Fractured Fairy Tales December

Those of a certain age will recall the subject heading as a segment of the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon. I always loved their take on my favorite tales, and credit them with my love of these twisted delights. I have a huge list somewhere on an outdated hard drive so I am running on memory. But something tells me you all will remember more than I will. Anyway lets get started

First a few YAs - the kind of kiddie lit I love reading as an adult coz you just know the little angels aren't getting why they are so hilarious and delicious

Cinder Edna

The Paperbag Princess

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

Phantom Tollbooth This one might be stretching it, because its not a take on a specific tale, but a wonderfully written book that takes all the tropes of Fairy Tales and turns them upsidedown, while along the way teaching how language and numbers are used and misused. (the Sunset section is my favorite part)

Then there are the adult tales, that are much more serious, but oh so imaginative

Wicked If you think you know this story from the Broadway Musical, you don't. There is so much more here that isn't touched upon, plus the musical changed the ending which I think was criminal but thats just me.

Mirror Mirror Maguire's take on Snow White, with Lucrezia Borgia as the wicked Step Mother

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister Maguire's take on Cinderella

The Book of Lost Things a little boy grieving for his dead mother falls into a fantasy land that at first sounds like fun, and quirky (the seven dwarves start a union and picket), but gets very dark very quickly. You have been warned.

Kissing the Witch Starts with one tale, then one character visits the second tale and so one. By one of my fav authors

The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye by the author of Possession

My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales A collection of tales by a variety of writers. Loved Michael Cunninghams Wild Swan tho I think Kevin Brockmeiers A Day in the Life of Rumplestilksen is my favorite.

Then there are the Hogarth Shakespeare titles that are takes on the Bard's tales. Haven't decided if these are 'fairy tales' but given that he often used folk tales as a basis for his plays, I guess I can stretch a bit. The only one I have read is Hag Seed by Margaret Atwood, a master class on the play The Tempest. The others include Vinegar Girl (Taming of the Shrew) Shylock is my Name, The Gap of Time (A Winters Tale) and New Boy Tracy Chevalier (Othello).

In college I wrote a paper on fairy tales around the world and how the same tropes and themes appear in other countries and cultures. I'd love to read some titles that you might know about - please add them here!

I am looking forward to reading Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth. Set in 17th century France, this is based on the fairy tale, "Rapunzel".

I love this genre! I have these on my shelf -

Goose Chase by Kindl
Rose Daughter McKinley
Spindle's End "
The Night Dance: A Retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" Weyn
Shadow Spinner Fletcher
The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold Block
Swan Sister: Fairy Tales Retold Datlow
Kate and the Beanstalk Osborne

I read a good number of retold fairy tales! This is for December, but hopefully with me posting here, I will remember to fit one in then!

Some options on my tbr (but I have way more than this!). Many seem to be graphic novels.

Fairest, Vol.1: Wide Awake by Bill Willingham
Red Hood's Revenge by Jim C. Hines
Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love by Chris Roberson
The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman
The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen
Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier
Fables: The Last Castle by Bill Willingham
Snow White Must Die by Nele Neuhaus

Oh I am a huge fan of Gaiman, have not heard of that title. Is that a graphic novel?

Snow Queen might be interesting to read in December; there are so many versions to this tale, tho I like Andersens.

>5 cindydavid4: It was so long ago I added the Gaiman to my tbr, I can't recall exactly, but there are lots of tags that say "graphic novel" or "graphic novels", so it likely is, yes. :-)

ETA: I also see tags of "short stories" (I guess it could be both), picture book (which is close), and audio book! I think, if it's graphic novels, though, or even a picture book, I probably don't want to listen to the audio!

... and to add, many of the reviews simply talk about the illustrations, so maybe it's more of a illustrated book, not necessarily a graphic novel. I'm not sure! But, I did go take the audio book off my Overdrive wish list. :-)

I don't have any that come to mind.......don't really love the genre so won't buy any.....but I'll see what I have on my shelf that may work for this!

>8 Tess_W: I felt exactly like Tess did. Then I remebered something I'd just a few weeks ago bought at a used book store: The Waste Land (Norton Critical Edition). I hadn't been aware, until I saw this on the shelf, that there was an NCE of this title! The myth – and I think we can call it a "folk tale" – of the Fisher King certainly got "fractured" by Eliot. It's of course a reread for me of The Waste Land but it will be an interesting first-read of the NCE supplementary materials.

