The Girl With Glass Feet

Posted on | February 25, 2010 | 19 Comments

I realise that the blogging community has been saturated with reviews of The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw this week, on the back of the Not the TV Book Group discussion, but I too am adding my thoughts to the mix. I only picked up the book at the weekend so I didn’t participate in the discussion myself and have avoided reviews thus far; I am not sure whether my thoughts will be shared but that is quite alright, I am more than willing to be out on a limb alone at times.

To be honest, I was underwhelmed. The novel started off promisingly and I was enjoying it; I wasn’t captivated nor immersed but it was engaging. Shaw does have a pleasant turn of phrase at times although I think he suffers from the enthusiasm of an immature writer. The content is decidedly odd; I have no issues with unusual plots and I relish fairy tale elements in modern fiction but Shaw went a little overboard with the peculiar. Midas Crook lives on an archipelago, St. Hauda’s Land, and into his lonely world comes Ida MacLaid, a young woman who is metamorphosing into glass, beginning from her feet upwards (hence the title). Shaw’s influence by Kafka’s “Metamorphoses” is apparent but what was brilliant -and Kafkaesque- about that story was the incongruity of Gregor Samsa’s transformation into a giant beetle and how the non-human form took hold of him; Ida’s condition is unusual surrounded by even more unusual and, consequently, loses its impact.

In The Girl with Glass Feet there are other unexplained phenomena, in addition to feet and hearts of glass: there are miniature moth-winged cattle; albino animals turned that way by the eyes of something white in the woods; paralysing jellyfish. Where I thought that Shaw failed was in his abundance of creativity and ideas; along with too many stand-alone instances of weirdness there is also a large cast of surplus characters and a disorientating detail to the setting (St. Hauda’s Land; Ettingsford; Marty’s Pitfall on Lomdendol Island; Enghem Stead etc.) Shaw created his own place on the map that was home to numerous supernatural occurrences but for me it was too much information to process that added nothing extra to the story

Whilst I enjoyed the first half was the book, I did notice that I wasn’t compelled to pick it up other than at bedtime where I would read fifty or so pages; it is easily readable but the detailed other-world setting, the passivity of the characters, and also the writing style began to irritate me. Shaw writes mainly short staccato sentences and employs many similes of his own making; I began to expect descriptions that ended with “like a …”, mainly nonsensical figures of speech that amounted to nothing, on every page and it became quite distracting. Shaw is not a bad writer but he is enthusiastic and ambitious; his writing may have benefited from more economy and if he had pared it down some and focused on the story rather than dragging it out, then it may not have been so frustrating. I ended up not really caring what happened to Ida and Midas and was not emotionally connected to them at all.

As I said to begin with, I may very well be in the minority in my views on this book and I know that some people loved it. The positives are much elaborated on in other reviews but I will finish on one of my own: I did admire Shaw’s use of camera image, symbolising that not everything can be black and white, and also Ida’s condition as an extended metaphor for a terminal disease and all the frustration, passivity and lost hope that a death-sentence like that will inspire.

Comments

19 Responses to “The Girl With Glass Feet”

Verity
February 25th, 2010 @ 1:02 pm

Interesting to read your review Claire. I didn’t get around to reading the NTTVBG reviews and have only read one other, so not having read the book, it’s good to read this account of it. I guess it’s quirky difference or the “odd”ness is one of the reasons why it has stood out…
stujallen
February 25th, 2010 @ 1:06 pm

sorry you didn t enjoy it that much ,i loved the folksy tale element to it .be interested to see what he does next
Nadia
February 25th, 2010 @ 1:35 pm

Thanks for your honest post regarding this book. I have yet to read it and truthfully was on the fence about it. I’ve read some other reviews that were similar to yours and it makes me wonder why this book has garnered so much praise then. I like whimsical, fairy tale elements in my books,too, but if the writer is going to be throwing too many bits of it around then it seems to me that he is just trying to make up for lack of focus. Well, that is rather disappointing.
Amanda
February 25th, 2010 @ 1:39 pm

1. Is that why there’s been so many reviews of this lately? I wondered why it had bloomed in popularity.

2. I’ve wanted to read this book for a long time, six months or so, and probably will at some point, but probably not for another six months.

3. I had no idea there was Kafkaesque elements! I love Kafka, I hope I find they are done well…
Jackie (Farm Lane Books)
February 25th, 2010 @ 1:53 pm

I agree with every word you say! I was underwhelmed too. It is weird, with no emotional core or strong plot line. There are just too many random characters/events with too much left unexplained. I just didn’t see the point of it. I think we are in the minority with this one though – everyone else seems to love it.
JoAnn
February 25th, 2010 @ 2:02 pm

This book doesn’t appeal to me, but the cover is very attractive…
Danielle (Leaning Toward The Sun)
February 25th, 2010 @ 2:09 pm

I agree! and I always the appreciate honesty and true feeling in your reviews. I too was not overly impressed with this one, so much so that I didn’t finish. I hate when that happens but I’m glad others enjoyed it so much.
kiss a cloud
February 25th, 2010 @ 3:25 pm

This didn’t appeal to me either and I think I made the right decision in not picking it up because I kind of trust your take on this. I know you are all for whimsical elements (Angela Carter is your fave author, after all), so I’m assuming it really was the style of writing that brought it down for you. I still haven’t decided, by the way, which Carter to read in April! Which would you suggest for me.. Wise Children, Nights at the Circus, or Love? =D
Steph
February 25th, 2010 @ 5:18 pm

