Poor Wee Things
Author Jan-Andrew Henderson shares his thoughts on Alasdair Gray’s Poor Things as a young adult novel (with accompanying poor analogies and illustrations).
Spoiler alert! In his video Jan shares some of the many twists and turns taken by the plot and characters in Poor Things.
As in Poor Things there are options. Watch Jan’s video...
Read Jan’s words...
Is Poor Things a YA novel?
Not long ago, my friend the playwright Anita Sullivan, sent me a copy of Poor Things. Naturally I eyed it with trepidation because it looked rather literary and, despite being an author, I’m not much of a reader. I prefer Netflix, though I do watch with the subtitles on. Then she asked if I thought Poor Things could be classed as a young adult (YA) novel, forcing me to actually read the damned thing.
Needless to say, I was hooked and suitably depressed that I would never achieve anything like Alasdair Gray’s mastery of storytelling. I can’t draw as well as him either - though I’ve had a go because it’s as close to an interactive presentation as I can get.
Archibald McCandless
Bella Baxter
What is young adult fiction?
When I was done, I was a bit puzzled by Anita’s question. Why would she ever consider Poor Things a YA novel? It’s certainly not an obvious choice. But I gave it some serious thought. After all, I’ve written plenty of YA myself.
Did that make me qualified to judge? What is a young adult novel anyway? At one time the definition was fairly simple. It was a normal book with less explicit violence, swearing and sex. Well, that’s certainly changed. YA publishers may be notoriously risk averse but teens are a lot louder and more savvy. Have you read Hunger Games? Not for the squeamish. The novel Tweak uses the F word 139 times. Even sex is allowed, so long as everyone promises not to enjoy it. Poor Things has little violence or bad language and, while Bella may be sexually voracious, there are no explicit bonking scenes. In fact, it’s all rather tame compared with more modern YA fare.
So, what other stumbling blocks might there be?
Tweens, teens, adults and the young protagonist
It’s usual for a YA novel nowadays to have a central character who is age appropriate. Poor Things has kind of got that covered as well. Bella is supposedly a kid in an adult’s body so, by the law of averages, that makes her a teenager. It’s not even a new YA concept when you consider ‘family’ movies like Freaky Friday or Big. True, I don’t recall Barbara Harris ever becoming a prostitute (she was in the original 1976 film for those too young to care) but Tom Hanks has a very problematic scene where his 13-year-old-in-an-adult-body appears to have spent the night making whoopie with co-worker Elizabeth Perkins.
The dusty canon: Moby Dick vs megashark
How about merit and pedigree? Alasdair Gray has accolades in spades and there’s a long tradition of claiming commendable old novels to be YA books, whether they have kids in them or not. Stuff like Last of the Mohicans (officially rated R for violence in the United States), Frankenstein, Ivanhoe, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Moby Dick and anything by Charles Dickens. To me that’s wishful thinking. Moby Dick, for all its worthiness, is a total slog. I vastly prefer the unofficial remake - Jaws - which does have children in it, even if a couple get eaten. As for Poor Things? Despite being fairly modern, it’s pretending to be an old work. Just like it’s pretending to be an unofficial remake of Frankenstein. Therefore, it’s still fitting all the criterion for a YA novel. So far, so good.
Old (and middle-aged) men in love
But does that mean it’s a suitable candidate? At first glance, definitely not. It’s narrator is a bloke who works for the sanitation department in 19th century Glasgow. The language, in keeping with the setting, is old fashioned. There’s plenty of history but it doesn’t revolve round battles, explorers, earth-shaking events or other cool stuff. It’s about societal attitudes that have long since changed, except in the USA. The feminist aspects are somewhat negated by the fact that it’s written by a middle-aged man pretending to be another middle-aged man. It’s got footnotes. (OK, so does Lord of the Rings, but that’s not a positive). The promising Frankenstein vibe gets shot to pieces at the end and, before that, there isn’t a pitchfork wielding mob in sight. There’s no bodice ripping, none of the ‘romances’ are actually romantic (George Clooney and Julia Roberts sure aren’t starring in the movie version) and nobody gets a happy ending. This is certainly not a novel that lends itself to the TikTok generation’s interests or attention span.
