A poem which gives a more adult, and slightly more disturbed outlook to the original tale of Cinderella.
One of my favourite things about poems is the multitude of
meanings that a very few words can describe. The multitude of ways in which mere
words can tell an entire story. It’s something that prose just can’t quite
manage. Prose can fill in more information, but I find that poetry can often
find more meaning.
I’ve always liked (ok, maybe loved) the original version
more than the Disney PG one. It’s far more gory, the revenge that Cinderella is
able to get it way better and it just is so much more yay. At least for my crazy
brain. And this poem manages to take it a whole extra step. Making Cinderella’s
voice far less passive and more aggressive. Which I just completely ate up.
Everyone thinks they know the real story behind the villains in fairy tales – evil, no two ways about it. But the villains themselves beg to differ. In this book you’ll hear from: the Giant’s wife from “Jack and the Beanstalk” the oldest of the Twelve Dancing Princesses Rumpelstiltskin the witch from “Hansel and Gretel” someone called Evil Cinderella
Just watch these old stories do new tricks!
This is an incredibly easy, fun and engaging short story
collection. It takes some brilliant authors who take you on journeys through
well known fairy tales. The fact that these retellings all focus on the
villains of the stories just made me love it even more. I always love the
highlighting of grey areas and alternate tellings.
Troll’s-Eye View is a collection that is written for a very young age group. It’s simple and quaint. Easily accessible and fun. But, that doesn’t mean that as an adult you can’t enjoy it. There was nothing I enjoyed more than sitting down at the end of a long day and reading one of these short stories or poems. It was a great, fun and quick escape from the real world at a time when I’ve been really quite overwhelmed and stressed.
Most of my anthologies and collections contain only novellas
and short stories. Troll’s-Eye View also
has poems. They were enough to break up the flow throughout the story and leave
you with a smile on your face.
The entire issue with Aurora’s birthday is that no one decided to observe the formalities. And we all know how this story eventually ends…
I absolutely loved this poem. Although Maleficent (or the
evil fairy from Sleeping Beauty) has always seemed kind of a terrifying
villain, she’s also been the one that I relate to the best. Well, maybe not
relate to, but understand. After all, she is retaliating against an incredible
slight. Plus, there are so many beautiful retellings in the world now which make
her seem far less evil, and just… misunderstood.
Which is probably why I love this poem so much. It highlights
the faux pas that was made in “observing the formalities”. And instead of
feeling like a tale of an evil witch, it is more about someone who really likes
the rules. Which an organise freak like me can completely relate to…
Title: Black Spring Author: Alison Croggon Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves: Australian authors, Gothic, Retellings, Twisted romance Dates read: 18th – 25th February 2019 Pace: Slow Format: Novel Publisher: Walker Books Year: 2012 5th sentence, 74th page: But now I suspect that they might not have become so close if Lina hadn’t behaved so cruelly to begin with, and that part of his respect for her stemmed from his initial experience of her demonic temper.
Lina is enchanting, vibrant by wilful. And her eyes betray her for what she truly is – a witch. With her childhood companion, Damek, she has grown up privileged and spoiled and the pair are devoted to each other to the point of obsession. But times are changing. Vendetta is coming. And tragedy is stalking the halls of the Red House.
A stunning new novel by Alison Croggon, inspired by the Gothic classic Wuthering Heights.
The week before I read this I made an attempt at reading Wuthering Heights. I say attempt because I kind of hated it. Not the writing or the storyline, but the characterisation. So I wanted to tackle a retelling immediately after. After all, I like the idea of everything in the original, I just found Heathcliff so damn douchey that my rage couldn’t get past it to enjoy everything else that was going on. Black Spring helped to cure me of this.
Black Spring follows pretty much the same storyline as Wuthering Heights. It also makes Damek (Heathcliff) and Lina (Catherine) far more relatable. I still kind of thought that they were silly, and Damek was still the epitome of selfish, obsessive love. But, they were just on the wrong side of the line and so more approachable. It meant that I could appreciate the themes and ideas that were being shared, and actually enjoy the storyline while I was doing it.
My enjoyment of this story was probably helped along by the
fact that there was a fantasy aspect to the storyline. The addition of magic
and the emphasis on the disjoint between wizards and witches (gender) worked brilliantly
to further highlight the unfairness and indignities which Lina was forced to
face. It made her story a lot more tragic and sad than that of Catherine. I
actually found myself liking Lina, although she had many of the same character
flaws, it was much easier to see myself in her than in Catherine.
I absolutely adored everything about this book. But I think
that the aspect I enjoyed the most was the ending. Damek’s haunting and horrible
actions towards Lina’s daughter culminate in some kind of revenge. And the sway
in which this was done was poetic justice at its finest.
Earth and Skye 