So don't despair, Tess, and with a little imagination you'll find something.

(I do have Angela Carter's two Virago editions of fairly tales, only one of which I've read, but I'm not sure those are "fractured" enough for this topic.)

Another interesting "fractured" myth is In Parenthesis by David Jones, a work very much admired by Eliot and which "fractures" such Welsh myths as Mabinogion while portraying a soldier of the First World War. I read this one back in graduate school and just reread it a year or two ago for some kind of WW1 challenge here on LT, so that's not one I'm going to turn to. It's a bit hard going, but it's not that long, and someone with modernist literary interests might find it worth checking out.

>9 CurrerBell: I have Mark Helprin's Swan Lake, which isn't a fairy tale but a fantasy, but his version certainly isn't Tchaikovksy's ballet. I also have a 600+ page Grimms Fairytales, which aren't fractured, but certainly more violent than the what we were used to in the Little Golden Books! I'll probably read one of these....I'll keep picking at my shelf!

>9 CurrerBell: (I do have Angela Carter's two Virago editions of fairly tales, only one of which I've read, but I'm not sure those are "fractured" enough for this topic.)

Please tell me more about them. They probably will be just fine (heck, my teacher hat is well hung up when I am online, so no red marks I promise!)

Most well known tales have a ton of variations. I think those could be included - I find them as interesting as the ones that develop within different cultures with changes.

I know Waste Land, and I am not sure it fits here but I could be persuaded.

I think Folk Tales fit just fine here. Monkey's Paw is another example that seems to be frequently retold. And of course, as I mention about, our favorite fairytales have many variaations as well.

BTW I did remove the Bible story section from the original post. The more I thought about it the more I thought that could be a separate section altogether, and probably doesn't belong here. But thats not to say you can't read them - if you want the list let me know :)

>9 CurrerBell: Thanks for the rec on Parenthesis. I have read many poets of WWI; that looks like something I need to add to my reads. Im also big on anything Welsh so that could be interesting.

>10 Tess_W: Oh yeah, the originals were pretty violent; the ones we read to kids now have been toned down big times. Is interesting to read those 'first' ones (which came from even older folk tales taht the Grimm brothers were collecting) with an eye as to the current level of violence in many forms of children's entertainment these days.

>7 LibraryCin: The copy of "The Sleeper and the Spindle that I have is illustrated but I think there is a version that was published without illustrations as well. It isn't really a graphic novel with panels and such though.

>14 Darth-Heather: Thank you for that info!

>11 cindydavid4: I have (but haven't read) Carter's The Virago Book of Fairy Tales; and although I've read her Second Virago Book of Fairy Tales, it's been over five years and I really don't have much of a memory, but my recollection is that they're fairly straightforward and wouldn't be considered "fractured."

Just thought of a couple others. Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins by Emma Donoghue — a never-read ROOT for me, and I've also got it right where I can put my fingers on it! Definitely "fractured" and definitely "fairy tales."

Also, Geoff Ryman's Was. It's a weird (but highly regarded) Oz-based mash-up of 20th-century Judy Garland with a "Dorothy Gael" (correct spelling) of the 1800s. It's been so very long since I read it that I barely remember it, and it could be worth a reread. Unfortunately, although I'm sure I've got it around the house, I'm not sure just where.

>2 DeltaQueen50:, Bitter Greens is a good read.

>17 CurrerBell: Yeah I have Kissing the Witch on my list above, one of my favorite books in the genre! Enjoy!

Haven't read Was, will need to do that! (ETA I knew I recognized the name of the author, just realized that he wrote Air: or Have Not Have Which I found really interesting.)

>18 Roro8: Bitter Greens looks really interesting - think I've got my weekend reading planned out!

I finally came upon a fractured fairy tale---or as close as I'm going to get---Children of Hamelin ...what really happened to the children--the adult version! This book was gifted to me by the author. We used to be euchre partners.

