Carol

Patricia Highsmith

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Patricia Highsmith, an icon and amazing writer. Besides writing Carol and the Talented Mr Ripley, Patrica was also known for taking snails out of her purse at parties when she needed entertainment. She owned over a 100 of them and a bunch of cats, living in an isolated farmhouse in Switzerland. Patricia Highsmith is a true cottage core icon and has taken lesbian yearning to the next level. 


She wrote this book based on an encounter she had working at a store. She helped a customer and after the purchase, she took her address and drove past her house to lure. That is where it ended in reality, so like any deprived lesbian would do in the fifties, she wrote a complete book portraying her fantasy.

Let’s get into the story.

Therese is a 19 year old adolescent who works in a department store to earn some extra cash during Christmas. The store sketches the depressing image that is her life before she meets Carol. She hates her job, her prospects seem bleak. She’s lonely, and this dude that you could call her partner annoys her on a regular basis. As a woman she is belittled often and has to count on the generosity of men surrounding her to land her a job. All is bland, until she meets Carol. 

After Carol purchases something at her counter, she uses her information to send her a letter. They start going for lunch, staying the night (awkwardly in the guest room, of course) and even go on a trip eventually. And so a 200-page long cat and mouse game of lesbianism begins. It takes ages before it is even acknowledged by both characters that they have the hots for each other. Oh how we have progressed from the fifties. We now move in together after a week. 

Carol as a character is completely romanticised by Therese and it is her obsession that keeps us captivated. Because when you objectively look at Carol’s attitude, I wouldn’t be a fan. She doesn’t take Therese seriously as a person, she plays with her. There’s also a hint of ‘Hmm isn’t 19 a bit young to be in a relationship with a divorcing mother?’


Loyal as Therese is, she internalises the harsh comments Carol makes and constantly justifies them. Carol is god to her. She competes with her best friend and ex husband for her attention. Carol needs to be hers.


Conclusion

I enjoyed the story more knowing about Patricia Highsmith, her experience and her quirks. The story in itself is not the most eventful. It has a high tempo, but most things that happen are outside of Therese. We mostly experience her doe-eyed obsession over Carol, her overthinking the smallest comments, moods and behaviours. 


It is entertaining to see erratic obsession by a woman over another woman, which is a 100 times more justifiable to me than if it were for a man. The book didn’t touch me very deeply, but honestly any lesbian literature is worth reading for me.

I’d recommend this book to:

  • People who are ready for some unhealthy irrational lesbian yearning with the inevitable modesty of the fifties.

  • Any queer person because you can say that you’ve read Carol, as opposed to only having seen the movie. This upgrades your status and you can say stuff like: ‘I think casting did an amazing job choosing Cate Blanchett, (she really conveys Carol’s intense stares)’ but I think anyone would say that about Cate Blanchett, regardless of any book or movie. 

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The Haunting of Hill House