Fireworks: Nine Profane Pieces
Encyclopedia
Fireworks: Nine Profane Pieces (aka Fireworks: Nine Stories in Various Disguises or Fireworks) is an anthology of short fiction by Angela Carter
. It was first published in the United Kingdom in 1974 by Quartet Books Ltd. and contains a collection of stories, several of which are based on Carter's own experiences of living in Japan
from 1969 to 1971. This period of her life can be counted as a turning point in terms of her writing as it marks the point at which feminism began to become a more central theme; as she notes herself in Nothing Sacred: Selected Writings, "In Japan I learnt what is to be a woman and became radicalised". In 1988 it was also published in Canada under the name "Artificial Fire" which featured both Fireworks and the 1971 novel Love.
Stories included are "A Souvenir of Japan", "The Executioner's Beautiful Daughter", "The Loves of Lady Purple", "The Smile of Winter", "Penetrating to the Heart of the Forest", "Flesh and the Mirror", "Master", "Reflections" and "Elegy for a Freelance".
The anthology's contents are also reprinted in the volume Burning Your Boats
, which features all of Carter's short fiction.
-like paradise, a place defined by their pre-pubescent innocenece. As they grow older the mysterious forest which surrounds them becomes evermore alluring, they explore its depths finding at last a tree bearing a beautifully ripe fruit; when they eat it they notice the curves of each others changing bodies.
comes to the Americas in order to hunt jaguar
s. He takes a female slave, whom he names "Friday", and whom he also rapes. She, feeling a supernatural connection with the jaguar that he kills, eventually shoots and kills her "master".
-like adventure into a bizarre, reversed world. He encounters an elderly woman who is actually a hermaphrodite
, and is raped by a girl in a forest before ultimately escaping.
Angela Carter
Angela Carter was an English novelist and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picaresque works...
. It was first published in the United Kingdom in 1974 by Quartet Books Ltd. and contains a collection of stories, several of which are based on Carter's own experiences of living in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
from 1969 to 1971. This period of her life can be counted as a turning point in terms of her writing as it marks the point at which feminism began to become a more central theme; as she notes herself in Nothing Sacred: Selected Writings, "In Japan I learnt what is to be a woman and became radicalised". In 1988 it was also published in Canada under the name "Artificial Fire" which featured both Fireworks and the 1971 novel Love.
Stories included are "A Souvenir of Japan", "The Executioner's Beautiful Daughter", "The Loves of Lady Purple", "The Smile of Winter", "Penetrating to the Heart of the Forest", "Flesh and the Mirror", "Master", "Reflections" and "Elegy for a Freelance".
The anthology's contents are also reprinted in the volume Burning Your Boats
Burning Your Boats
Burning Your Boats: The Collected Short Stories is a posthumously-published collection of Angela Carter's short stories. It includes stories previously collected in her other short story collections: Fireworks: Nine Profane Pieces , The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories , Black Venus and American...
, which features all of Carter's short fiction.
A Souvenir of Japan
An English woman living in Tokyo details an affair with a younger Japanese man. As she tries to understand the fragile beauty that exists within their relationship she examines the wider role of women in society, describing Japan as "a man's country". This story is presumably semi-autobiographical.The Executioner's Beautiful Daughter
In a small Japanese village incest is a crime so rife the entire community has been shuned by other towns, whilst the penalty for the crime is death there is one who can commit it with impunity. The executioner is a law to himself, killing his son for raping his daughter, but committing the same crime himself.The Loves of Lady Purple
An Asiatic Professor travels west across Europe performing a marionette show. The tragic tale of Lady Purple; orphan, murderer of her foster parents, prostitute. As the years have gone by he has grown evermore frail, but the puppet's movements have grow more fluid. She finally becomes real, feeding on his blood and burning the body she leaves to find a brothel, for she can only be what he has made her.The Smile of Winter
An English woman spends a winter living on a rural coastline in Japan. Having come to the beach in order to be lonely she uses the different elements of her surroundings to portray their indifference to her.Penetrating to the Heart of the Forest
A sister and brother live in an EdenGarden of Eden
The Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...
-like paradise, a place defined by their pre-pubescent innocenece. As they grow older the mysterious forest which surrounds them becomes evermore alluring, they explore its depths finding at last a tree bearing a beautifully ripe fruit; when they eat it they notice the curves of each others changing bodies.
Flesh and the Mirror
A woman returning to Tokyo searches fruitlessly for her lover who has failed to meet up with her. Finding another man she attempts to recreate that lost intimacy in the mirror above a hotel room bed.Master
A great white hunterGreat White Hunter
White hunter is a term used for professional big-game hunters of European or North American backgrounds who plied their trade in Africa, especially during the first half of the 20th century...
comes to the Americas in order to hunt jaguar
Jaguar
The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...
s. He takes a female slave, whom he names "Friday", and whom he also rapes. She, feeling a supernatural connection with the jaguar that he kills, eventually shoots and kills her "master".
Reflections
A boy goes on a Through the Looking-GlassThrough the Looking-Glass
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There is a work of literature by Lewis Carroll . It is the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
-like adventure into a bizarre, reversed world. He encounters an elderly woman who is actually a hermaphrodite
Hermaphrodite
In biology, a hermaphrodite is an organism that has reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes.Many taxonomic groups of animals do not have separate sexes. In these groups, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which both...
, and is raped by a girl in a forest before ultimately escaping.