I just wanted to take a minute and dedicate this post to the memory of a man who was a big influence on my childhood reading. Brian Jacques passed away on February 5th at the age of 71. I knew very little about him as I didn't bother to read much about authors as a kid and only recently thought to look him up and see what he'd been doing. While I haven't read one of his books in a while, I read Redwall at a fairly young age and it has stuck with me through the years. I eventually caught up in the series and while I was waiting for a new one to come out, I suppose I moved on to other things and forgot about it for a while.
I was at a used book store near me not too long ago and found a good bit of the entire series and bought what I could find. I'm missing a few, but I'll fill in the blanks soon and one day I'll start reading them all again from the beginning to the end. I'm sad that this is really it, THE END for the series, though. There is one final book coming out this year, I believe.
For more information on him and his books (he wrote more than just the Redwall series), you can check out his website here.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
The Rumpelstiltskin Problem
I found this book on Amazon by accident. I was looking for books on fairy tales (because I love them and am obsessed with reading every version) when this popped up as a recommendation. I added it to my cart as soon as I read the description and I was not disappointed!
In The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde, the author seeks to fill in the gaping holes in the Rumpelstiltskin story by re-writing the tale six times. It's actually hard to choose a favorite, they are all quite clever and fresh! There's nothing quite like a beloved fairy tale that's been brought back to life. It's also funny how many plot holes there really are in the original story, some that had occurred to me but got pushed aside and others that I never thought of.
When you really step back and look at the story, Rumpelstiltskin is like Swiss cheese. Velde tries to fill gaps and answer questions like:
Why is the king talking to the Miller in the first place? Why the heck would he make up a lie as crazy as his daughter spinning straw into gold? And why didn't the king question such a strange talent?
What does Rumpelstiltskin want with a gold ring and chain if he can spin straw into gold, and what does he want with a newborn baby? Why did he strike such a lousy bargain?
What possessed him to dance around a fire and sing his name?
What is up with the ending??
She does take into consideration that the story does show the power of a name... but why all the plot holes? We also have to consider that fairy tales get passed down through generations and are often not written down until they have been told a few (hundred!) times, so parts may have been left out or gone missing. We've all had someone try and tell us a story and forget a part or two! These stories are also from very different times and cultures so it may have made complete sense to someone at some point.
Overall, I think Velde comes up with clever ways to make the story work. She respects the original and comes up with six versions that are all very different but very good. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves fairy tales as much as me or to people who are just curious and want to revisit a story from their childhood.
In The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde, the author seeks to fill in the gaping holes in the Rumpelstiltskin story by re-writing the tale six times. It's actually hard to choose a favorite, they are all quite clever and fresh! There's nothing quite like a beloved fairy tale that's been brought back to life. It's also funny how many plot holes there really are in the original story, some that had occurred to me but got pushed aside and others that I never thought of.
When you really step back and look at the story, Rumpelstiltskin is like Swiss cheese. Velde tries to fill gaps and answer questions like:
Why is the king talking to the Miller in the first place? Why the heck would he make up a lie as crazy as his daughter spinning straw into gold? And why didn't the king question such a strange talent?
What does Rumpelstiltskin want with a gold ring and chain if he can spin straw into gold, and what does he want with a newborn baby? Why did he strike such a lousy bargain?
What possessed him to dance around a fire and sing his name?
What is up with the ending??
She does take into consideration that the story does show the power of a name... but why all the plot holes? We also have to consider that fairy tales get passed down through generations and are often not written down until they have been told a few (hundred!) times, so parts may have been left out or gone missing. We've all had someone try and tell us a story and forget a part or two! These stories are also from very different times and cultures so it may have made complete sense to someone at some point.
Overall, I think Velde comes up with clever ways to make the story work. She respects the original and comes up with six versions that are all very different but very good. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves fairy tales as much as me or to people who are just curious and want to revisit a story from their childhood.
Monday, December 13, 2010
I Heart Reading
I read a lot and I’ll pretty much read anything so this is a blog to just talk about what I’m reading aside from the classics I’m working on for my other blog. Sometimes I just need a break from them… and that’s what I’ll be writing about here.
It won't be anything terribly profound, just my opinion. I'm not going to analyze anything, just talk about what I think about some of the books I'm reading at the moment as well as some I'm re-reading and just talking about some of my favorites. I'll post soon with something... Right now I'm working on finishing Dracula per my sister's request. It's her favorite book and a classic, so I'll be writing about it on my other blog.
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