Long Awaited Reads Month - Spindle's End

                                            


 January is Ana's and Iris' Long Awaited Reads Month.  I was perusing my shelves, wondering how far back some books had been on it waiting to read, when this book fell into my hands:  Spindle's End, by Robin McKinley. 

I am a huge fan of Robin McKinley, and I'm not sure why I hadn't read Spindle's End before.  I know I had tried at least twice, but the beginning is a little dry, with not a lot of action until chapter 2, when we meet Katriona, a girl of 15 who is picked from her village to represent it at the christening of the long-awaited princess who had finally been born to the king and queen.  You know how the story begins: king and queen long for a baby, it's finally born after many years, and at the christening day, fairies are invited, and one is left out, Pernicia,  and she ruins the party by putting a curse on the baby that on her 21st birthday, the princess will touch a spindle and fall into a poisoned sleep from which none can wake her. In this story, the evil fairy then changes it to: it could happen at any time up to her 21st birthday.   And from there, the novel takes off on it's own wonderful course.

    Spindle's End is the retelling of Sleeping Beauty, thus the name of the novel.  It is one of the best retellings of this particular fairy tale I have read, and indeed, I think how the story is reworked so that the princess - called Rosie, nickname of  the last of the 19 names she is given (they had been waiting a long time to have a baby), Briar Rose - Rosie herself plays a starring role in this novel.  She is hidden away by Katriona, far from the palace and  the seeking eyes of  the wicked fairy .  So Rosie grows up far away from anywhere, really, loved by two fairies, one of whom , Katriona, accidentally gives her small fairy talent to Rosie when she first sees her, because she wants to give her something (she is a tiny 3 month old princess after all) and because she wants to save her from the curse. The whole kingdom wants to.  And for 20 years, Rosie is raised in relative safety.  And then the year of the 21st birthday arrives.....

I love how the fairies are worked into this story: humans share the world with fairies, in this unnamed land, and the fairies are used to corral magic and try to keep it under control, because magic exists in this world.  Fairies look like humans, so they are mostly identified by what happens around them, what they cause to happen, or what they can do. 

Part of the spell this novel had me under is that Rosie grows up being able to talk to animals.  It was at this point in reading the novel that I discovered  - I remembered- that I  had loved this part of fairy tales when I read them.  I absolutely love animals that help characters, especially talking animals.  That to me was pure magic, and I love that in Spindle's End this is worked in to the story in such a beautiful way.  Rosie is not your archetypal princess, she is clumsy, large, not beautiful - but she is kind, and funny, and loves animals fiercely. 

This was a funny magical fairy tale.  It's been a long time since I read something that was so sweet, and well-written, and true to the spirit of fairy tales. 

What I love most though, is that Rosie mostly saves herself.  I think  it says a lot for today, and our envisioning of female power, that the prince doesn't rescue Rosie.  She decides to fight for the kingdom, for her people, for all she loves, to free them from the evil fairy.  She doesn't fall into a slumber that only one kiss will awaken her, she doesn't lie in state in the castle waiting for a prince to hack his way through to her.  She works with the land, the way a real princess (and King) do, close to it in the way that living in nature (they are far from any large city, or even small town) can give to people. That's what I mean by a marvelous true story.  Some of the questions that have bothered me for years about Sleeping Beauty are: Should Briar Rose do something, anything, to stop her curse?  Why is she so passive - hasn't she heard for all those years what the evil fairy wished on her?  Shouldn't she flee at the sight of a spindle?  Why is she so passive? Shouldn't she seek some way to avoid her fate, rather than let her father just banish spindles, as if that could stop an evil fairy?  This retelling answers those questions I long held in a deeply satisfying way.

 This one is rich in myth, and legend, and talking animals, good and evil, and a princess who is helped by those she is kind to.  It's filled with lots of love too, brimming over with love and romance.  At it's core, it's about being true to yourself.  There are two big heroines in this book - Katriona, who rescues the princess and then helps to raise her, and Rosie, the princess. I love that they are the center of this story of Sleeping Beauty.  They take action, they are the story.  This is a wonderful re-imagining.

So that was my first book for long awaited reads month.   I have had it on my shelves for several years now. Thank you, Ana and Iris, for creating this challenge! 

Fairy Tale and Movie week, and one superhero confession

Last week turned out to be delightful in terms of what I was reading, and the movies I ended up seeing. For someone who doesn't get out a lot now - having kids under the age of 5 = minimal social life, when there aren't many babysitters around!! So, this past weekend ended up being a real treat for me.


Fairy Tale 1:
I read Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber. Wow. This is an adult fairy tale book. By this I mean Carter writes in a language with symbols that are appropriate for older teens and adults. She has taken fairy tales we love, and rewritten them from a darker, almost gothic perspective. Most of the stories are about the moments before a marriage, and after, when the girl changes into a woman. That twilight time between childhood and adulthood, when blood has first begun to flow, and the girl is making her way into the world for the first time. Has she been taught well? These are about her awakening to life and love: From The Bloody Chamber (Bluebeard): I lay in bed alone. And I longed for him. And he disgusted me.
Were there jewels enough in all his safes to recompense me for this predicament?
From The Courtship of Mr Lyon (Beauty and the Beast): He forced himself to master his shyness, which was that of a wild creature, and so she contrived to master her own - to such effect that soon she was chattering away to him as if she had known him all her life.

and from The Company of Wolves (Little Red Riding Hood): Ten wolves, twenty wolves - so many wolves she could not count them, howling in concert as if demented or deranged. Their eyes reflected the light from the kitchen and shone like a hundred candles.
It is very cold, poor things, she said; no wonder they howl so.
She closed the window on the wolves' threnody and took off her scarlet shawl, the colour of poppies, the colour of sacrifices, the colour of her menses, and, since her fear did her no good, she ceased to be afraid.

