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Corpus
In this illuminating collection, Susan Irvine takes the reader into the creative mind. From Concept I, in which an artist presents her son as a work of art for the Turner Prize, to a Hoxton novelist who outsources the production of his prose to a fabulator, to a stylist whose attempt to subvert fashion s shallowness backfires, Irvine s characters find themselves caught between real life and the desire to create.Moving through the worlds of art, academia, fashion and fiction, these stories challenge received ideas, cast a wry look at those who take themselves too seriously and explore the betrayals art can entail.
320 pages, Paperback
First published August 6, 2009
17 people want to read
About the author
Susan Irvine
22 books1 followerLibrarian's note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
This profile contains books from multiple authors of this name.
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August 4, 2017
Corpus is an inventive selection of stories based loosely around the theme of creation and 'art'.
Irvine's writing is at times very powerful and in stories like: Late; Love After Death; Chaplet of the Infernal Gods; Summer Trees; Panagia Evangelistra and Sea, the characters and their feelings are skilfully portrayed: be that of a young girl's sorrow for a fish she has caught, a frustrated would-be novelist with life in her way or a woman's mild desperation over an inexplicable need to see a religious icon on the last day of her holiday jeopardising her ability to catch her flight home.
I also like how the author experiments with form, using interviews, text interspersed with writing self-help regimen and a story with poorly spelt and grammatically incorrect prose to mimic a 'fahsion' receptionist (a subtle swipe at the type of person involved in this area of society) which added to the flair of her book by feeling incredibly considered and playful.
There are (forgivably and unsurprisingly) a few weaker stories and I do feel at times that the theme 'corpus' is obscure, too literal or maybe on the whole not the best title for the pieces together. Still, there are strong pieces of writing in here; anyone putting off writing a novel should read 'Late' and if you perchance happen to be a conceptually inclined artist the first story, 'Concept I' should strike a chord. Worth a read 3/5
Irvine's writing is at times very powerful and in stories like: Late; Love After Death; Chaplet of the Infernal Gods; Summer Trees; Panagia Evangelistra and Sea, the characters and their feelings are skilfully portrayed: be that of a young girl's sorrow for a fish she has caught, a frustrated would-be novelist with life in her way or a woman's mild desperation over an inexplicable need to see a religious icon on the last day of her holiday jeopardising her ability to catch her flight home.
I also like how the author experiments with form, using interviews, text interspersed with writing self-help regimen and a story with poorly spelt and grammatically incorrect prose to mimic a 'fahsion' receptionist (a subtle swipe at the type of person involved in this area of society) which added to the flair of her book by feeling incredibly considered and playful.
There are (forgivably and unsurprisingly) a few weaker stories and I do feel at times that the theme 'corpus' is obscure, too literal or maybe on the whole not the best title for the pieces together. Still, there are strong pieces of writing in here; anyone putting off writing a novel should read 'Late' and if you perchance happen to be a conceptually inclined artist the first story, 'Concept I' should strike a chord. Worth a read 3/5
Displaying 1 of 1 review