Children of Hamelin by Theresa Sinclair. I received this book sometime ago because I played euchre with the author who is from Brighton, England. I knew when I purchased it that it was not my genre of reading, fantasy. I read it now because in the Reading Through Time group the theme for December is "Fractured Fairytales." This was the closest I had that would fit that category. I'm not sure if The Pied Piper is a fairy tale or a folk tale. This is the story of what happened to the children after they were lead out of Hamelin by the Pied Piper. It is told from the view of two different individuals: Sam Pullit, who was well educated and Jessop who was not. Either way, it was the same story and I could barely distinguish the two. If one word could describe this book it is: fornication! The entire plot of the book is the girls wanted to be mothers and they hijacked or captured young men to make that happen. The young men (boys) soon became tired of this (really?) and went back to live in nature, wild-like. I never knew the term "brindie boy" until I read this book. Sorry, Theresa, I just couldn't get into this book at all! 231 pages 2 1/2 stars.

I won The Girl in the Tower (Katherine Arden) on Early Review, perhaps because "The Algorithm" saw that I have its trilogy predecessor, The Bear and the Nightingale, in My Library. It should fit in nicely to our December theme (the trilogy's an original story but based on Russian folklore) so I'm going to hold off on reading and reviewing it for ER until December.

ETA: The book itself won't be out until December 5, and the ER copy is a paperback pre-release review copy.

>21 Tess_W: Yeah I didn't get very far with that one. Pity because it could have been really interesting. ah well...

>21 Tess_W: I love Russian folklore, so will have to try The Girl in the Tower; Bear and the Nightingal as well.

I would like to expand the 'fractured fairy tale' idea to include variations on themes. Just discovered this site that might spark some ideas -
https://fairytalereview.com/about/
(how do I post links here?)

>24 cindydavid4: Careful! Be sure you read The Bear and the Nightingale first or I don't think you're going to understand what's going on in the second book, at least according to some of the ER reviews already posted. The first book, B&N, currently has an LT rating of 4.16**** (I personally gave it 5*****); and for the second book, GT, the current LT rating is 4.71**** (which may be a little high since a lot of us ERs are probably already big fans of Katherine Arden). But you definitely should consider The Bear and the Nightingale as one of your December reads.

>25 CurrerBell: Thanks for the head's up!

>24 cindydavid4: Decide on what you want the name of your link to be as it appears on-screen. Let's let the link be called....

Fair Tale Review ... About

Now, how did I attach the URL to that text? Like this....

<a href="https://fairytalereview.com/about/">Fair Tale Review ... About</a>

For more details, check out Virago Modern Classics: Things Every Woman (and Man) Should Know About HTML and other techie questions answered.

Be careful with HTML. You've got to have everything precise, including quotations marks round the URL. If you have any questions, it would probably be best to post them to that VMC thread where several folks can jump in and help you, rather than reinventing the wheel here on RTT.

Oh that? Yeah I was using that in the early oughts, used it well. I know what you mean by all those little details. Have forgotten much of it now since Id gotten spoiled by all of the sites Im on when you just highlight text, click a link button and paste the HTML. Guess I'll go back to the old way. Thanks for the link I'll check out VMC!

Very interesting article in the NYT Let It GO: Making Peace with Princesses The writer considers her four year old daughter desire to dress up as Elsa (from Frozen). The article goes on to view this tale from its beginnings, and makes the point that if you don't like how a fairy tale is, change it!

Here's an interesting article about versions of Cinderella around the world includes the oldest variations from Egypt and China

>30 cindydavid4: I took a reading course in the 1970's and we had to devise a lesson plan wherein we used multiple versions of a story and I did use Cinderella. There were plenty of versions available!

>30 cindydavid4:, I just had a read of that article. It was very interesting.

I have been thinking I might read Beauty in Thorns, by Kate Forsyth, a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. however I have been tempted by some of the titles already mentioned in this thread.

Well I am half way through Bear and Nightingale and am just smitten! (did not realize this is a new publication, and the next one is out in Dec. Got it on my hanuakah list)

I did read the authors interview in the back, she's lived in Russia and has done her research on the time and place, and on the folk tales. Here she answers the question comparing Russian and European tales:

Yes, there are marked differences between Western European and Russian fairy tales. To me the most interesting difference is between the recurring main characters of these two fairy-tale traditions. For example, the classic hero of Russian fairy tales is Ivan the Fool. He is not a muscular and martial figure like the heroic kings, princes and woodcutters that feature in Western European fairy tales. Rather, he is usually of ordinary birth, lazy and good-natured, and he gets by on his wits and native innocence.

