On Fri, 12 Dec 1997, Joan Haran wrote:
(snip)
> Have you read Sheri Tepper's _Beauty_ which includes retellings of a number
> of canonical fairy tales, including Sleeping Beauty and Snow White? Can't
> summon up the brainpower to say much that is useful about the book, but the
> dumb as a brick description rang a bell.
Yes, I've read it and was vaguely disappointed but I can't really put my
finger on exactly why. I think it may be because she was trying to weave
too many threads from too many fairy tales into the story of Sleeping
Beauty. I really couldn't figure out what she was trying to do. It was
interesting reading, though, because I love Tepper's writing style and I
was willing to go along for the ride.
Tepper's slant on the Snow White story is one of the few scenes that
really stand out in my mind. Of all the many re-tellings of this story
that I have read and heard, Sheri Tepper is the -only- story teller that I
know of who blatantly portrays Snow White as too stupid to live and in a
humorous way too. Most other writers don't see the humor in a girl who
manages to get herself killed three times because she was too dumb to keep
her door locked against strangers even after repeated warnings from the
dwarfs and repeated assassination attempts by the Queen.
> _Beauty_ is well worth a read.
I recommend it to fans of Sheri Tepper and fairy tales but I'm not so sure
others would like it.
> Joan
>
Stacey (ausar@netdoor.com)
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