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The Collections hold ten or eleven stories each and open their treasures at the click of the mouse. It’s all magic like Aladdin’s cave, and once you enter, you are loathe to depart. The stories are an enchanting combination of myth, fairytale,satire and parody all brewed up together like a spicy cup of Viennesse coffee with that extra whipped cream on top for the reader’s enjoyment. Although most of the elements of the stories are easily recognizeable from stories like Little Red Riding Hood or Cinderella, they are presented in a fresh way with new settings and often hilarious dialogues.
Review by by Pogo
Rosemary Lake Feminist Fairytales
http://www.geocities.com/~rosemarylake/
For an interesting turn of folk and fairytale, visit Rosemary Lake's Feminist Fairytales site. The site is very simply presented with the titles of the collections posted as, Once upon a time when the Princess... intrigued you go on. Nutured on legends of the prince always rescuing the helplessly wretched, but beautiful princess from a tower we are curious about how any helpless female could rescue a bold prince. It intrigues our imagination to have equal rights in the Fairy- and Folk-Tale realm.
The Collections hold ten or eleven stories each and open their treasures at the click of the mouse. It's all magic like Aladdin's cave, and once you enter, you are loathe to depart. The stories are an enchanting combination of myth, fairytale,satire and parody all brewed up together like a spicy cup of Viennesse coffee with that extra whipped cream on top for the reader's enjoyment. Although most of the elements of the stories are easily recognizeable from stories like Little Red Riding Hood or Cinderella, they are presented in a fresh way with new settings and often hilarious dialogues. The characters that appear are not merely shadow figures or shallow two dimensional people that we are accustomed to in the watered down world of Smurfs and saccharine children's stories, but lively, credible beings that might magically land on our doorstep one day.
The dialogues are realistic and flow naturally from each character. The interplay between characters is smooth and dynamic leading the reader further on into the story. Sir Marzipan is filled with absurd humor with characters drawn from a variety of sources from classical myth to modern folktale, and yet, like that precious handsewn crazy-quilt heirloom that granny made, each thread of the story is carefully woven together to make a colorful and varied whole with a warm sense of humor pervading through all. And although all the elements of the typical fairytale appear, the orphaned girl, the negligent or abusive parents, the quest, and even the magical elements like iron shoes, they are treated in a completely new setting often with new interpretations and with a very down to earth practical approach. Well, how do you wear out a pair of iron shoes? A problem is given and a relatively natural solution is discovered so that the resolution comes smoothly without the extreme artifice of deus ex machina that nobody wants in the post-nuclear world. The quest begins, the reader, intrigued, follows along the twisting, kinky path through the woods of its telling until the very end. And in spite of the predictable happy ending, the reader feels relieved and is pleasantly surprised by the unusual variations.
The writer is skilful in keeping the story moving and flowing naturally throughout all the various kinky turns it takes. However imaginary the characters and their world is, they take on a reality of their own and behave credibly. Even after two or three readings, the stories remain fresh and amusing, with little surpises along the way that keep the reader awake. Little Cappy is obviously a spoof on Little Red Riding Hood which Perrault invented. The story abounds internationally, but here she is named Miss Totally Capricious which is as close as the writer ever gets to moralizing. However fickle the girl might be, she is never sappy. The elements of the Grimms and Perrault versions are easily recognizeable regardless that the writer annotes a Spanish variation here as the source. For general information, Little Sappy Red Cappy was deliciously devoured by the wolf in the original Perrault version. Perrault quite probably wiped the sweat off his brow with a heave of "thank God"at her demise, glad to be rid of such an idiot of a child that couldn't tell beast from granny, unless a beastly granny. And unlike the Grimms, which is grim indeed, the wolf doesn't get hari-kari down to him with the granny miraculously leaping out of his belly in one piece. The variation is for your to read. The Girl who could not Shudder is another well-known story that appears in both the Calvino's Italian Tales as well as the Grimms' collection and is widespread throughout the world, appearing even in Germanic legend to inspire Wagner with his Rheingold cycle.
Such stories are timeless and cross cultures easily transcending historical limitations. So today there are no knights riding through the greenwood and no dragons sleeping peacefully under apple trees in blossom, but the kernel of the story remains the same regardless of the setting. The writer translates the setting to view stereotyped role of women in society through the skilful use of satire and parody. In laughing at the absurdities of stereotypes and societal expectation on women's roles, we find ourselves examining critically the values of modern society. Written tongue-in-cheek, it presents a lively, amusing, but critical insight of women's historical treatment with the child's sharpness of wit. Elements of the stories appear perfectly blended together with the skill of the master Drinkmixer at Bacardi. We imbibe, we savour, and swallow it all. We are quickly intoxicated by the delightful mix blended for us from the spirits of the characters. Like children, we jammer for yet another story, a favorite repetition when actually it's time to say "good-night" and put the book aside to dream of other things. Delightful for adults; children will love them as the dialogue is frequently zany and rings true. The art of repetition, fantasy and parody can only enthrall the child in all of us.
About the Reviewer: pogo, alternatively known as Mary C. Legg, or ardela dimwit, grew up in the beautiful San Juans of Washington State with the luxury of nature and literature. She acquired a degree in Classics, English Literature and Creative Writing, followed by a Masters of Library and Info Science; thus completely deranged, she left the States to study solo soprano literature in Vienna and has had the misfortunate experience of teaching English in Prague where she is currently turning over a new leaf for the pen. She can be contacted at: pogomcl@suite101.com
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