The Magic Toyshop

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.

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.

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.)

The writing in this book is beautiful but the story doesn't always work. The reader is in the head of a 15 year old girl most of the time. She is living with her Aunt and Uncle and the Aunt's two brothers. The insights she has about the sequence of events that led to her being there are beyond a 15 year old with her background. The interactions between the people in the house are very odd and not very well explained. There is never an explanation of how the Aunt and Uncle happened to meet or marry and that becomes relevant. The ending comes out of nowhere. It is a beautifully written mess.

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

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 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.

Graphic story to begin with. Entertaining.