The Butterfly Tattoo

first line: "Chris Marshall met the girl he was going to kill on a warm night in early June, when one of the colleges in Oxford was holding its summer ball."

alternate title: The White Mercedes

I recommend The Butterfly Tattoo with the caveat that it is possibly Philip Pullman's darkest novel. (I've read most of them.) Though there are some true horrors in His Dark Materials and other books from Pullman's oeuvre, this brief young adult novel seems to have more than its share of grit, violence, deceit and dysfunction...and not enough hope to balance the scales.

Still, it's a really good, powerful book -- gripping from the first page to the last, and filled with great writing and interesting ideas.

“Chris Marshal met the girl he was going to kill on a warm night in early June.” So begins The White Mercedes as its intricate clockwork of minor lies, coincidences, and events propelled from the tangled pre-histories of the protagonists gets set in motion a thrilling story that culminates in the girl, Jenny’s, death. Much of the novel more of a young adult, coming of age love story about a seventeen year old boy who meets a slightly older girl. But when they go and see Romeo and Juliet together the parallels are only too clear and a darker hue falls over the story. One of Pullman’s earlier novels, as standalone work with no elements of the historical novel or fantasy, it is well told, well plotted, and very much worth reading.

This one's hard to review. I really enjoyed it as a book, but from the very first sentence it's obviously going to be hard to fit a happy ending in, and I found it very bleak. I can't quite decide if the last chapter/epilogue is a good thing for Chris or heartbreakingly sad. Perhaps it's both.

I love the picture of Oxford as a city to live in that weaves its way through the book. Despite this the picture of Oxford undergrads was a bit single-sidedly of the rich and over-privileged. It made a good contrast for middle-class Chris and working-class Jenny, but as someone with a background much more like that of Chris who went to Oxford anyway it's more than a bit irritating.

That apart I'd say that overall it's a very good book, but while show more it's aimed at young adults I think it might be a bit much for younger teenagers. It was a bit much for me. I definitely need to do something light-hearted now. show less

Through the eyes of late teenage Chris we fall in love with a mysterious experienced and wounded Jenny. Until recently his world was whole and he protected within the walls of a traditional familyhome, but recently he is all alone in chaos since the separation between his parents. Jenny becomes his fix point, and she needs him as well. But life has decided to show more of its dark sides while at it.

Innocence's painful and necessary path to growing up? An argument for the fallenness of the world? A greek drama destined for destruction or a rebirth coming from tearing the old system down? A easily read book for both young and old people to recognize themselves in.

The Butterfly Tattoo (previously called The White Mercedes) was Philip Pullman's first novel, directed at the teen market.

The story, set in Oxford like Pullman's famous trilogy, His Dark Materials, is pacy, with well drawn and interesting characters.

All the same, I found it truncated, rushing too quickly and abruptly to a conclusion. Perhaps the unpublished novelist, or his editor, was too anxious to keep it short and crisp. All the same, a few more twists in the plot, with more variation of pace and an extra 100 pages or so, could have transformed this from a good novel to a memorable one.

A nicely paced, absolutely compelling novel with a delicious twist at the end. A good length too: at 185 pages, it tells the story and provides characterisation without additional padding.

Set in contemporary England this is a beautifully written story of youth , akwardness and love. But the fates intervene and a tragedy of Shakespearian proportions unsues. (Originally published as "The White Mercedes")