Meet Mr. Fox, celebrated writer who loves killing off the heroines in his book. He is married to Daphne Fox and things are going fine until his imaginary muse, Mary Foxe, enters the scene. Mary belittles him for his treatment of female heroines and challenges his literary actions. She tries to change the course of his stories by transforming him (and wife) from author into subject and thus unfolding a different story. Meanwhile Daphne suspects her husband is having an affair. And then Daphne and Mary meet each other face-to-face.
Review of Mr. Fox
Mr. Fox is a dumpling. A dumpling of magical realism filled with finely chopped bits of fantasy and literary fiction. The book cannot be strictly categorized into a genre since chapters often slip into fairytale retellings.
What to expect>
I so loved this read. Which is why I thought I would break it down for those who want to pick this book. Hence the long (oops, very long) review, because this is a book for which if you aren’t sure you would enjoy the following characteristics, chances are you would end up cursing your decision to buy it.
Mr. Fox spreads unbounded through alternate-reality stories of the three main characters. At the core is the marital discord between Mr. Fox and Daphne due to the dominance of his fantasy world as well as reversal of conventional paradigms between the writer and his muse. There are arguments about violence against women in art, the relevance of stories, and about identity in a patriarchal, colonial world.
&nbps;
Who tells the story? This is a question the reader would be wondering throughout. Some stories are clearly told by one of the protagonists, others could be attributed to any (or none) of them.
Prerequisites
Many of the stories are spinoffs of the famous fairytales of Perrault’s Bluebeard and Brother Grimm’s Fletcher’s bird. It would be helpful to know a bit about the stories. One line recap – Bluebeard is known for marrying young girls and killing them later. His last wife escapes her fate in a clever way, each ending different in different versions of the fairytale.
My favourite stories
My Daughter, the Racist which was published as a short story before the book came out and talks of Western intervention in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, even if it does not mention them by name. This was shortlisted for The BBC National Short Story Award, 2010. You can read a free version of the story here.
Hide, seek about a girl whose heart was too heavy that she hid it elsewhere. This is a love story that deals with grief and loneliness.
The training at Madame de Silentio’s which is an eerie tale of two boys whose names are frightfully similar.
Some foxes is another favourite about a fox and his lover, with different endings. I adored this tale. Absolutely LOVED IT!!
The Sisterhood of Mary and Daphne
The scenes towards the end where Mary and Daphne meet show extraordinary writing capabilities. As I reader I was engrossed in how the story progressed –
The downsides and after effects
Some stories did not fit in the general theme of the book. It was confusing to decide whether to treat them as stand alones or try to decipher hidden meanings. It is all a blur when you finish the book. I felt as if I was on a merry-go-round spinning at high speeds for a very long time. The shifting perspectives, locations, and overall narrative can be very confusing.
You can read this book as a short story collection or an ordinary novel but either way, it’s never quite clear which parts are reality, which are stories, if Mary is real or just a figment of Mr. Fox’s imagination. The style of story telling is a bit disorienting. I took quite some time to get into the book and I really wasn’t impressed with the first few chapters. I am so glad I did not put it away for once I let myself be taken by the flow of the book, I was in for a pleasant surprise.
Final Verdict
Mr. Fox is a novel for you if you like magical realism, fantasy, fairy tale retellings. The book should be read like some books of Murakami — surrendering to its power instead of trying to make sense of what is happening. If you like a well structured plot, maybe this isn’t one for you. And if you are a writer who loves exploring contemporary styles, definitely try this out for a very fluid and nonlinear form of story telling. As much as I loved this read I do agree that this book isn’t every reader’s cup of tea. But I so enjoyed the read and I definitely recommend it.
Title : Mr. Fox
Author : Helen Oyeyemi
Publisher : Picador
Published : 2011
Language : English
Pages : 288
Rating : 4/5
I love this book! Please tell me you’ve read What is Not Yours is Not Yours. Not all the stories are great, but it definitely adds up to be a good read.
Oh no! I haven’t. This was my first Oyeyemi and I fell in love with her style.I bought Icarus Girl which is still unread. I will add What is yours is not yours to my list. It does seem like a great read.
I normally don’t like stories that have such potential to be confusing, but this one sounds too fascinating to pass up! I’ll have to see if I can find it.
