Bookfoolery : Shannon Hale

Showing posts with label Shannon Hale. Show all posts

Monday, April 18, 2011

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

The Goose Girl

by Shannon Hale

Bloomsbury Books - YA

400 pages

The Goose Girl is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm tale of the same name. When Crown Princess Ani is young, her unique ability to speak to animals becomes apparent. This special talent frightens the queen and those of her kingdom and, although Ani is kept closely guarded to prevent worsening the trouble that her ability has already caused, the queen eventually decides to send Ani to the neighboring kingdom of Bayern to marry the eldest prince as part of a peace treaty.

But, her own people betray her and Ani is left alone and defenseless. Eventually, she makes her way to Bayern, where she finds that the traitors have taken her place in the palace and are still are seeking her. With no way back to her home country, Ani finds a job as a lowly goose girl. As she spends her time with the geese, she begins to learn their language. Will Ani remain a goose girl all her life, forced to hide the physical features that identify her as a foreigner and which leave her vulnerable to the traitors who still want her dead? Or, will she find a way home or a chance to convince the king of her true identity?

My review: I began reading an e-book version of The Goose Girl on a stormy day and found it so enchanting that by the time the power came back on (the reason I switched from paper to e-book was the darkness in a powerless hallway), I was so engrossed that I couldn't bear to put it down. I love Shannon Hale's writing. She has a lovely way of putting together unexpected word combinations and the story, itself, is complex and adventurous but with moments of quiet scenes that help build the story and move it toward action. An absolutely beautiful retelling of a fairytale.

The bottom line: Gorgeous, lyrical writing with magical touches that feel as if they lie within the realm of possibility, a very likable heroine with tremendous challenges to overcome, fantastic plot and imaginative world-building make The Goose Girl a truly unique and wondrous book. A charming tale of courage and betrayal, tolerance and patience, love and loss. I went into the story without having read a cover blurb, since my book opened directly to the first page and I think that was a good thing. Each plot development was a surprise. I really never knew what was going to happen next and I liked that, so I've tried to keep my own review rather general to avoid spoiling the story for anyone, but I can at least tell you it's another favorite. If I had to rate it, I would give The Goose Girl a perfect score.

Cover thoughts: The cover above is the thumbnail cover of the e-book I purchased but I do have a paper copy with the image at left on its cover. I like both. The cover with a blonde-haired girl is fairly accurate to the description of the heroine, Princess Ani, with slightly darker blonde hair than described (close enough), geese flying in the background and an ivy-covered arch that one can imagine might lead into the castle grounds. The cover at left is cartoon-like but also lovely and fitting. Bright colors, geese and a castle draw you in. The awkward image of the princess is the only thing I dislike about it. She's a little too wacky-looking, but it has the look of "fairy tale" and I think it works.

There is a single review at Amazon warning that the book is "very mature". It's not. There's some slightly scary action and the bodies of criminals are hung on the city walls but no sex, no bad language, nothing that will harm a young reader. It's very clean and even a little romantic without any physical love beyond a kiss.

I'm going to try to hammer out a few more short reviews, if possible, today. I've fallen far enough behind that it's time to do a little catch-up. Remember, it's not necessary to read or comment on everything, even if you're a frequent visitor who likes to do so. Read what interests you, comment if you like, skip the rest. I'm just glad you feel like dropping by.

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Strangers by Taichi Yamada

Strangers by Taichi Yamada

First published 1987

203 pages

That evening, a violent thunderstorm passed over the city. I watched the driving rain and lightning from a bar on the top floor of a high-rise hotel. The rain dashed against the glass in torrents, making the window a blur. It turned the jagged bolts of lightning stabbing at the earth into nothing more than diffuse flickers, which irritated me a little. I ached to smash the massive pane and see the lightning bolts descend in all their piercing brilliance. I longed to distance myself from anything ambiguous, anything non-transparent, anything belonging to darkness. I wanted to be in a world where all was bright and clean and in sharp focus. Precisely for that reason, I had steered clear of basement and ground-level establishments to seek out brighter environs, high in the sky, but thanks to thunderclouds, abetted by the gathering dusk, the realm of darkness had encroached moment by moment upon my world even here.

