false 40200 24 Although it's billed as "the first great 19th-century novel of the 21st century," <I>The Crimson Petal and the White</I> is anything but Victorian. The story of a well-read London prostitute named Sugar, who spends her free hours composing a violent, pornographic screed against men, Michel Faber's dazzling second novel dares to go where George Eliot's <I>The Mill on the Floss</I> and the works of Charles Dickens could not. We learn about the positions and orifices that Sugar and her clients favor, about her lingering skin condition, and about the suspect ingredients of her prophylactic douches. Still, Sugar believes she can make a better life for herself. When she is taken up by a wealthy man, the perfumer William Rackham, her wings are clipped, and she must balance financial security against the obvious servitude of her position. The physical risks and hardships of Sugar's life (and the even harder "honest" life she would have led as a factory worker) contrast--yet not entirely--with the medical mistreatment of her benefactor's wife, Agnes, and beautifully underscore Faber's emphasis on class and sexual politics. In theme and treatment, this is a novel that Virginia Woolf might have written, had she been born 70 years later. The language, however, is Faber's own--brisk and elastic--and, after an awkward opening, the plethora of detail he offers (costume, food, manners, cheap stage performances, the London streets) slides effortlessly into his forward-moving sentences. When Agnes goes mad, for instance, "she sings on and on, while the house is discreetly dusted all around her and, in the concealed and subterranean kitchen, a naked duck, limp and faintly steaming, spreads its pimpled legs on a draining board." Despite its 800-plus pages, <I>The Crimson Petal and the White</I> turns out to be a quick read, since it is truly impossible to put down. <I>--Regina Marler</I> 1210026 book 2002 The Crimson Petal and the White total:3763|5:981|4:1275|3:924|2:392|1:191| 3763 13752 5301 598 3 14 true false Wed Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sun Aug 12 17:44:36 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 12 17:44:55 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 10 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jan 25 08:33:48 -0800 2008 Tue Jul 22 09:04:05 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 8 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 05 15:01:50 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 05 15:27:51 -0700 2007 more...]]> 1 6 false false Mon May 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun May 04 09:47:05 -0700 2008 Mon May 26 17:36:57 -0700 2008
This book was beyond bad. If I could give it zero stars I would. Not only was the writing atrocious, but the narrat...more...]]> 5 6 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Feb 16 10:09:26 -0800 2008 Thu Jul 03 10:22:50 -0700 2008 The Crimson Petal and the White, it would be 'WOW'. (With capitals. Yes.) At 895 pages, it's a big book, and it's not without its flaws, but such is the quality of the writing, the characterisation a...more...]]> 5 4 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Wed Jul 09 12:28:59 -0700 2008 Mon Feb 23 12:28:26 -0800 2009 Watch your step. Keep your wits about you; you will need them. This city I am bringing you to is vast and intricate, and you have not been here before. You may imagine, from other stories you've read, that you know it well, but those stories flattered you, welcoming you as a friend, treating you as ...more...]]> 2 4 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Tue Sep 25 16:43:27 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 25 16:43:44 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 5 false false Thu Aug 16 14:47:45 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 16 14:50:30 -0700 2007
What the hell was he thinking, though, when he wrote this book? Was he aiming for mediocre language and predictable plot with lots of crusty, nasty Victorian sex...more...]]> 5 3 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Sep 24 06:28:05 -0700 2007 Fri Jan 25 03:42:30 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 5 false false Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 04 12:33:34 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 04 12:34:16 -0700 2007 The Crimson Petal and the White is essentially an 18 rated version of Dickens—a cautionary tale set in Victorian London, but with more mention of prostitutes, erections and human excretions than you could shake a reasonab...more...]]> 5 3 false false Tue Feb 27 21:44:53 -0800 2007 Tue Feb 27 21:47:27 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 2 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Mar 29 03:01:37 -0700 2007 Sat Mar 31 10:03:54 -0700 2007 more...]]> 1 3 false false Mon Sep 10 22:34:20 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 10 22:38:03 -0700 2007
I loved...more...]]> 0 1 false false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jan 27 14:12:21 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 14:13:38 -0800 2009
Becoming somewhat snobby about literature, you do no...more...]]> 2 1 false true Tue May 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 20 16:29:04 -0700 2008 Thu May 22 18:49:36 -0700 2008
Summary:
William heard of a pro...more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon May 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 08 04:10:51 -0800 2008 Mon May 26 14:04:39 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false true Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Feb 04 11:51:44 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 04 21:27:47 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jan 03 08:49:51 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 03 08:49:51 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 19 12:19:45 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 19 12:27:16 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Tue May 29 00:43:05 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 12 11:55:46 -0700 2007 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=40200