Alexa
thessalexa.blogspot.com
verbosityreviews.com
If you pick it up, I do hope you will enjoy the book. I was almost going to quit after the first few chapters. But after that things become a lot more clearer.
Ooooh, your review makes me want to read this so much more. It’s been on my TBR for a while now. You convey wonderful enthusiasm and I love the way you broke down your review. I’ve only read her Boy Snow Bird before, and I enjoyed it.
I hope you will pick up this one soon. And I hope you will enjoy it too. Thank you for your kind words. I have to add Boy Snow Bird to my TBR now.
Initially your description reminded me of that movie “Ruby Sparks” where an author writes what is essentially a manic pixie dream girl and she comes to life. But when she starts acting like a real woman (getting sad occasionally, wanting to make her own choices, etc.) he becomes frustrated with her. But clearly this has expanded even more upon that. I don’t mind nonlinear narrative at all, in fact sometimes I prefer it, so I’ll be adding this to the TBR!
Wow. I should check out that movie. I think I have seen it a while ago because the story sounds very familiar but I cannot recollect anything clearly now. I hope you will enjoy the read if you pick it up . 🙂
Oyeyemi is such an interesting literary figure. I have heard much praise for her work, yet have also seen many reviews say her writing is very confusing! I’m glad you ended up liking it, though, because I am interesting in reading Oyeyemi this year. I own What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours, her latest short story collection.
Btw, this book will qualify for Read Diverse Books Year-Round, under the category “a book written by a person of color.” 🙂 No pressure, but if you find the time you should add the link to your review in my blog.
What is Yours is not Yours is highly praised. It is on my TBR. SO I would be buying it some day, maybe after the prices go down a bit. Many who read it loved it and some had complaints that the stories could be standalones, like in Mr. FOx too. But I dont mind that.
Thanks for letting me know that it falls under that category. I did not add it since the book itself is not about the community. I will link it up shortly. 🙂
Oyeyemi is known for writing about white characters, I hear. If that’s her preference, I respect it.
But yes, any book written by a person of color will count! Thanks for adding it 🙂
Welcome. Glad to be able to add it to the list.
Thank you so much Susan for this review.
I’ve already made a note to buy the book next time I find an english book store.
(Not until July I’m afraid)
Take care.
Brian
I know what you mean. I keep adding books to my list each month and postponing few to next month that every month there are few I can buy and so many that I can’t. I hope you will enjoy the read when you pick it up
Such a great, thorough review, thank you! This will probably be my next Oyeyemi, I’m currently reading “White is For Witching.”
I read n Twitter how much you are enjoying the book. I really want to read White is for Witching too. Hope you get to read Mr. Fox soon. It is a bit confusing but such a nice read.
I just read White Is For Witching and loved it. I think Mr. Fox may be next :). Great review.
Thank you. I so enjoyed this read. I hope you will too. After reading this I wanted to read everything by Oyeyemi. I will be adding White is for Witching to the list
I’m quite keen to read this one. I really enjoyed White is for Witching and Boy, Snow, Bird.
I really want to read Boy, Snow, Bird. Do try this out. I hope you will enjoy this one. I really did. 🙂 In fact this is my first Oyeyemi and after this one I wanted to read all her other works.
I absolutely love the sound of this book! The idea of it is just so unique and totally unheard of to me. It also sounds like the author has written this incredibly well and in a style that you’ve grown to appreciate. It seems like such a gem, especially as it runs over into so many genres and crosses with a lot of themes too.
Yes, the writing style is very different and might not be liked by all. If you give it a try let me know
I received this book for my birthday this week and really enjoyed it. It took a while to get into and figure out, but once I did it became quite thrilling. I also loved the Daphne/Mary sisterhood, and the letter at the end “the three of us at home” thing. It was so sweet :). Oyeyemi is such an astute writer!
True that. This is the first book that I read of Oyeyemi. I was so taken aback by how wonderful it was written. Really enjoyed it. 🙂
Love this review. I wanted to pick up this book but I knew it wasn’t for me. Are these photos yours? They’re so well shot and of high quality. Kudos.
Thank you. Yes, Mr. Fox might not be evryone’s cup of tea. The pictures are mine, thanks for the compliment. 🙂