properly explained. And the final scene was pure melodrama, and rather depressing. I was left with a huge number of questions, uncertain what exactly Carter intended one to think. Although I read in an essay on the book that Carter likes to leave things open-ended for her readers to make up their own minds about her characters' lives after a certain point, I felt short-changed. Such a fine novel deserved a better conclusion.However, I'd still give the book five stars for its originality, and the striking beauty of much of the writing. I wish Carter had written more books in this line - or even attempted a sequel to this one. Looking forward to tackling the short stories soon.

Sono consapevole che all'apparenza possa sembrare un libro per bambini, invece, poiché l'abito non fa il monaco, vi sorprenderà sapere che per bambini qui non è contenuto niente. Libro che incuriosisce, lettura scorrevole.