Most of the stories are familiar to anyone who has ever read fairy tales as a child: Bluebeard, Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, Puss-in-Boots. I have to confess that I loved most of all, The Company of Wolves. It was better than I hoped for, since I love the movie that is based on Carter's short story, also called The Company of Wolves. It satisfies why Red Riding Hood could survive. Because, there are many different tellings of Little Red Riding Hood, in which the grandmother sometimes lives, they both live, they both die, Riding Hood is saved by her father, by a hunter.....it is as if this story is primordial, and we have to try to find the ending and shape that best suits our own natures, over time and culture. Angela Carter celebrated the beast within - not the monster that was bluebeard, who is a corruption of sexuality, power and hunger, but the natural beast of the world that is within us as well as without. These are powerful stories, powerful retellings that are adult fairy tales not just because of the sex, but because of the theme of transformation. I think this book - these retellings by Carter - is close to the original spirit of the fairy tales, dark and breathtakingly beautiful and fragile. Which transformation is. There is even a vampire (or two) in this collection. I love this line, which reminded me so much of Anne Rice's Vampire series: "This being, rooted in change and time,is about to collide with the timeless Gothic eternity of the vampires, for whom all is as it has always been and will be." The Gothic eternity of the vampires; how did Angela Carter know, since this book came out in 1979, before the vampire (and goths) were part of any scene? Somehow, she did.

Highly recommended. One I will come back to again and again.


Fairy Tale 2:
Then, we rented Sleeping Beauty, which we finally found at the video store yesterday. So my daughter and I watched Sleeping Beauty together. She was a bit afraid of the dragon, until she realized Prince Philip would know how to kill him. Now, I didn't tell her this, but I was disappointed the three fairies helped Philip so much. It felt like all he had to do was wave the sword, and they did everything else for him, including casting the spell that takes the sword directly to the dragon's weak spot! So I felt cheated...I wanted to see Philip have to think and reason and find out how to kill the dragon, which is the whole point of facing the beast yourself. So, I was once again reminded of Disney and why I dislike it in the end. I do admit i love the colours of Sleeping Beauty, and I love the struggle between the good and bad magic, and I thought the best characters were the good witches and Malificent, who is magnificent as the Evil Queen! (Holly-Anne hated her hat, by the way, which is way to symbolic of the devil for my tastes. Stupid Disney) I think my daughter likes the animal movies better (Lion King, etc), but at least we finally got to see it.


Movie 1:
Then, Indiana Jones and the kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I won't give any plot points away! Just.....it's worth going to see. one day I will discuss this movie more when I think everyone has seen it, for now I am going to say - hurray, I saw the movie while it was new in the theatres!!! and my husband and I had a date! My eldest son Duncan, 19, babysat for us as a birthday present to us. A lovely gift, and one most welcome since my husband loves Indiana Jones very much. Very enjoyable movie, breathtaking and alot of fun, like the Indiana Jones we all know and love. Oh, and my love also bought me the Indiana Jones DVD movie collection for my birthday.....which I burst out laughing to, since I said it was a gift he wanted more, had wanted for ages in fact, and I was going to get it for him for Father's Day!!! I told him I had been Simpsoned (after the Simpsons, the tv show),and when he looked at me puzzled, I said, because you bought me a gift that was for you! Thankfully he got the humour, and to make up for it went out and ordered something from Dr Who for me, because I'd been looking for the soundtrack for a long time. The Dr Who theme song is one of my all-time favourite pieces of music and I often joke I want it played at my funeral. I think we will laugh about this for a long time to come!!


Movie 2:
Cloverfield - my eldest son, Duncan, age 19 going on 30, was after me to see this movie all last summer. I hated Blair Witch Project, and then I heard there were spider-like things in Cloverfield, so I said no. Well, we were looking for something to watch together and when I discovered that he still hadn't seen it, I gave in. The things we do for our children! Lo, to my amazement, I really enjoyed it. Much, much more than I thought I would. I disagreed with some of what the characters did, but this just lets me imagine how I would write the story, so for starting stories in your head - what if's - this is good for that alone. Very few gory scenes - no slashing/knifing/endless killing sprees! No saw! No mindless serial killer and stupid characters! It was a good film. So, I had to apologize to my son and tell him I owe him one now.



Superhero Confession:
Now, if I can convince my eldest that I NEED to see the new Batman movie when it opens (and I do!!!)...maybe he will babysit again (or come with me to the movie.) Not sure if my husband wants to see this one, he's an Indiana Jones fan. I can hardly wait, I am a Batman chick, and adore the 1990's animated cartoons that were so dark and funny (but no one will watch them with me! *boo hoo*!) And it's not the dark suit, guys! It's the tortured soul of Batman I like! His dark past and what he has done with it....and I like bats. I held one - a live one, I know, stupid, they do carry rabies, but it was a warm night in February and somehow this tiny bat flew into me, and it was windy and snowing, so I carried it as far as my corner from downtown Sparks St, when it suddenly flew away. I was going to call the wild bird center here in Ottawa to give it shelter for the winter, so I was a little sad when it flew off. Oh, I loved looking into its dear little face, and seeing its leathery wings and little mouse-like body! Yes, I am counting down to Batman and the Joker and that lovely gothic city and all that dark, witty dialogue......