I remember when this book first came out that I picked it up, but the writing didn’t really captivate me. Normally I’m a big fan of magical realism, but it sounds like this doesn’t have the emotional or psychological maturity that I tend to appreciate in those types of books. I know lots of people love this one, but based on your review and Jackie’s review, I’ll probably pass!
Aarti
February 25th, 2010 @ 7:18 pm

I read this book during the Readathon and was secretly hoping all the reviews popping up recently were because everyone went back and took up on my recommendation! Alas, that is not the case. I can see why you didn’t like this one. I enjoyed it, but I knew reading it that it wasn’t for everyone. It was a really “wintry” book for me, if that makes sense. Kind of slow and plodding but with moments of really glittering beauty. It was just very different than other books I’ve read.
Jodie
February 25th, 2010 @ 8:52 pm

I agree with you in parts. The passivity of the characters was frustrating and I do think although Shaw creates great images often he over eggs his writing and does end up writing images that don’t resonate. I did like the weirdness though, the cattle, the guy who ties amber in the trees but it did all detract from the central oddness of Ida’s condition, possibly they all belonged in a different later book he will write.
Nymeth
February 25th, 2010 @ 10:15 pm

I’ve been looking forward to reading this, but a few reviews lately have made me wonder if I’m going to love it as much as I was hoping I would…Ah well, it’s always best not to go in with very high expectations.
Simon (Savidge Reads)
February 25th, 2010 @ 10:23 pm

It’s interesting this book has had mixed response, whcih of course made the discussion all the more interesting and was fun. I think I was the only host who loved it, I think it appealed to something in me. Always lovely to hear your thoughts on a book Claire. Sorry if we have saturated the blogs with it. I have to say I havent seen many, well no more than after a riverside reads book is blogged about.

Hope you are going to join in for Vanessa and Virginia, think that one will be quite you!
Mrs.B
February 26th, 2010 @ 12:21 am

Thanks for your honest review. I was thinking of purchasing it because of all the talk about it but I think I’ll give it a miss now. I usually don’t like books where I can’t feel anything towards the characters and where you don’t care what happens to them. Yes, I’ll definitely give this a miss!
Jenny
February 26th, 2010 @ 1:41 am

I’ve not seen any good reviews of this book so far! I’m not wild about Ali Shaw to start with from what I remember of The Accidental, and all I’ve heard of The Girl with Glass Feet (good title though!), I won’t be reading it.
Paperback Reader
February 26th, 2010 @ 11:22 am

Verity, it definitely stands out due to its quirky content and that is something that will either make you love it or hate it.

Stu, I’m sorry I didn’t enjoy it more too. I loved your point about “Ida” being in “Midas” and making him whole.

Nadia, that’s certainly how it came across to me: too many magical elements detracting from the focus of the novel. Apparently that works for some people as they enjoy the unexplained but it screamed narrative mess to me.

Amanda, yes, that’s why there’s been an influx of reviews.
Probably best to read it once the hype dies down.
No, the “Kafkaesque” comment was used in my reference to Kafka! The only thing that reminded me of Kafka in this novel was the metamorphosis of Ida.

Jackie, apparently from the comments and a couple of other reviews, we are not alone as we thought! It started off promisingly for me but I just didn’t “get” it.

JoAnn, isn’t the cover beautiful?!

Danielle, thanks. I’m sorry you couldn’t finish it but I can completely see why.

Claire, I LOVE whimsy but this was badly done (in my eyes) and I became too conscious of the writing flaws.

As for Carter, Nights at the Circus and Wise Children are both favourites of mine but Love is very short so perhaps you could manage to fit in two? Wise Children is exceptionally bawdy but your enjoyment depends on how much of a Shakespeare fan you are.
Paperback Reader
February 26th, 2010 @ 11:36 am

Steph, I love magical realism but this was far from the level of Marquez, Rushdie and Carter, all of whom excel in that genre. It was immature in many ways but I’ll be interested in seeing where Shaw goes next (although I probably won’t be enticed enough to read it myself).

Aarti, sadly no! Sometimes the popularity of a book on the blogosphere at a given time is unexplained and uncanny. I did like its “wintry” feel too and that abundance of snow made me see the novel in black & white, which is a very clever effect.

Jodie, Shaw has such a big imagination and it was unfortunate that he tried to cram all of his ideas into the one novel, whether they fitted or now. As you say, some of the parts belonged in later novels.

Ana, lower your expectations and you may love it anyway. I will be interested in your thoughts. I was prepared to love and ended up becoming very cynical about its premise.

Simon, it wasn’t saturated in an entirely bad way but I was conscious that I had around eight posts on the book in my Google Reader so others may have switched off by that point (if reading the same blogs as I was). The discussion was good though; I had a look over the comments yesterday after posting this.

This did seem like my type of book to begin with but I have higher hopes for Vanessa & Virginia!

Astrid, other readers have felt emotionally connected to the characters but they were two-dimensional for me. Their passivity irritated me, their dialogue didn’t ring true and they felt very young (teenagers as opposed to adults).

Jenny, The Accidental is written by Ali Smith, who is a woman, and this is the first novel by Ali Shaw, who is a man! I can understand the confusion. I really enjoyed The Accidental.
kimbofo
March 2nd, 2010 @ 9:46 pm

This is why I love book blogs: seeing the diversity of opinion, good, bad and indifferent.

I had thought I would love this book and was looking forward to reading it, but the story didn’t really grab me. Although I loved the scene-setting and descriptive passages, the passivity of the characters was frustrating.
Paperback Reader
March 3rd, 2010 @ 12:36 pm

Kim, it is one of the main things I love about blogging too.
I was never captivated and found the starkness of the setting and the story quite dull in parts; I thought that it was dragged out for too long.