Dear Diary,
Have you ever had an instance when something or someone is following you. No, I do not mean a stalker. I mean…
A book, a person, a place, an action, an event… any of the above keeps popping up in your life with a weary persistence. You keep seeing the same thing everywhere you look. You see articles. You see pictures. You see books in bookstores… Did you get my idea?
Well, I have experiences many happenings like that. I usually give in and find out exactly what they want from me. It might be a lesson I need to learn or an opportunity I can’t pass.
Today is my story about Angela Carter.
A few weeks ago I came across this article in The New Yorker Angela Carter’s Feminist Mythology and it started.
May be my attention was piqued by subtitle of the article
A new biography shows how the British author made fairy tales psychological and sexy.
Given my academic background I am very much into re-telling of fairy tales and changing angle and perspective of analysis when it comes to stories. Thus, I am loving all the New Age fairy tales (Kate Forsyth, Gregory Maguire, etc.).
As an author I even made an attempt at re-telling Snow Queen story (questioning Andersen’s view and intentions).
So, may be, just may be Angela Carter appearing in my view is not an accident. This author made fairy tales scream and shout… (I am to find out exactly how)
Many more articles came next: Paris Review with Chamber of Secrets: The Sorcery of Angela Carter and an account by her friend Salman Rushdie (story on Rushdie is yet another spooky revelation, for next time)… I started searching shelves in book stores.
Eventually, I managed to find a book by Carter…. I will tell you later what I think of it. Also, I will tell you later what I’ve learnt from this experience.
Why am I being followed by Carter? What is all of this about?
Feel free to share your spooky revelations. I’d like to hear all about them…
Svetlana Tishchenko 