Customer Reviews

Apple

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For those annoyed by the abrupt ending of Michel Faber's Crimson Petal and the White, this will hopefully be somewhat soothing. While not a linear sequel, there are glimpses of the later lives of Agnes, William, Sugar and Sophie. Several short stories illuminate episodes from their lives, written in Faber's continuously brilliant style.

The highlight is the final story in the collection, "A Mighty Horde of Women in Very Big Hats, Approaching." It is the story of a small boy caught up in the 1908 march of the suffragettes, and it is page-turning stuff. All the stories are interesting, but this was my favorite.

Those looking for a true "sequel" to the superb Crimson Petal and the White might be a bit disappointed, I don't know. Personally, I was thrilled to spend time, however brief, with the characters.

Prepare yourself for two fantastic hours of engrossing stories! Faber's prolific pen has given us an amuse-bouche for those whose appetites were not satisfied by the 900+ page feast of the Crimson Petal and the White.

The Apple is a collection of short stories about various characters we met in his fabulous earlier novel. We get a glimpse of Sugar's days both pre- and post-William Rackham; we meet Sophie as an adult; and we get to catch glimpses of the other sordid characters of Silver Street with the same gritty eyes we were given to view it before.

This is a quick read - literally, one sitting if you plan it right. Thoroughly enjoyable! More, Mr. Faber, more!

For all the readers who were left guessing (and often angry) at the NO ending of Faber's The Crimson Petal and the White, get these short stories. The last one tells what happens to the main characters. This was satisfying enough for me, even in a short version. The other short stories are very good in the typical Faber style.

This book fills in details about Sugar and Mr.Rackham that were not included in the book. For anyone who is interested in Victorian history especially it's sexual side, The Crimson is a must read.

I was left with some longing after I finished The Crimson Petal and the White, and so this book of short stories was a must have for me! I loved the stories, and I was pleased to get a chance to see what happened after the abrupt ending of CPATW.

This collection of stories offers another glimpse of the much-loved characters of Faber's Victorian novel The Crimson Petal and the White.

In that novel, the fates of main character Sugar and her charge Sophie were inconclusive and many fans of the novel hoped for a sequel. However, Faber ruled out that possibility, perhaps in an effort to preserve the definitive status of that sprawling novel.

The Sugar that appears in two of the stories in this collection, including the titular story, is still in her heyday at Mrs Castaways'. They present the finer qualities of a whore with heart that has endeared her to most readers.

Other interesting nuggets include what happens to other characters like Clara, formerly a maid at Rackhams', in one of the more haunting stories `Clara and the Rat Man'. Less satisfying for me, though most revealing of Sugar and Sophie's fates, is the novella of sorts, `A Mighty Horde of Women in Very Big Hats, Advancing'.

But even the less enjoyable of Faber's stories bear his trademark style, which is always in clear and lively prose.

I enjoyed every word of The Crimson Petal and the White. At the end of the book, the three main characters set out into the world and Mr. Faber leaves their fates to the imagination. I sometimes hate it when an author leaves the ends untied (see my review of The Little Friend by Donna Tartt) but in the case of Crimson Petal, it didn't bother me at all. Maybe because I'm pessimistic, I felt that leaving it "up in the air" let me imagine happy endings, when they just didn't seem to be possible. Anyways, years went by and I stumbled across this book, which returns to the world of Crimson Petal with short stories. If you liked Crimson Petal, especially if you just read it, get this immediately. It is more of the same. And we get to glimpse William, Sophie and Sugar getting what they deserve (I think). It doesn't resolve Agnes' fate and I still think that might be for the best. Now I'm left hoping that Mr. Faber writes even more!

I bought Apple because I felt left up in the air by the end of the Crimson Petal book. Now I feel left up in the air by the end of Apple. Maybe there will be a 1000 page sequel, but I would have enjoyed reading more about (spoiler alert!!!) how Sugar got to Australia and what she did there. Apple only somewhat answers the questions left at the end of The Crimson Petal and the White.

Having not read "The Crimson Petal and White" I'm not coming to this familiar with the characters. That said, this is my fourth Michel Faber novel so I know he can write and this book is no exception.

"Christmas in Silver Street" is about a prostitute called Apple who decides to give the son of one of the other prostitutes a decent Christmas dinner.

"Clara and the Rat Man" is about another prostitute called Clara, turned to streetwalking after being dismissed as a housemaid who encounters a strange chap who asks her to grow her one of her fingernails really long. The two attend a rat and dog fight in an underground pub where she is asked to do something to him with the fingernail.

The next one is about a libertine who has a spell of existentialism.

Another is about a letter from an American gentlemen to an English missionary woman living with her dad.

"Medicine" is about an elderly perfumier who dreams of the time he spent with the prostitute from the first story, Sugar.

The final one is about a suffragette movement march in Bloomsbury in 1908.

They're all interesting stories with believable characters and settings and overall the book is amusing if brief. It's not Faber's best but highlights once again his skill with the short story medium. Not one that's going to influence anyone or change your life but an interesting diversion and a quick read. One day I'll get around to reading his gigantic novel that preceded this collection.

I have read many of Michael Faber's books and he sure didn't disappoint me with "Apple". He continues to be one of my favorite authors.