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Comment
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Kate
Unregistered User
(6/7/02 4:20:17 pm)
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Byatt's "The Thing In The Forest"
The story in this week's The New Yorker is by A. S. Byatt, called "The Thing In The Forest." As part of the plot, two little girls sent to a children's shelter during WWII (named Primrose and Penny) go into the forest and encounter a hideous creature. This worm-like being devours a younger girl who has followed them. The worm, they later discover, is known through local legend. Does anyone know if this story is based specifically on a tale? Of course it is like many forest/woods tales--girls, paths, threats by Other--I won't list those here. I'm wondering if anyone who has also read it recognizes one specific tale in the plot or other elements, such as the names or the worm reference?
It's a beautifully written and frightening story. Quite excellent and rich. (Related to another string, I happen to believe there is much work that could be called 'beautiful' being done these days, Byatt included--yet, it is true, most other 'beautiful' stories are vastly largely overlooked in favor of the ironic or glib or otherwise chic modes of writing. However, beautiful stories are out there--just, maybe, not be touted in obvious places . . . I will try to compile a list of little-known beautiful stories for this site in days to come).
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erzebet
Registered User
(6/7/02 7:21:35 pm)
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Re: Byatt's "The Thing In The Forest"
Thank you for pointing out this wonderful story! As far as I know, dragon, or wyrm, legends are many in Britian. This reminds me of the great wyrm seen repeatedly in St. Leonard's Forest, County Sussex, which was nine feet long and left a trail of slime in its wake. More than that I do not know.
Erz
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Jane Yolen
Unregistered User
(6/8/02 2:29:34 am)
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Wyrm
And of course "wyrm" is the term used in medieval tales instead of dragon. Probably Teutonic in origin. (Though, surpringly, not in the Shorter OED.)
I will have to get a copy of that story. I LOVE Byatt.
Jane
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Kate
Unregistered User
(6/8/02 10:54:51 am)
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Wyrm, etc.
I love a great excuse to read the OED for an hour or more! Thanks for the information on this. I've spent a lovely morning reading the dictionary and looking up things generally related.
Believe it or not, "The Thing in the Forest" is online at The New Yorker's website, I think in its entirety (I have the print issue, the one on sale last week I believe, dated June 3, 2002--it's much better than reading on a screen, for me, but you can find it online if need be). I am so grateful that they publish Byatt's new stories with some frequency. I too love her work--so much. Imagine how exciting it was for me to receive even the most rudimentary correspondence from her when she wrote for Mirror, Mirror. My heart would really pound when I saw her name on an envelope!
This story is very Byatt, indeed.
Go to:
www.newyorker.com/fiction/
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Jane Yolen
Unregistered User
(6/8/02 3:54:28 pm)
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Thanks
Thank you, thank you. Very Byatt indeed. The tumble of just-right details that
absolutely convince. . .the frisson of believable terror, the sturdiness of fragile characters.
I loved it. Thanks.
Jane
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Midori
Unregistered User
(6/11/02 4:07:55 am)
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great story
Hey Kate,
Thanks for the heads up on the Byatt story. It's wonderful...proving once again that the traditional tales have never been solely for children. The story has that lovely double vision--the child and later the mature woman--much like the storyteller herself always reinterpreting the familiar against different emotional landscapes and moments in life.
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Jess
Unregistered User
(6/12/02 8:01:26 pm)
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Too Late
Kate,
I tried to access the story using the URL you posted above, but was only able to access the most recent edition, the June 12th edition. I guess that is what happens when one delays reading interesting material. I suppose now the only option is finding a copy of the magazine. Fortunately, it sounds as if the story is worth the search.
Jess
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