Various Fairy Tale Retellings
Why yes, I am trying to catch up on my backlog. However did you guess.
The Rumpelstiltskin Problem, Vivian Vande Velde
I first ran across this book in a library when I was quite small, and I've been coming back to it on and off for most of my life.
The Rumpelstiltskin Problem is a collection of short stories that address Vande Velde's concerns about the fairy tale, which are less "this is problematic" and more "this doesn't make any goddamn sense." She came up with six variations of the story that did make sense, and wrote them down. I'm fond of them all, but I think my very favorite is Straw into Gold, in which the king wants gold and the miller's daughter is simply trying to survive and then gain his attention. There are others, though; like a miller's daughter trying to marry a king, and a troll trying to get a human baby, and a father trying to free his daughter. They all make much more sense than the original story, and I really just love to read them. Definitely recommended.
Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses, Ron Koertge
This one's a little weirder. It's a series of poems (with some really fantastic cutout illustrations, by Andrea Dezso) based on various fairy tales; some updated (like the little match girl, now a little girl selling CDs), some not (like Bluebeard, which I think is one of the better ones). They're very short-- 23 poems in less than 100 pages-- but some of them, like the Bluebeard one, are better for it. Some, like the Red Riding Hood one, are not so much? That one I could have enjoyed a lot more had there been more detail, I think. The thing I disliked about this book is that Koertge seemed to think he was doing something new and different by inverting and darkening these stories, but what he really seemed to be doing was getting back to the stories' Grimm roots. They're dark, yes. They're horrible in some places. But so are the originals. That, and the poetry can come across as a bit sameish (though the Red Riding Hood voice was pretty great). That said, I did enjoy this book, and frankly I think it's worth picking up for the illustrations alone. If you really like fairy tales, yeah, sure, give it a read. If not, it's probably not worth your time.
Toad Words, T. Kingfisher
T. Kingfisher is the adult penname of Ursula Vernon, and with that said, you probably know how this review is going to go (namely, eeeeEEEEEeee). So let's jump into the usual squeeing!
All that aside, I really do love Vernon in all her incarnations. She has this sense of humor that's wonderfully sly without being mean-- think Roald Dahl if he didn't hate everyone and everything. She also has a terrific eye for detail. The stories in Toad Words are wise without being preachy, and funny without being cruel, and just generally wonderfully done and a joy to read. They retell fairy tales from Andersen's The Little Mermaid to Arthurian stories of the Loathly Lady to traditional tales like Little Red Riding Hood. They are, however, not for children, not even in the way that the original fairy tales are not for children. The Kingfisher books are very much for adults. That said, they are, in my humble opinion, for all adults and everyone should read them, especially if you enjoy Vernon's other books. Highly recommended.
The Raven and the Reindeer, T. Kingfisher
Okay so the Raven and the Reindeer is a T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon book AND it has queer girls in it SO I am 100% sold on everything it does and want nothing else for the rest of my life.
Okay, that's not quite true. I think my actual favorite Kingfisher book is Bryony and Roses, but this one is very close to my heart. It's a retelling of the Hans Christian Anderson story The Snow Queen, which you may also recognize as the story that Frozen is very (very very) loosely based on. It starts fairly traditional-- Gerta and Kai, friends from more or less birth, Kai is taken by the Snow Queen and Gerta goes to get him back-- but then Mousebones the raven is introduced and the story takes an abrupt swerve into Kingfisher land that I delight in. Before Mousebones, the story is good but it hasn't quite taken that step up. After Mousebones, things just get delightful. And did I mention there are queer girls? Because there are queer girls. Also otters. And Mousebones. But mostly, there are queer girls.
100% recommended forever.
This entry is crossposted at http://bookblather.dreamwidth.org/402847.html. Please comment over there if possible.
The Rumpelstiltskin Problem, Vivian Vande Velde
I first ran across this book in a library when I was quite small, and I've been coming back to it on and off for most of my life.
The Rumpelstiltskin Problem is a collection of short stories that address Vande Velde's concerns about the fairy tale, which are less "this is problematic" and more "this doesn't make any goddamn sense." She came up with six variations of the story that did make sense, and wrote them down. I'm fond of them all, but I think my very favorite is Straw into Gold, in which the king wants gold and the miller's daughter is simply trying to survive and then gain his attention. There are others, though; like a miller's daughter trying to marry a king, and a troll trying to get a human baby, and a father trying to free his daughter. They all make much more sense than the original story, and I really just love to read them. Definitely recommended.
Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses, Ron Koertge
This one's a little weirder. It's a series of poems (with some really fantastic cutout illustrations, by Andrea Dezso) based on various fairy tales; some updated (like the little match girl, now a little girl selling CDs), some not (like Bluebeard, which I think is one of the better ones). They're very short-- 23 poems in less than 100 pages-- but some of them, like the Bluebeard one, are better for it. Some, like the Red Riding Hood one, are not so much? That one I could have enjoyed a lot more had there been more detail, I think. The thing I disliked about this book is that Koertge seemed to think he was doing something new and different by inverting and darkening these stories, but what he really seemed to be doing was getting back to the stories' Grimm roots. They're dark, yes. They're horrible in some places. But so are the originals. That, and the poetry can come across as a bit sameish (though the Red Riding Hood voice was pretty great). That said, I did enjoy this book, and frankly I think it's worth picking up for the illustrations alone. If you really like fairy tales, yeah, sure, give it a read. If not, it's probably not worth your time.
Toad Words, T. Kingfisher
T. Kingfisher is the adult penname of Ursula Vernon, and with that said, you probably know how this review is going to go (namely, eeeeEEEEEeee). So let's jump into the usual squeeing!
All that aside, I really do love Vernon in all her incarnations. She has this sense of humor that's wonderfully sly without being mean-- think Roald Dahl if he didn't hate everyone and everything. She also has a terrific eye for detail. The stories in Toad Words are wise without being preachy, and funny without being cruel, and just generally wonderfully done and a joy to read. They retell fairy tales from Andersen's The Little Mermaid to Arthurian stories of the Loathly Lady to traditional tales like Little Red Riding Hood. They are, however, not for children, not even in the way that the original fairy tales are not for children. The Kingfisher books are very much for adults. That said, they are, in my humble opinion, for all adults and everyone should read them, especially if you enjoy Vernon's other books. Highly recommended.
The Raven and the Reindeer, T. Kingfisher
Okay so the Raven and the Reindeer is a T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon book AND it has queer girls in it SO I am 100% sold on everything it does and want nothing else for the rest of my life.
Okay, that's not quite true. I think my actual favorite Kingfisher book is Bryony and Roses, but this one is very close to my heart. It's a retelling of the Hans Christian Anderson story The Snow Queen, which you may also recognize as the story that Frozen is very (very very) loosely based on. It starts fairly traditional-- Gerta and Kai, friends from more or less birth, Kai is taken by the Snow Queen and Gerta goes to get him back-- but then Mousebones the raven is introduced and the story takes an abrupt swerve into Kingfisher land that I delight in. Before Mousebones, the story is good but it hasn't quite taken that step up. After Mousebones, things just get delightful. And did I mention there are queer girls? Because there are queer girls. Also otters. And Mousebones. But mostly, there are queer girls.
100% recommended forever.
This entry is crossposted at http://bookblather.dreamwidth.org/402847.html. Please comment over there if possible.