Tales tall and true for the post-truth generation
There’s a bigger drawback than that. The author claims to have reproduced an uncovered manuscript he believes is a true account. Only he hasn’t and he doesn’t. The accuracy of this non-existent manuscript is hotly disputed by the man who found it (in the present) and the woman it is about (in the past). Except, neither of them exist either.
Seriously? Surely young adult don’t want a low stakes version of Rashomon. Don’t they all crave the one thing they rarely get in these turbulent times? Certainty?
To most writers and publishers, it’s simply a given that teens want sound advice and a guiding hand. They don’t. But it has led to one of the overriding tenets of what constitutes a young adult novel. That authors can leave younger generations something worthwhile. A moral lesson. A fixed truth. A problem to be solved and hints on how to do it.
At first glance Poor Things seems to have a plethora of these tick boxes. History is worth preserving. Women should not let their narratives be shaped by men. The fight against social inequality and injustice is hard and virtue is often its own reward. The world is full of hypocrites. Don’t gamble. Religion sucks.
This is pretty standard stuff kids already know. My nine-year-old sighs and says ‘such is life’ when I try to pass on my wisdom - while my 6-year-old points out I don’t recycle enough to lecture her. Maybe Alasdair Gray has nothing insightful to say to teens after all. Admirable, in my opinion, but not very YA.
Then I remembered a quote by F Scott Fitzgerald.
‘The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.’
Caledonian Antisyzygy: Jekyll and Hyde
I remembered Alasdair Gray was Scottish, like myself. And pieces fell into place. For Scots have a quirk that is woven into our culture and history. It’s called ‘Caledonian Antisyzygy’- coined in 1919 by the literary critic G Gregory Smith about Scottish Literature. But it applies to the nation in general. And it equally applies to young adults
We are paradoxical in the extreme.
Scots have been described as welcoming, insular, broad minded, narrow-minded, racist, inclusive, mean, generous, violent, brave, pragmatic, impulsive, conformist, non-conformist, independent, tribal, bigoted and enlightened. Why? Because we are all these things. This contradiction is expressed in every kind of form. Highlands and the lowlands. Glasgow and Edinburgh. Edinburgh’s Old and New Town. Catholic and Presbyterian. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The list is endless. And this paradox is underpinned by 3 unedifying facts.
1. We prefer illusion to reality, especially when it comes to how we see ourselves.
And we are quick not to just project that myth but to believe it. Only deep down, we don’t. Not really. The historical novelist John Prebble, for example, dismissed our tartan sporting, kilt wearing, highland loving, shortbread tin frippery in one sentence.
‘No other nation has cherished so absurd an image, and none perhaps would accept it while knowing it to be a lie.’
That same contradictory mixture of pride tinged with embarrassment is put more succinctly by J M Barrie.
‘There is no more impressive sight than a Scotsman on the make.’
We fool others by fooling ourselves. The typical Scot, like the typical teenager, often mistakes bluster for bravado and hopes nobody else will notice the difference either.
2. Because of this, we have a flawed and fragile hold on our identity.
We want to be seen as fabulous and noble - often without putting in the hard work to actually achieve it. And we excuse our shortcomings by complaining we have been unjustly treated, misunderstood and ignored.
3. Because of this, we have a chip on our shoulders you can see from space.
This is, of course, is true for all races and countries. Scotland just happens to embody it more than the others. Who else personifies these concepts? So much so, it defines them in the eyes of all other ages? The young adult. And Alasdair Gray, I’m sure, knows it. In Poor Things he is talking to the Scot and the teenager in us all.
But he is much too perceptive to offer advice or to lecture, for neither Scots nor teenagers are great at listening. He offers something far more important and rewarding.
Alternatives.
Poor Things: Bella vs Archibald
The entire book is based round contradictions and options. Christ, Gray even creates his own nemesis to negate everything he says. Who is correct about the manuscripts, Alasdair Gray or Michael Donnelly? Who is telling the truth, Bella Baxter or Archibald McCandless? We will never know. We don’t know anything in this book.
