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Author
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Comment
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Heidi
Anne Heiner
ezOP
(4/8/02 9:22:37 am)
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Re: What I'm reading...
"Possession" is a wonderful book. The movie version starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam is due to be released in the US on July 26. I am more interested in seeing it for a rare glimpse of Jennifer Ehle, who played Lizzie so well in the BBC/A&E production of "Pride and Prejudice" than to see the story that is rather difficult to translate well to screen, IMHO.
I've been reading mysteries and science fiction of late, not much fantasy at all except for the two final books in Juliet Marillier's trilogy. They are rich in story but somehow haven't enraptured me with a need to own them.
Also, if anyone knows of upcoming fairy tale related releases, please let me know so I can add them to the front page of my site. I have updated it to include the new 'Greenman' (including so many people's work on this board!) and Lackey's new "Gates of Sleep' for her mage/fairy tale fans.
Heidi
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Jane Yolen
Unregistered User
(4/8/02 10:28:42 am)
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Alice Hoffman
Me! Me! <Raising hand.> I am a big fan of Hoffman's. Her one mis-step I thought (pax, Terri) was Here on Earth which redacts Wuthering Heights in modern dress.
Alas, without the wuthering of the wind and the Yorkshire Moors and the depressing house, and the period dress, what one gets is a sociopathic man who has none of Heathcliffe's saturnine charm.
Jane
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Rebecca
Unregistered User
(4/9/02 7:57:12 am)
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A.S. Byatt, etc.
I am a great admirer of Byatt's work, as well. I recently picked up her collection of essays On Histories and Stories, which includes three essays related to fairy tales and myth and storytelling (one, 'Ice, Snow, Glass,' is reprinted from Mirror, Mirror on the Wall).
A couple other nonfiction books I've read recently are, Metamorphosis and Identity by Caroline Walker Bynum; Bynum is a medieval scholar, so the book concentrates mostly on the Middle Ages, but she also discusses Ovid and a couple modern authors, including Angela Carter and her werewolf stories from The Bloody Chamber. I've read another book by this author and am very impressed by her scholarship and her ability to present it in an extremely readable way. Another book I was reminded of by the changeling discussion is The Burning of Bridget Cleary by Angela Bourke, which is about an Irish woman who was killed by her husband (with the complicity of some of their family) supposedly because he thought she was a fairy changeling... a very interesting and disturbing book.
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Maatera
Registered User
(4/9/02 8:33:27 am)
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Re: A.S. Byatt, etc.
I read the Burning of Bridget Cleary recently as well. It's very disturbing. The only problem I had with it is that I thought they put in a little too much extraneous information. Some of the polical history of Ireland was helpful in that it explained the reaction of the Catholic clergy to the killing, but I felt that there were whole chapters that were there just to pad out the book. When they stuck to the story of Bridget Cleary though it was truly haunting.
Another good story that has fairy tale elements is "Angels and Insects" Off hand, I can't think of the author. There is a film version out as well that does a good job of capturing the otherworldliness of it. It's worth a look.
Connie
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catja1
Registered User
(4/9/02 9:28:49 am)
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Bourke and Byatt
I'd like to second the recommendations for _The Burning of Bridget Cleary_, and anything by A.S. Byatt (_Angels and Insects_ is her, too); the title story of _The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye_ describes the kind of life I want for myself, genie and all! Also in nonfiction, I recently read Diane Purkiss' _At the Bottom of the Garden_, and quite enjoyed it.
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Terri
Registered User
(4/10/02 8:57:24 am)
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Re: Bourke and Byatt
Okay, Jane, we'll have to disagree on Here on Earth! The only one of Hoffman's that I really *didn't* like was the recent The Blue Diary.
Two books I've read and liked very much recenty that draw on selchie myths are Swim the Moon by Paul Brandon, a contemporary fantasy novel set in Scotland, and The Nature of Air and Water by Regina McBride, an Irish coming-of-age novel. I also liked the children's fantasy Straw into Gold by Gary D. Schmidt, based on Rumplestiltskin and Patrice Kindl's Goose Chase, which draws on a number of different fairy tales. Nalo Hopkinson's story collection Skin Folk, which uses a lot of Caribbean folklore themes, is gorgeous. And Masha Hamilton's Staircase of a Thousand Steps, set in a Jordanian village, is another interesting, exotic, coming-of-age tale filled with folk stories.
Has anyone here seen Myth and Fairy Tale in Contemporary Women's Fiction by Susan Sellars? It's published by Palgrave and sounds intriguing, but the $62.00 price tag is pretty steep! I'm curious whether it acknowledges contemporary women fairy tale writers who aren't in the literary mainstream...or does it limit itself to the Usual Suspects (Carter, Byatt, Atwood)?
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Kate
Unregistered User
(4/10/02 11:53:47 am)
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Sellers
Terri,
I just looked this up and found a brief description on her home page: "Sellers offers challenging new readings of a wide range of contemporary women's fiction, including works by A. S. Byatt, Angela Carter, Anne Rice, Michele Roberts, Emma Tennant and Fay Weldon."
I'm writing to the publisher to request an examination/review copy--if it comes through, I'd be more than happy to send it to you after I read it. $62 is just too steep for my tiny budget, too. Ouch.
I've also just ordered Grimms' Last Fairy Tale and will give my 'report' on it as soon as I'm done. We have liked similar books in the past (The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches comes to mind, which several people I know found just too terribly dark to like).
I posted something a while back about Joyce Carol Oates's book Beasts, but no one replied; perhaps I am the only one who has read it. It was quite dark and spare, and I liked it very much. I'd recommend it as part of this developing list. I think it is some of her strongest writing ever.
