Nollaig Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 I know a few of the girls on here have been reading Beauty - while looking it up I discovered she wrote a second re-telling called Rose Daughter... anyone read it or know anything about it? Feel free to post reviews of Beauty (or of Rose Daughter) in here, I'll stick my own in this post when I read it. Until then, anyone want to tell me what the deal is with the two re-tellings of the same story??? Quote
lexiepiper Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 Beauty by Robin McKinley No. of pages: 271 Rating: 5/5 Synopsis: Beauty has always been embarrassed by her nickname - she is plain and awkward compared to her two elder sisters, Hope and Grace. But what she lacks in beauty she can perhaps make up for in courage. When their merchant father returns from a failed business trip to the city where they once lived, he tells his daughters a strange tale: how on his way home he lost himself in a winter storm, and stumbled out of it into the summer garden of a magical castle. Innocently he picks a rose, and a fearsome Beast roars at him that his life is forfeit . . . unless one of his daughters will take his place. He will not hear of it when Beauty declares that she will return to the castle in his stead, but she is determined to go. 'He cannot be so bad if he loves roses so much', she says. 'Cannot a Beast be tamed?' This is a captivating retelling of the story of Beauty and the Beast. Review:A beautifully written take on the classic story Beauty and the Beast. When Beauty's dad gets lost in a storm, he stumbles upon a grand castle that gives him shelter, but as he leaves the next morning, he can't help but pick a beautiful rose for his daughter. A furious Beast confronts him, and tells him his life is now forfeit, but as the elderly man begs for his life, the Beast tells him he can sacrifice one of his daughters in his stead if he so wishes. Beauty insists upon being the one to go to the castle, but doesn't expect what is waiting for her there. Can the Beast really be tamed? I was really looking forward to reading this as Beauty and the Beast has been a love of mine since childhood, but it exceeded even my expectations. The language is which it was written perfectly suited the tale, and the 'modern' aspect kept filmly inline with the original story. Some aspects were changed, but it only made the story more interesting and realistic, rather than so fairytale like. It was all around a fantastic book, I didn't dislike one thing about it, so if you're a fan of Beauty and the Beast, then this is definitely something you will enjoy. Rose Daughter looks pretty different story wise to what Beauty was about, but now I'm curious so I'll probably get Rose Daughter next week to compare them Quote
Weave Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 Great review Lexie, I have a copy of 'Beauty', I will add it to my tbr pile Quote
lexiepiper Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 Oh awesome, you'll love it Gyre, such a lovely story! Quote
Weave Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 (edited) Oh awesome, you'll love it Gyre, such a lovely story! Cool! I bought it alongside 'Sunshine' and never got around to reading it NB: Nope sorry Lexie, I don't have 'Beauty' (sorry), I have 'Deerskin' but I am adding 'Beauty' to my wish list Edited May 1, 2009 by Weave Quote
Glowmay Posted May 2, 2009 Posted May 2, 2009 Beauty is brilliant. I never knew she wrote a book called Rose Daughter, but I can assure you that her books are all very compelling. Spindle's End is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Sometimes she changes bits, and goes off the straight and narrow path of fairy tales. But it's all good. Quote
BookJumper Posted May 2, 2009 Posted May 2, 2009 Although this sounds really good and has been added to my TBR list, A beautifully written take on the classic story Beauty and the Beast. a new take it is not . Indeed, it follows the plotline of the original French fairy-tale, and its Russian counterpart. Which is a good thing, I might add, it's a beautiful tale that needs to get out more often. I'd say it's a fleshing out of the first take /pedant. Quote
lexiepiper Posted May 2, 2009 Posted May 2, 2009 Oh I know it's not new but it really is lovely ^^ Quote
Nollaig Posted May 19, 2009 Author Posted May 19, 2009 Moving what I said in another thread here: Needed to unwind from study last night before I could sleep so I read the first 50 pages of Beauty and bit more of my review book. Both are very good! I skipped ahead a little in Beauty and not a lot of time seems to be spent at the castle... I'm rather disappointed it's so short. Since I'm so madly into historical fiction lately, once I've read this I might work on my own version. It's a project, at least. Quote
chrysalis_stage Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 Since I'm so madly into historical fiction lately, once I've read this I might work on my own version. It's a project, at least. Thats a great idea! Quote
Nollaig Posted May 19, 2009 Author Posted May 19, 2009 You can help me Sarah. We'll get rich and famous, move to Hawaii and start a carnivorous-caterpillar farm. Quote
chrysalis_stage Posted May 19, 2009 Posted May 19, 2009 (edited) You can help me Sarah. We'll get rich and famous, move to Hawaii and start a carnivorous-caterpillar farm. lol! Ooo we will need dancing fruit flies to feed them On topic: as I said in book activity thread, I felt the ending came to suddenly and I was not ready for it to end. But overall I enjoyed it and would read it again! Edited May 19, 2009 by chrysalis_stage Quote
Nollaig Posted May 19, 2009 Author Posted May 19, 2009 I'm enjoying it too, but I'm wondering is there going to be anything substantial added onto the original legend. Quote
Nollaig Posted May 24, 2009 Author Posted May 24, 2009 (edited) I'm getting through this very slowly, I'm 160 pages in now. It's just not grabbing me. Beauty has no real character, she just goes along with whatever. And I hate that the Beast is nice. I know that's how the original tale went, but I don't like it. What's this rubbish on the back about 'cannot a Beast be tamed'? He doesn't need taming, he's like a servant! I thought given what I've heard about her changing her stories a little that maybe she was going to add depth to this Beast by making him more like what Disney later did with him. His character isn't strong enough yet to be scary or endearing, and I'm really not certain which the author is going for - she's failed on both counts anyway. Disney did it better by turning the Beast's self-loathing into a bad-tempered nature trying to be good. I didn't care for any of the other characters and so far she just seems to be trying to pad out the traditional story (ish) with... well, I don't even know what, because it's not substance and it's not any original contribution to the story. Edited May 24, 2009 by Nollaig Quote
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