Is McCandless a misogynist? Some shitty 19th century incel? Or does he just feel so insignificant, unappreciated and unloved by a cold and calculating spouse that he retreats into fantasy? McCandless’ story is more exciting and, as I’ve said, we prefer myth to reality. We may even be irritated by the late intrusion of Bella’s legend (and ball) busting prosaic version. Regardless of which account you choose, however, both sides are identifiable to any teenager.
It’s ‘he said, she said’ and one of them is lying. Logic is firmly on Bella’s side and, therefore, our sympathy shifts. ‘Myth’ is convincingly unmasked as ‘lie’ and we are confronted by a female heartily sick of having her story shaped by male insecurities.
Yet you can’t know for sure. You never can. That’s life. That’s the sad part. The confusing part. The teenage part.
What we do know is that women still have to overcome hurdles men simply don’t face. So, if Bella is the one myth making, let’s give her the befit of the doubt - because she deserves it. It’s how I imagine teenagers want to be treated.
Alasdair Gray’s rebellion manifesto
For me, that’s the brilliance of Poor Things. Sure, it addresses all the concerns of a typical YA novel. One by one, Gray lines up everything kids want to rebel against, even if they can’t be arsed. Inequality of race, gender and social status. The smugly deluded Elon Musk’s who mistake luck for talent and don’t understand they’ve risen above the masses because shit floats. Religious fanatics, unable to take responsibility for their own actions, whose half-hearted belief in a higher power allows them to be moral Nazis, claiming they are only following orders. Even God (and I love how obvious and contradictory that name is) has a distant father and cannot escape the social conventions that prevent him properly acknowledging his mother.
Monsters and their makers
All teens feel, at some point, that they are freaks. Awkward constructs far removed from their parents and even most of their peers. Gray ties that neatly in with Caledonian Antisyzygy. It’s a long running joke that people call Mary Shelley’s monster ‘Frankenstein’ when, in fact, Frankenstein is the Doctor who creates the monster. Gray understands we are both monster and creator, badly self-assembled without proper instruction, like one of those Ikea wardrobes which always leans a little to one side. Poor Things owes a similar debt to the great Scots novel Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde. We each struggle for control over ourselves with limited success. Caledonian Antisyzygy - amplified if you’re a teenager, by raging hormones.
Yet rather than a solution, instead of instructions, Gray offers up a hero who learns to embrace her mass of contradictions. In either version of Bella’s story, she is powerful, yielding, naïve, wise, callous, loving, manipulative, manipulated, compassionate, steely, fanciful and practical. What does it get her? The happy ending she deserves? No. Resolution? No. Bella gets dead sons and a sense that nothing she has done made any real difference. All she is left with is the vain hope that a better world is around the corner. A world young people are still waiting for. One they are tired of waiting for.
Young Scottish enlightenment
Gray knows the Scots. They endure by doing what they always do. Like Archibald McCandless, they will engage in another spot of reinvention. It’s not too outlandish to say we are going through a minor new Scottish Enlightenment - this time progressive rather than practical. Young adults don’t have that kind of weary laissez faire. Like Bella McCandless, they must stumble along with nothing but a sense of wonder and a fuck-you attitude to keep them going. Nothing is certain and they’re on our own. Except they’re all in the same boat. There is something beautiful and profound about that.
The many shades of Alasdair Gray
In Poor Things, Alasdair Gray hasn’t shunned solutions because he thinks there are no answers. It’s because he knows there are so many. That it is up to the reader, adult or teen, to decide which ones they deem valid.
So, is it a young adult novel or adult novel?
Both, of course.
Explore more…
Alasdair Gray + Yorgos Lanthimos
Are Yorgos Lanthimos and Alasdair Gray a match made in heaven?
Poor Things: Monstrously good fun
Enjoy more personal perspectives on Poor Things and Alasdair’s other novels.
External links…
Jan-Andrew Henderson (J. A. Henderson) is an award winning author of 40 books including adult and YA thrillers, children and teen novels and non-fiction.
You can find out more about our personal perspective on some of Alasdair’s his best known books in Who is Alasdair Gray?
Poor Things the novel by Alasdair Gray was published in 1992 and won the Whitbread Novel Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize.
Poor Things the movie is directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and stars Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe.
You can hear Alasdair Gray talking about and reading excerpts from Poor Things and other favourite books in the Alasdair Gray rereads podcasts and on YouTube