Book Review: The Melancholy of Anatomy
The Melancholy of Anatomy by Shelley Jackson
The Melancholy of Anatomy is a collection of "Stories." The book divides the stories according to category: Choleric, Melancholic, Phlegmatic, and Sanguine. These obviously correspond to the four humors of Greco-Roman medicine, being yellow bile, black bile, phlegm, and blood, respectively. They also correspond to the Four Temperaments theory of modern psychology.
The stories contained within are:
The Melancholy of Anatomy concerns itself with elements of the body, but not in the traditional sense. Instead, these elements have been externalized. They are foreign elements which show up unexpectedly. This creates a diaspora of the in/out in all of the stories. All of this analysis makes the work sound more heady than it really is. Instead, Jackson of the school of postmodernism, has a playful hold of language and has ludic fun with our expectations and misconceptions. Well worth a read.
Short Pick: Foetus
The Melancholy of Anatomy is a collection of "Stories." The book divides the stories according to category: Choleric, Melancholic, Phlegmatic, and Sanguine. These obviously correspond to the four humors of Greco-Roman medicine, being yellow bile, black bile, phlegm, and blood, respectively. They also correspond to the Four Temperaments theory of modern psychology.
The stories contained within are:
- Blood
- Egg
- Sperm
- Foetus
- Cancer
- Nerve
- Dildo
- Phlegm
- Hair
- Sleep
- Blood
- Milk
- Fat
The Melancholy of Anatomy concerns itself with elements of the body, but not in the traditional sense. Instead, these elements have been externalized. They are foreign elements which show up unexpectedly. This creates a diaspora of the in/out in all of the stories. All of this analysis makes the work sound more heady than it really is. Instead, Jackson of the school of postmodernism, has a playful hold of language and has ludic fun with our expectations and misconceptions. Well worth a read.
Short Pick: Foetus
Labels: book review, humors, postmodernism, shelley jackson
posted by justin | 3:07 p.m.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home