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View Full Version : Great bike reference in Gothic Literature...


Kalidurga
08-19-2006, 07:57 PM
Of all places, I found the following in a collection of Gothic short stories. It's from "The Lady of the House of Love", a very strange little tale by Angela Carter:


... He has chosen the most rational mode of transport in the world for his trip round the Carpathians. To ride a bicycle is in itself some protection against superstitious fears, since the bicycle is the product of pure reason applied to motion. Geometry in the service of man! Give me two spheres and a straight line and I will show you how far I can take them. Voltaire himself might have invented the bicycle, since it contributes so much to man's welfare and nothing to his bane. Beneficial to the health, it emits no harmful fumes and permits only the most decorous speeds. How can a bicycle ever be an implement of harm?

I love that line about "give me two spheres and a straight line...".
RoadRaven
08-20-2006, 11:53 AM
Thats really well written Kalli
What time was the story set in?
Bad JuJu
08-20-2006, 02:10 PM
TFS, Kali! I love Angela Carter but had never run across that particular story. What's the title of the collection?
Kalidurga
08-20-2006, 05:32 PM
The collection is The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales, edited by Chris Bal****. The Angela Carter story was written in 1979, but there's no reference to the time period in which it takes place. I'm guessing early 1900's.

Edit: This forum goes a little far in censoring sometimes. The editor's name is Bal-diminutive-for-Richard.
Lifesgreat
08-21-2006, 08:07 AM
How can a bicycle ever be an implement of harm?

I'll tell you when a bicycle can be an implement of harm-when it won't let go of your cycling shoes!! :eek:
Bad JuJu
08-23-2006, 12:44 PM
The collection is The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales, edited by Chris Bal****. The Angela Carter story was written in 1979, but there's no reference to the time period in which it takes place. I'm guessing early 1900's.

Edit: This forum goes a little far in censoring sometimes. The editor's name is Bal-diminutive-for-Richard.

LOL--yes the censoring does get a little out-of-hand. Thanks for the info!
RoadRaven
08-23-2006, 09:37 PM
Edit: This forum goes a little far in censoring sometimes. The editor's name is Bal-diminutive-for-Richard.

Sorry cracking up here...

So next time I want to tell my mate shes being silly I'll yell at her...

Hey! Stop being such a diminutive-for-Richard-head!!!

Too funny:p
pooks
08-24-2006, 05:51 AM
That is a fabulous description of cycling. Is the rest of the story as entertaining?
Kalidurga
08-24-2006, 06:01 AM
Is the rest of the story as entertaining?
That one paragraph is the only bit that has anything to do with bicycling. The story is actually a somewhat weird tale of a female vampire. I love Gothic short stories, but I can't say this one was one of my favorites. I've never read anything else by Angela Carter, though, so I don't know if this piece is indicative of her usual work.


Hey! Stop being such a diminutive-for-Richard-head!!!

I wanna hear you say that five times fast when you're peeved ;)
Lise
08-24-2006, 06:11 AM
I saw that "two spheres and a straight line" ...uh, line up at the Pleasant Prairie tri this weekend. Maybe on a t-shirt. Impressed me as elegant--how funny to read it again so soon!
Kalidurga
08-24-2006, 05:17 PM
Maybe on a t-shirt.

Oh wow, Lise, if you ever see that t-shirt again, could you please find out where I could get one? That would be so cool, with the right bicycle artwork along with the quote...