Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter

This is a rollicking romp from London to Petersberg to Siberia at the turn of the 20th century. It follows Jack Walser, an American journalist, as he seeks a scoop on Sophie Fevvers, a trapeze artist and celebrity who is famous due to the fact that she is part swan and has wings. In the first part of the novel, Walser interviews Fevvers about her life in London, which began as a foundling on the steps of a brothel and culminates in giving dazzling performances to crowds at the Alhambra. In the second part, Walser is so intrigued by Fevvers that he joins the circus she is performing with as a clown. From hereon, the novel recounts the circus' stop in St Petersberg and subsequent journey across Siberia.

This is the third novel of Carter's I have read, and as ever, her writing is fantasmagorical, lyrical and bizarre. The characters and world of the circus are absolutely vivid. The writing is big, bawdy, epic in scale and bursts off the page. However, it has taken me until now - three novels into her works - to realise that although I think Carter is interesting as a writer, I don't actually enjoy the way she writes.

As with 'The Infernal Desire Machines of Dr. Hoffman' and 'The Passion of New Eve', 'Nights at the Circus' takes the form of an epic journey, in which the core characters encounter strange other characters and settings. This seems to be the scope of the plot. And while it is interesting, the fact that Carter whisks us from one encounter to the next means that the reader's feet hardly touch the ground enough to get to know the protagonist(s). The other two novels I have read of hers were told from the first person, and so this problem was somewhat sidestepped, however, 'Nights at the Circus', told mainly in the 3rd person, failed to engage me. I wasn't interested in Fevvers, and after the first section found that Walser hardly came into the narrative. For me, the characters weren't grounded enough to make the plot powerful; with such a surrealist bent, it was never going to be a 'believable' book, but even so, I found myself unconvinced by the protagonists.

As such, I found that the novel didn't really hold together. With no central characters to tie it all into a structurally satisfying read, the plot all became a bit haphazard, and, in places, I felt that there were loose ends. Far from being suspenseful, or technically interesting, they were just frustrating. Fevvers is about to be captured by a Grand Duke. With barely a full stop as explanation, she suddenly escapes onto a train platform and is off on her way across Siberia. Maybe I missed something, but there were gaps. While this is a novel with a huge scope, I felt that Carter didn't quite pull off her grand vision. The construction lacked finesse. In places it was sloppy.

Anyway, I have to study this at some point in the next few months, so I will read it again, although I probably wouldn't go back to it out of choice. I've discovered that, although her writing is vivid, Carter is just a bit too - well... - COMPLETELY LACKING IN SUBTLETY. And I find it irritating. And I'm not a great fan, unfortunately.