"The Bloody Chamber," Angela Carter

A collection of retellings of fairy tales - "Little Red Riding Hood," "Beauty and the Beast," etc. Carter's language is elaborate, to the point where reading this book is the literary equivalent of eating a box of very high quality chocolates. One is delicious, eating ten in a row makes you feel sick. Which is probably why it took me so long to finish the book (it was worth it in the end - who doesn't like chocolate?)