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elrhiarhodanSorry I missed posting yesterday, long day at work and then insane traffic. Someone want to point me to the moron that scheduled a parade on a Wednesday evening? It took me 35 minutes to go .5 miles. Grrrr.
And so, today's book. "B" for Beauty, by Robin McKinley.
I can actually remember the first time I heard the story of Beauty and the Beast. I was in second grade (and ironically, had another nasty excuse for a teacher), but Beauty and the Beast was a film strip (who remembers those?) and while I don't remember much about the artwork (it probably was pretty awful), what I do remember was that the evil sisters had to rub onions under their eyes to make themselves cry at Beauty's departure to the Beast's castle.
A few years later, George C. Scott (of Patton fame) played the Beast opposite his hot young wife, Trish Van Devere. I don't remember much about the film (a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie that was actually nominated for several Emmys), except the end, when Belle runs back to the dying Beast and says "Live, live so I may marry you". I don't know why, but that line has been such a hot button for me ever since.
But enough background, onto the book.
About the Book: Today (and for the past decade), modernizing and novelizing the old fairy tales is nothing exceptional. But in the early 1980s, it just wasn't the thing. This is decades before Disney's new Golden Age, before people considered old folk tales worthy of anything more than dry academic interest or something to read to children. Robin McKinley's retelling of the Beauty and the Beast tale keeps some of the very traditional elements of the story - widowed merchant father with three daughters loses his fortune and the family is forced to relocate to the country. A few years later, the father learns that one of his ships, thought lost, have made it back to port. So he asks his daughters what he can bring them. The two sisters ask for treasure, but the youngest wants only a rose.
And so begins the tale, but not in the way we've come to expect. The sisters aren't evil and selfish - their requests are more as kind jokes than anything. They even have names - Faith and Hope, and the youngest is actually called Charity but her sisters call her "Beauty". They are a strong and loving and close knit family who support each other. Beauty is very bookish in this story and I will always maintain that Disney stole that quality and the Beast's immense library from this book (it wasn't part of the classic version I remember reading).
Why This Book is Important To Me: It's a love story, in the way that the best fairy tales are love stories, but it's also a story about growing up and taking responsibility for your actions. It's a story about family and growth. It's also the first piece of fanfiction I've ever read (although I didn't realize it at the time).
A twenty years later, Robin McKinley kinda-sorta rewrote Beauty, turning it into The Rose Daughter. I never read it. I never wanted to read it. To me, Beauty was the perfect book and anything else from that author would spoil it for me.
This is probably a good time to talk about cover art. The image I've used here is not exactly the cover art I remember (this might be from a UK version), but it is a hell of a lot more interesting than what's available today:
I know the old saying, "don't just a book by its cover, but there's noting at all enticing about this cover. A rose, some thorns. How original! And sadly, I'm seeing this time and time again. The incredible (although somewhat dated) cover art (drawings or paintings) are replaced with lackluster "thing" photos. I'm sure that part of this is due to publication rights, but this is one of the most egregious examples.
So, friends - what did you read that still sticks with you so many years later?
And so, today's book. "B" for Beauty, by Robin McKinley.
I can actually remember the first time I heard the story of Beauty and the Beast. I was in second grade (and ironically, had another nasty excuse for a teacher), but Beauty and the Beast was a film strip (who remembers those?) and while I don't remember much about the artwork (it probably was pretty awful), what I do remember was that the evil sisters had to rub onions under their eyes to make themselves cry at Beauty's departure to the Beast's castle.
A few years later, George C. Scott (of Patton fame) played the Beast opposite his hot young wife, Trish Van Devere. I don't remember much about the film (a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie that was actually nominated for several Emmys), except the end, when Belle runs back to the dying Beast and says "Live, live so I may marry you". I don't know why, but that line has been such a hot button for me ever since.
But enough background, onto the book.
About the Book: Today (and for the past decade), modernizing and novelizing the old fairy tales is nothing exceptional. But in the early 1980s, it just wasn't the thing. This is decades before Disney's new Golden Age, before people considered old folk tales worthy of anything more than dry academic interest or something to read to children. Robin McKinley's retelling of the Beauty and the Beast tale keeps some of the very traditional elements of the story - widowed merchant father with three daughters loses his fortune and the family is forced to relocate to the country. A few years later, the father learns that one of his ships, thought lost, have made it back to port. So he asks his daughters what he can bring them. The two sisters ask for treasure, but the youngest wants only a rose.
And so begins the tale, but not in the way we've come to expect. The sisters aren't evil and selfish - their requests are more as kind jokes than anything. They even have names - Faith and Hope, and the youngest is actually called Charity but her sisters call her "Beauty". They are a strong and loving and close knit family who support each other. Beauty is very bookish in this story and I will always maintain that Disney stole that quality and the Beast's immense library from this book (it wasn't part of the classic version I remember reading).
Why This Book is Important To Me: It's a love story, in the way that the best fairy tales are love stories, but it's also a story about growing up and taking responsibility for your actions. It's a story about family and growth. It's also the first piece of fanfiction I've ever read (although I didn't realize it at the time).
A twenty years later, Robin McKinley kinda-sorta rewrote Beauty, turning it into The Rose Daughter. I never read it. I never wanted to read it. To me, Beauty was the perfect book and anything else from that author would spoil it for me.
This is probably a good time to talk about cover art. The image I've used here is not exactly the cover art I remember (this might be from a UK version), but it is a hell of a lot more interesting than what's available today:
I know the old saying, "don't just a book by its cover, but there's noting at all enticing about this cover. A rose, some thorns. How original! And sadly, I'm seeing this time and time again. The incredible (although somewhat dated) cover art (drawings or paintings) are replaced with lackluster "thing" photos. I'm sure that part of this is due to publication rights, but this is one of the most egregious examples.
So, friends - what did you read that still sticks with you so many years later?
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Date: 2017-08-04 12:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-08-04 11:30 pm (UTC)