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A review by belladonnashrike
Poor Things by Alasdair Gray
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
4.5
I wish I read this before watching the movie.
spoilers ahead
I love yorgos lanthimos, but I'm questioning his choices when making the poor things film. something so incredibly essential to bella's story is just completely left out and I feel it does a disservice to bella's character.
if we take bella's side of the story as fact (and we are obviously supposed to believe her), then lanthimos' decision to go with mccandles' side of the story is certainly...interesting, given how much the film favors and sympathizes with bella. the conclusion from bella's perspective in the text is vital to the story, especially because every man takes advantage of her in some way, mostly by infantalization. the film is about bella, her coming-of-age, her autonomy, etc. and then the absolute most important part of her story is scrapped? I don't quite understand. and while I did love the "good-for-her" ending in the garden, it seems incredibly misplaced for how bella would behave.
I get it - a modern frankenstein is cool. but that's not what poor things, the book, is. I love how over-the-top the movie is, and mccandles' side of the story does suit the film incredibly well (the bright colors, the modern/victorian fusion of fashion, and just the absurdity of it all) but at it's core, this is bella's story!!! what he wrote in his little godwin baxter self-insert fanfiction isn't real! I really, really wish that conclusion was carried over into the movie.
I did really like this book though. for most of it, I was wishing it was told by bella's perspective (I was feeling similarly to how I felt when I read han kang's the vegetarian), but I understand now why mccandles was the narrator. he's so goddamn unreliable. if the conclusion was never added, and if his story was in fact the truth, then I would've wanted it to be from her perspective like in the film.
I can also appreciate the politics more in the book - they're just more thought out and weaved into the story with a bit more care. like, the politics surrounding a woman's autonomy was actually much more obvious here (which surprised me because the film does explain these thoughts well. it's just served on a silver platter here).
I definitely want to read this again but with a physical copy. I had no idea there were illustrations, and while I really loved both audiobook narrators, I'm missing something without those illustrations. I do love gray's writing style and I'll be seeking out more of his work in the future.
spoilers ahead
I love yorgos lanthimos, but I'm questioning his choices when making the poor things film. something so incredibly essential to bella's story is just completely left out and I feel it does a disservice to bella's character.
if we take bella's side of the story as fact (and we are obviously supposed to believe her), then lanthimos' decision to go with mccandles' side of the story is certainly...interesting, given how much the film favors and sympathizes with bella. the conclusion from bella's perspective in the text is vital to the story, especially because every man takes advantage of her in some way, mostly by infantalization. the film is about bella, her coming-of-age, her autonomy, etc. and then the absolute most important part of her story is scrapped? I don't quite understand. and while I did love the "good-for-her" ending in the garden, it seems incredibly misplaced for how bella would behave.
I get it - a modern frankenstein is cool. but that's not what poor things, the book, is. I love how over-the-top the movie is, and mccandles' side of the story does suit the film incredibly well (the bright colors, the modern/victorian fusion of fashion, and just the absurdity of it all) but at it's core, this is bella's story!!! what he wrote in his little godwin baxter self-insert fanfiction isn't real! I really, really wish that conclusion was carried over into the movie.
I did really like this book though. for most of it, I was wishing it was told by bella's perspective (I was feeling similarly to how I felt when I read han kang's the vegetarian), but I understand now why mccandles was the narrator. he's so goddamn unreliable. if the conclusion was never added, and if his story was in fact the truth, then I would've wanted it to be from her perspective like in the film.
I can also appreciate the politics more in the book - they're just more thought out and weaved into the story with a bit more care. like, the politics surrounding a woman's autonomy was actually much more obvious here (which surprised me because the film does explain these thoughts well. it's just served on a silver platter here).
I definitely want to read this again but with a physical copy. I had no idea there were illustrations, and while I really loved both audiobook narrators, I'm missing something without those illustrations. I do love gray's writing style and I'll be seeking out more of his work in the future.