Post by Charlynn on Dec 2, 2010 18:34:32 GMT -5
The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold
Although not written as free-verse poetry, The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold by Francesca Lia Block is also quite lyrical and some grammar rules are blatantly ignored as a way, I assume, to make the reading flow more like conscious thought rather than narration. With nine classic fairy tales revisited and retold in a more modern way and setting, Block takes what are usually considered romances and dirties them up. Stories don't always end happily, the beautiful girl doesn't always get her prince, and the evils fought against are sexual abuse, drug addiction, and the disenchantment of love among others rather than a prolonged sleep, a dragon, and evil creature of the woods.
As an example, of the nine revisited fairy tales, my favorite of Block's was her version of the Sleeping Beauty story. Instead of a spell being cast to make Beauty sleep until her prince can save her, a young woman who was drugged and abused by photographers as a child (she was a child model) is sleeping through life thanks to the drugs she needs to numb the pain, get through her memories, and to ignore the atrocities still being visited upon her body. It isn't until Charm comes into her life again, a young woman from her past who was treated and abused the same way, that Beauty can break the drug spell and start to move past the trauma and live again. Through their mutual pain and the healing process, they find someone to take care, someone who will take care of them in return, and someone to love and to love them.
Now, some tales aren't as varied as the originals, but, once more, like her other books that I read, the stories are set in and around the city of Los Angeles, and Block uses exquisite imagery to assist her minimalistic prose. With an emphasis on flowers and colors, she presents nine memorable and unique tales. Also, it could be said that this work (along with her others) could be seen as feminist writing.
Although not written as free-verse poetry, The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold by Francesca Lia Block is also quite lyrical and some grammar rules are blatantly ignored as a way, I assume, to make the reading flow more like conscious thought rather than narration. With nine classic fairy tales revisited and retold in a more modern way and setting, Block takes what are usually considered romances and dirties them up. Stories don't always end happily, the beautiful girl doesn't always get her prince, and the evils fought against are sexual abuse, drug addiction, and the disenchantment of love among others rather than a prolonged sleep, a dragon, and evil creature of the woods.
As an example, of the nine revisited fairy tales, my favorite of Block's was her version of the Sleeping Beauty story. Instead of a spell being cast to make Beauty sleep until her prince can save her, a young woman who was drugged and abused by photographers as a child (she was a child model) is sleeping through life thanks to the drugs she needs to numb the pain, get through her memories, and to ignore the atrocities still being visited upon her body. It isn't until Charm comes into her life again, a young woman from her past who was treated and abused the same way, that Beauty can break the drug spell and start to move past the trauma and live again. Through their mutual pain and the healing process, they find someone to take care, someone who will take care of them in return, and someone to love and to love them.
Now, some tales aren't as varied as the originals, but, once more, like her other books that I read, the stories are set in and around the city of Los Angeles, and Block uses exquisite imagery to assist her minimalistic prose. With an emphasis on flowers and colors, she presents nine memorable and unique tales. Also, it could be said that this work (along with her others) could be seen as feminist writing.