For me, the heroines in Russian fairy tales absolutely outshine their Western counterparts, in terms of initiative, courage and interesting storylines. Vasilisa the Beautiful, for example, defeats the Baba Yaga with her cleverness and the help of her mother’s blessing. Marya Morevna is a warrior queen. Even Baba Yaga, the prototypical villain, is a powerful woman, who is sometimes wicked but always wise. For that reason, especially, I prefer the fairy tales of Pushkin or Afanasyev to those of say, Perrault, which value passivity in girls (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, etc).

I have Wicked somewhere in the stacks. I will have to hunt it down.

I couldn't resist, I'm reading The Bear and the Nightingale.

>35 Roro8: I'm just starting the sequel, The Girl in the Tower, just barely starting, and it looks to be quite good. I got it as an LT Early Review a little while back and I've been holding it for this month's theme.

ETA: Those Moscow winters are COLD! (Hint, if someone's looking toward next month's theme.)

>34 Familyhistorian: I read Wicked ages ago and I'd like to get around to the sequels, but I don't know if I have the energy to read the entire series. I might instead take a shot at After Alice if I have the time.

I'm reading The Wolf Wilder, which is a kid's book, but it's set in late Tsarist Russia. It reminds me a little of Red Riding Hood. TBH, I'm not loving it. I thought it would be more like a fairy tale, but it's a little too dark for me. Just in case it was on someone's list.

I wonder about darkness in fairytales. Why are they so, esp the original grimm brother's collection, but also the new fairy tales that are adapted from the old. Were these originally meant for children? One would think that with so much darkness in the lives of the people who originated these tales, they'd make them lighter, nu?

Also wonder about tales from other parts of the world - were they also as dark?

It's a fair question and I don't know the answer for that. I know fairy tales got 'cleaned up' - Cinderella, Snow White, The Little Mermaid - when Disney did them. But it started before that. I don't know a lot about Asian or African tales though.

Speaking of African tales, there's a new book just out The Annotated African American Folktales edited by Henry Louis Gates and Maria Tatar. I'm not that crazy about Tatar's other anthologies (too "anthologized" with only the best known fairy tales included), but this one looks interesting – perhaps partly for Henry Louis Gates but also just because it's truly an intro subject for me.

ETA: I already bought it at a B&N brick-and-mortar as soon as I saw it. I had an email coupon to use, and use quickly, and I didn't want Mr. Barnes or Mrs. Noble to be upset that I didn't use one of those lovely coupons they're always so kind enough to send me.

I just finished The Girl in the Tower and gave it a 5***** Early Review, although I tend to prefer The Bear and the Nightingale. The Girl in the Tower tends a little more to "swords and sandals" warfare than I'd prefer in a "fairy tale" adaptation.

Leigh Bardugo, The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic (5*****). A fairly quick read and very definitely fractured.

I finished The Bear and the Nightingale, it was pretty good, 4 stars from me.

I have completed my read of Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth and have been left with mixed feelings. The story was original and quite captivating, but the author constantly slowed the story with her addition of multitudes of historical detail. At almost 500 pages, I felt that the story could have been tighter and faster moving if about 100 pages were edited out. The blend of fantasy and history was interesting and overall, the book mostly works.

I’m half way through Swan Sister: Fairy Tales Retold by Ellen Datlow.

>45 DeltaQueen50: I ended up not finishing it for the same reason. I like historic details in novels, but this was over the top and indeed slowed down the book.Pity because I enjoyed the characters.

Im reading this for my sci/fi fantasy book group in February

The Original Folk Tales of the Brothers Grimm

Published this last year, has all the usual subjects, Focusing so much on the fractured tales or different versions, its good to end back at the source

Finished Swan Sister: Fairy Tales Retold and
Night Dance: A Retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses"

>49 nrmay: How did you like them?

Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock. 2½** A fairly good job of world-building, but the meandering plot leaves a lot to be desired.