--p. 84, Strangers

Description:

Middle-aged Harada has only been divorced a short time and now lives in the apartment he formerly used as his office. On a whim, Harada returns to Akasuka, the district of Tokyo in which he grew up. In a theater, he sees a man who looks exactly like his father and follows him home, only to find himself led to an apartment where his mother and father, who died when he was 12, both appear to be living . . . and they haven't aged at all. Are his parents alive or ghosts? Or, is Harada losing his mind?

When the apartment building's only other resident, Kei, befriends him, he finds that he's enjoying her company but he continues to be drawn back to the alternate reality in Akasuka. Then, Kei notices something strange is happening to Harada and he realizes that, much as he loves hanging out in this other world, he may not survive if he continues.

My review:

Strangers is quite a creepy book, a ghost story but Japanese and therefore very different from ghost stories in the Western tradition. I think it would be a spoiler to tell exactly how the book is different so I'm just going to attempt to keep this short and tell you about the writing, the characters, etc. Writing-wise, the book is a translation but very well done. It's haunting and lyrical. The translation of the book from Japanese to English was obviously handled well.

Harada, the protagonist, is fairly successful as a screenwriter but emotionally he's a mess. Much as he'd like to think he moved on, he has apparently never moved past the grief of his parents' death, instead going on with his life and suppressing his distress and pain. His divorce has brought emotion to the surface; for the first time in his life, he really has to face the hurt and loneliness that followed tragic loss.

There really aren't that many characters, actually. Kei is another lost soul who has been badly burned in more ways than one (she hides a horrible burn scar) and is somewhat mysterious. There's a man Harada works for, who is interested in Harada's ex-wife and Harada speaks to his bitter ex by phone, briefly. Harada's parents are obviously ghosts but do they know they're ghosts? You don't find the answer to that question for quite some time. They're really quite lively and light-hearted, which gives you an idea of how Harada came to be such a disaster. He was not a wealthy boy, but he was happy when he lost his family.

Slow but steady plotting (not to be confused with the word "boring); Strangers is what I call a "quiet" book, although it's a book that throws up so many questions that you can't help but rabidly keep turning the pages and you're rewarded in the end. The transition from quiet, introspective ghost story to a heart-pounding ending is really amazing.

The bottom line:

An eerie, well-written Japanese ghost story that is startling in its simplicity and impact. Definitely recommended, particularly to those who love a good, creepy read. This would make a fantastic read for the annual RIP Challenge (creepy, atmospheric reading challenge held in the fall, for those who might not be informed).

In other news:

A book arrived, yesterday, and I'm sure I'll promptly forget it so I'll just tell you now. It's The Salem Witch Trials by Marilynne K. Roach. I've read several fictional works set in Salem, beginning around 2 years ago, and a friend told me she thought this author's nonfiction work has a particular depth lacking in many other accounts. I'm pretty sure it was on my Paperback Swap wish list from the time I read the first of those fictional accounts, so I'm really excited to finally acquire a copy.

Whoops! Another book just arrived, literally seconds ago: An ARC of The Ghost of Greenwich Village by Lorna Graham. Wahoo! Another ghost story!! I love ghost stories! Many thanks to Ballantine Books for the review copy. It's a July release.

I can't think of any other news. Huh. Well, I guess we'll just stop here. I did finish The Goose Girl, last night. I think it should be particularly encouraging to unpublished writers to find that one editor who rejected The Goose Girl said she found Shannon Hale's writing "stiff, self-conscious and cliche." My opinion? I think her writing is magical, engaging, poetic and enchanting. I couldn't put that sucker down, in other words. I've got a copy of Enna Burning (I think it's the next in the series, although I'm not positive; it just happens to be on my personal challenge shelf) and hope to get to that, soon. I'm grateful to Monday's horrid storm for nudging me to finally read The Goose Girl.