ao a ‘bares Thatcher’ S England “ALL THAT I'couid see’ of her, now, was a black heel 7 ; "itl Try displaying affection without < hanging negligently, away: from a nylon-covered ankle. _ ne ' tagging cn a coro) punishment for Once; twice; a dozen times, the toes bent restlessly in their : a change! leather darkness, and the shoe slid upwards.in caress of her MIKE : Far more annoying is the fact - ankle.’And then the tendons stretched and the back of her nm that this novelists’ malaise is nat shoe ran softly down the ramp of thin nylon... did sheknow STEELE —. 3 (despite any fervent, wishful think- - that this play, this action of sliding her shoe on and off her - . — ing on my part) restricted to British ankle would simultaneously condense and banish any - book review - _ sycophantically pick away at the sense of reality that |-had?’ ; scabs of their own literary misery : “The small patch of floor, *- flesh. His affair with the wife ofan stance, do so many characters in with deplorable regularity. In a swayed. And above it the tapered, -imprisoned mobster begins with British stories exhibit a high degree _ self-indulgent display of cold stiletto hung suspended, the chance encounter at a party. A of neurosis? Must they be in- masochistic anguish they insist on faithfully submissive until invited brief glimpse, a voice ‘‘...which ‘trospective to the point that a perpetuating a credo of intermi- once again to press itself upwards _—_ cut through the warm fur of wine reader winces and squirms with nabie suffering and — whoops. against her skin.’” like a pure cold alcohol” lead him —_ discomfort? Must characters, even. Where were we? No, this is not an excerpted into a sweaty, erotic compulsion in the throes of passion, dwell Oh, right — The Dark Clarinet; passage from:The Fetishist’s .... -.. - whose ending may be far-different - .morosely on guilt. and-self-doubt? well worth the read despite your Quarterly or a coy ploy by from that which the reader might So infuriating are these common’ reviewer's temporary and admit- “Odoreaters’’ to expand their expect. traits that, more than once, I’ve tedly self-indulgent spleen-venting. market share. What it is, dear _ The Dark Clarinet is proof of the _ entertained the fantasy of shaking _Lusty, erotic and exceptionally readers, is a voyeuristic peek into accomplished novelist’s art but it is-_ a novel’s characters violently, well-written, The Dark Clarinet is "the 'erotic fixations of an aimless, not without a few troublesome demanding that they snap outof = an exceptional novel from a highly ; young lawyer in not-so-jolly aspects that are not unique to their love-affair with self-pity. intelligent writer with a keen if --explores _ musky recesses of - England. Thornley’s work. Why, for in- Show some unbridled joy, damn _ kinky sense of detail. sexual obsession. & Richard Thosnley’s The Dark Clarinet (Bloomsbury/Penguin; 220 pp.; hardcover) is an explora- tion of the damp, musky recesses °° of sexual obsession, a powerful if claustrophobic novel by the 1986 ’ winner of the George Orwell ‘Award for Literature. Thé Dark Closet is a story which | rapidly arrives at a crossroad, one route tending towards harsh, - . ‘social critique, the other shadow- - ed track that ends in a cul-de-sac . of anguish and despair. Thornley _ briefly chooses the former, witti ly bret gece meorec” | | It could be the night you use... ‘Iron Butterfly’ while revealing much of his protagonist’s motiva- ay ave LY | A j i M F G ADOSE “1 left university with a law : - Betomea lawyer, and then Twas ALL NIGHT MOISTURIZER «No longer sure of my belief. | went — |- to work ina community law cen- y MEGADOSE, Ultima Is first “allt night- moisturizer. Each dropiet tre and there | fought with law. | "+ provides continuous moisture throughout the night. The clear outer. was approached by helplesspeo- | = |. Gey. locks in these precious ‘nutrients. The résult is skin that is ~ ‘ple. f could do very little for them — . , eccept perhaps disguise the fact | “gloriously smooth, radiantly luminous. All courtesy ofa night « of. - that they could do nothing for © a i beauty sleep... soot : themselves. | was left with their. . - . ‘ - lives hanging around me like strips - : : , j of peeling wallpaper... | went NOW THE COMPLEXION YOU VE DREAMED OF home knowing the futility of That- IS-THE ONE YOU CAN WAKE UP TO. =. cher’s England.” - . ft ; ; : $60% “Thatcher's England. Outside . in the street, at mid-morning, there : : was the cheap, Sr walked scent of ; sn ge ULTIMAI ee bai eta ‘SUMMER DAYS’ TOTE BAG shut them out. A sad caricature of —-... aaa empty dignity guided a dog past a You'll use it all summer long... ked Mercedes. My England.” Pans full of biting, bitter promise as at the beach or cottage and holidays, too! She an TOTE CONTAINS: mnati ter into a Tengthy camnation of the eULTIMA II SUPER LUSCIOUS LIPSTICK W. Van artist CREAMY POWDER BLUSH ope eDUAL PAN EYE SHADOW exhibits wr ks (A $50. Retail Value) ” From there, she was sent to YOURS FOR ON LY $10. Vancouver to study art at the West WITH ANY ULTIMA Ii Vancouver Art School, now PU RCHASE FROM defunct. She remembers her first encounter with a group drawing LONDON DRUGS. session. “All those naked bodies . i ‘ti came as a shock for someone (While quantities last.) coming from a convent. ! kept breaking pencils.”’ After a year it was off to Barcelona, London, and then to San Francisco where she studied illustration, surviving on an allow- ance from her parents and from pocket money she made selling cartoons to underground newspa- Msince making Horseshoe Bay her 21° LONSDALE | - MONDAY TO 9:00 am-10.00 PM. Bearsden. 6 «INORTH VANCOUVER |i J) OPEN SUNDAYS 1200 A.M. - 600 PM. privacy of her home. Her first ex- hibition at the Brackendale art gallery last month was “definitely not successful’ — Delanty con- fesses she didn’t sell a single piece — but she plans to try again. in the meantime, ‘I’m quite content to be this quiet little cult,’’ she says. We eee tee -“OPEN-7 DAYS A'WEEK.