It was a challenge to come up with a fractured fairytale as this is not a genre that I usually read but I had picked up Wicked at the Little Free Library near me which was one of the suggested books. It was a bit longer than I would have liked for the end of the year. It was an interesting take on the story of the Wizard of Oz from the POV of the people of Oz. Specifically, it focused on the girl who became the Wicked Witch of the West. Too bad it had to dovetail with the better known story. I was rooting for the witch in the end.

>52 Familyhistorian: I had the opportunity to go see Wicked on Broadway. It was wonderful and everybody was rooting for the witch!

Yeah, I was too, in the book and in the play. I was just really mad that they changed the ending to make it happy.

>53 Tess_W: She was a sympathetic character in the book, Tess, so I can see why.

>54 cindydavid4: Maybe I should see the play so that I can have a happy ending. LOL

Virginia Hamilton's The Magical Adventures of Pretty Pearl. I didn't particularly care for it, but then, I really don't know African-American folklore. I've just recently gotten The Annotated African American Folktales (Henry Louis Gates & Maria Tatar), which I'm hoping to get to in the near future, and once I finish it, i may give Pretty Pearl another try.

I have to tell you, I also read The Bear and the Nightingale and I'm in the minority--I did not like that book! I found it to be plotless and to be honest, I'm not a reader of fantasy at all, but this was way over the top! Demons in the oven, a demon that sat at the spinning wheel, one that darned socks, one that fed the horses, etc. By the end of the book, the demons within people were exposed and I didn't know who was who! When I create my review, this book will be awarded 2.5 stars.

>57 Tess_W: ah, sorry about that. Glad you gave it the old college try (personally I wasn't into the zombies, and rolled my eyes. I picked it esp because so much of russian folklore is all about the demon that you cant see who might be protecting you, or not. Of course fairy tales, whether old or new or frctured have their audience.

Hope you found better books to read.

Hi everyone, thank you for indulging me and joining in with some great ideas. Im esp thrilled because this thread turned me on to Katherine Arden with two books that were just so up my alleys. It was also fun to share some lore with you all and look at other cultures along the way.

This was my very first lead for Reading Through Time. I enjoyed sharing some common books with some who share my passion for the topic. I had tons of fun and have some idea for more. However I did notice a small turn out which I assume means that either this time of year is just too crazy to try to think of reading anything new, and/or the topic was too narrow, now includive enough for more interesr and /or I needed to do a better job what i was looking for. or a better job for keeping the discussion rolling. Can I get an idea of how you all felt about it? What could I have done, added omitted changed about its presentation or my comments that might have enccouraged more participation? And what could I do to increase participation for future themes?

And yes I do realize that this is not a big deal but I do tend to overthink these thing

Thanks for letting me do this and thanks for joining me!

>59 cindydavid4: I love the theme! But, I've only been following the group for a while now, and not necessarily participating. I have so many monthly challenges!!!

However, I decided that for2018, this is one of the monthly challenges I will focus on. That is, I will plan to read something each month and make it a priority. Had your theme come up this year, I would have read something for sure!

>59 cindydavid4: Thanks for hosting December, Cindy. If you are interested in hosting a month this year, there are still a few months open. You can check it out at this thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/270454

>59 cindydavid4: : I don't know that there's much that can be done to increase participation. This is a charming, but small group, and deserving of more attention. This is my favorite challenge, and I don't believe I've ever missed a month in reading a book to fit. My son, at the last minute!, invited me to visit him in Germany to experience the Christmas Markets, so I've been away for several weeks in December, and now I'm fixing to go on a long-planned Caribbean cruise with a dozen ladies in my family. So, I haven't even made a 2018 thread for myself anywhere, much less entered my reads in the wiki.

For your December challenge, I read The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth. As was mentioned earlier in this thread, this book, too, could have been edited shorter. I chose this title because the tags said, fairy tales, and fantasy, but in actuality, it turned out to be a novel of historical fiction about the life of the woman who lived next door to the Grimms and eventually married Wilhelm. Very well researched and imagined. Though not "fractured", I'm still counting it for this challenge. I would never have picked it up save for your challenge. So, thank you! It was a four-star read for me.

Oh excellent - I need to read that. No its not fractured in the way I meant, but it is about the Grimm tales, and takes a part of their story to make another, so it works for me! So glad I was able to help lead the way, and how you are giving back by getting me to read it! Thanks!


And I envy you your travel plans! Enjoy, and happy reading in 2018!