REVIEW: Poor Things

New contributor Lauren Turner reads ‘Poor Things’ for us here at CV.

“Poor Things” by Alasdair Gray is the strange tale of a lady who drowned herself, yet was brought back to life as a brand new person by DR. Godwin Baxter. By taking the brain of her unborn baby and placing it inside her skull before reanimating her corpse, DR. Baxter created Bella, a woman with the mind of a child. As she learns to live in the world again, her brain developing far quicker than a child would, she meets an array of different people, travels the world and comes head to head with her past life – of which she remembers nothing about. During the novel there are also other accounts of events by separate people, including Bella herself, that question its integrity, but overall this odd Frankenstein like story forms the focal point of the novel.

Written in the style of Dracula (through letters written by different people, medical drawings and diary entries), drawing upon the story of Frankenstein and with reference to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, “Poor Things” very obviously references the old to create something new in a very postmodernist fashion, and I think that is part of it’s charm. Despite being enthralled by the various references and the accounts that challenge each other, the novel is at times a little frustrating to read, particularly towards the end. Personally, I feel that this frustration has a lot to do with the complete juxtaposition of ideas and accounts, which consistently get dismissed and then are pushed forward as fact in the next couple of pages. Although I have to admit this does make you think a lot more about the novel as a whole.

Neil Rhind in his essay A Portrait of Bella Caledonia: Reading National Allegory in Alasdair Gray’s Poor Things does however state that:

“The substance of the narrative lies less in the thin events of its diegetic world than in the far denser network of interpretation erected around them.”

And I’m inclined to agree. Whilst the story is evidently an updated version of Frankenstein (who is also able to learn through watching people very quickly), it is what is being suggested and the manner in which you are able to interpret it which provides a more interesting discussion. One of the most obvious yet, interesting things that I found was the constant reference to Dr Baxter as “God”, with a capital “G”.

Bella consistently uses “God” to label Dr. Baxter, not merely as a shortening of his name, but in a way that suggests that her linguistic aptitude is either consciously or subconsciously putting him in a position of power and of worship, (after all he did literally re-create her and give her life). Alongside the undertones of Freudian discourse between the two, Bella herself stating that she was in love with Baxter, and the only reason that they didn’t get together was because he didn’t want her – after all he was a father figure to her, is also the very real-world reference to Mary Shelly’s own father, William Godwin.

This intelligent and concise referencing that happens throughout, and in a multitude of different ways, ties the novel together wonderfully, and although it is at times difficult to read, if you can read it the whole way through, you’ll be very grateful that you did!