Won't add any more about Byatt; I'd just be repeating everyone else's glowing words. She's just incredible as a stylist, and I deeply admire the precision of emotion and idea in her work . . .
--Kate
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Rebecca
Unregistered User
(4/10/02 1:30:52 pm)
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Susan Sellers
If you look the book (Myth and Fairy Tales...) up at the Barnes & Noble website they show the table of contents; I noticed the names, Sherri Tepper and Emma Donoghue, besides the ones already mentioned. It also seems that the paperback edition is a bit cheaper.
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Heidi
Anne Heiner
ezOP
(4/10/02 1:43:19 pm)
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Re: Susan Sellers
The paperback edition of Myth and Fairy Tale in Contemporary Women's Fiction is sitting on my "To Be Read" pile. I will glance in it again tonight and try to remember which authors are discussed in it.
I also enjoyed Goose Chase and Straw Into Gold, Terri. I am waiting for a copy of the Legend of Lady Ilena now to read.
Heidi
Edited by: Heidi Anne Heiner at: 4/10/02 1:47:11 pm
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Jane Yolen
Unregistered User
(4/10/02 2:55:46 pm)
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Susan A
Susan Sellers is one of my best friends in Scotland. She teaches at St Andrews and her husband (who is a composer) and I have been working on a folk tale musical called STONES.
Not important, but just thought I'd name drop!
Jane
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Kate
Unregistered User
(4/10/02 3:48:11 pm)
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Etc
Jane,
Thought this might be an appropriate discussion string to ask when a book you mentioned some time ago will be published--I believe you described it as a collection of recipes (?) from fairy tales, perhaps "Fairy Tale Feasts" . . . please do correct me if my memory is cracked.
I thought that sounded like a terrific idea.
Best,
Kate
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Jane Yolen
Unregistered User
(4/11/02 2:24:08 am)
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recipes
Actually--it is children's books recipes, not fairy tales per se, though therere will be a couple. Probably time to bug the editor again about the contract. I've been a bit busy with a major family medical problem.
Thanks for reminding me.
Right now it's called MAD TEA PARTIES & Other Literary Feasts.
Jane
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tlchang37
Registered User
(4/11/02 11:02:44 pm)
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published works
Here might be a good place for a request/suggestion for Heidi:
Would it be possible to compile a list (or maybe it could be its own thread) of the upcoming works being published by people on this board? There are so many people publishing things here that I want to read - and I lose track over the various threads.
What do you think?
Tara
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Terri
Registered User
(4/19/02 8:12:37 am)
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Re: What I'm reading...
Charles: Your post set me off on a Alice Hoffman re-reading binge--first Here on Earth, and the The River King. And the funny thing is, I liked Here on Earth less the second time around, but appreciated The River King more. So reverse those two in my list!
Another book recommendation: Has anyone else here read Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair? It's a rather wacky literary detective novel--smart, silly, and a whole lot of fun.
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Heidi
Anne Heiner
ezOP
(4/19/02 12:15:50 pm)
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Re: What I'm reading...
Terri,
Eyre Affair is near the top of my stack. Guess I will try to get to it this week then. No one else I know has read it yet.
Looking forward to a long weekend of reading....
Heidi
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swanchick
Registered User
(4/19/02 2:03:51 pm)
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new recommendation! :)
I just finished Marie Jacober's _The Black Chalice_. It's not a fairy tale novel per se, but it does have some folkloric themes, and is similar in tone to the likes of Juliet Marillier's or Jacqueline Carey's work. It is a bloody, dark, sensual novel about pagan mysteries and the corruption of the Church in medieval Germany. Not to be read, perhaps, by those who are offended by anti-Christian sentiment no matter what the circumstances, but the truth is that some truly nasty stuff went on back then...
Anyway, if you like that sort of thing, you might want to check it out; it's heavy and dark, but quite well-written, IMHO.
swanchick
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Terri
Registered User
(4/20/02 7:11:23 am)
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Re: new recommendation! :)
Swanwchick: I liked The Black Chalice too, though you're right to offer some warnings in your recommendation!
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alina
Registered User
(4/21/02 5:57:53 am)
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More recommendations
Here are two more books to add to your 'to be read' piles. "Well Wished" and "The Folk Keeper", both by Franny Billingsley. She was a presenter at the SCBWI convention I attended yesterday, and she was a very eloquent and interesting speaker. "The Folk Keeper" was my favorite of the two books, and is based on selkie mythology. "Well Wished" (with its ornery wishing well) was also an enjoyable read.
Alina
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Callie
Registered User
(4/21/02 7:36:47 am)
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Re: More recommendations
Jackaroo by Cynthia Voigt and The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin Mckinley. Not fairy tales in the strictest sense, but definitely fractured versions of the Robin Hood Tale. Both feature strong heroines in the traditionally male role of Robin Hood or his Merry Men.
-Callie
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Maatera
Registered User
(4/23/02 11:20:18 am)
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More recommendations
I was going through some of my books last night and I came across two that I don't think have been mentioned yet. They are by Leonora Carrington who was/is a surrealist painter. She "went insane" back in the 40's and her family had her put into an asylum in Spain. Her version of the events has a mythic quality to it. It's called "Down Below". Very interesting.
She also wrote a novel called "The Hearing Trumpet". Very fairy tale like. I think you guys would enjoy it quite a bit. I believe The Hearing Trumpet is at Amazon. Down Under is more difficult to find, but worth searching for.
Connie
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