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haddocks_eyes's review against another edition
challenging
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
reba_reads_books's review against another edition
4.0
I picked up this book expecting fairytale erotica and instead went on the WILDEST RIDE. The best description of this text is within the text itself:
This is supposedly a novel but read like vignettes, so I'm marking it a collection. It's supposedly a story but read like stream of consciousness, so I'm marking it philosophy. This book made me contemplate myself in Snow White's shoes; I imagine if a man was reading it, it'd put him in the shoes of her "seven friends" XD Mainly, this book made me heartily laugh, and for that alone it deserves no less than 4 stars.
"We like books that have a lot of dreck in them, matter which presents itself as not wholly relevant (or indeed, at all relevant) but which, carefully attended to, can supply a kind of 'sense' of what is going on. This 'sense' is not to be obtained by reading between the lines (for there is nothing there, in those white spaces) but by reading the lines themselves--looking at them and so arriving at a feeling not of satisfaction exactly, that is too much to expect, but of having read them, of having 'completed' them.
This is supposedly a novel but read like vignettes, so I'm marking it a collection. It's supposedly a story but read like stream of consciousness, so I'm marking it philosophy. This book made me contemplate myself in Snow White's shoes; I imagine if a man was reading it, it'd put him in the shoes of her "seven friends" XD Mainly, this book made me heartily laugh, and for that alone it deserves no less than 4 stars.
colorfulleo92's review against another edition
2.0
Retailing s of fairytales are very much hit and miss and unfortunately this one was a miss for me. Didn't find anything that hooked me to the short story and didn't find it very memorable. Not my cup of tea
rbreade's review against another edition
Whatever else it is, Barthelme's Snow White is funny. But whatever else is it? Well. There is a plot, sort of. One catches a glimpse of it here and there among the postmodern thickets as the seven dwarfs--men, here, named Bill, Kevin, Edward, Hubert, Henry, Clem, and Dan--narrate, in the first-person plural, life with Snow White as she waits with equal parts resignation and exasperation the appearance of one Paul, a.k.a., a prince of no special repute.
Yes, there is a witch, but rather than memorably-named Grimhilde or Maleficent, here she is more prosaically a Jane. Yes, there is a poisoned apple, only it's a vodka Gibson. Yes, there is a focus group questionnaire to gauge reader reaction. Yes, there is a strand of satire at modern society's expense.
An example of Barthelme's wickedly funny use of language: here a rogue, Hogo de Bergerac, smitten unto swooning by Snow White's beauty, has declared to her his love, hoping she'll overlook his common origin. There follows a back-and-forth on various types of blood, including this:
Yes, there is a witch, but rather than memorably-named Grimhilde or Maleficent, here she is more prosaically a Jane. Yes, there is a poisoned apple, only it's a vodka Gibson. Yes, there is a focus group questionnaire to gauge reader reaction. Yes, there is a strand of satire at modern society's expense.
An example of Barthelme's wickedly funny use of language: here a rogue, Hogo de Bergerac, smitten unto swooning by Snow White's beauty, has declared to her his love, hoping she'll overlook his common origin. There follows a back-and-forth on various types of blood, including this:
"People don't like to hear people talking about their blood, or about other people's blood. But I am not 'people,' Hogo. I am me. I must hold myself in reserve for a prince or prince-figure, someone like Paul. I know that Paul has not looked terribly good up to now and in fact I despise him utterly. Yet he has the blood of kings and queens and cardinals in his veins, Hogo. He has the purple blood of exalted station. Whereas you have only plain blood in your veins, Hogo, blood that anybody might have, the delivery boy from the towel service for example. You must admit that they are not the same thing, these two kinds of blood."
briandice's review against another edition
4.0
Prior to a month ago, Donald Barthelme was another treasure hidden in plain sight at my local bookstore. It wasn't until I read the excellent book of Charles Baxter essays "Burning Down the House" that I learned about Barthelme. Baxter devotes an entire essay in the book extolling the virtues of this writer upon his death in 1991. Given my love of Baxter, his well written homage to Barthelme sent me directly to the bookstore to pick-up a couple of his books.
Ben Marcus (especially "The Age of Wire and String"), Mark Leyner (anything by him, but most definitely "The Tetherballs of Bouganville") and David Eggers (especially his short fiction) are all like branches off of the tree of Barthelme. I had no idea how much of a pioneer this guy was in experimental fiction. "Snow White", written in the '60s, just has to be one of the most seminal works in the genre. I haven't read enormous amounts in this field, but having now read fawning pieces about Barthelme by Baxter, Eggers and David Gates, I'm convinced that his canon of work should be required reading for anyone interested in experimental fiction. He's like the godfather of the field.
"Snow White" is a modern, fractured retelling of the well known fairy tale. There are parts that are just plain genius, others hilarious, and some that have you scratching your head and re-reading... certainly just as Barthelme intended. You can see how much of what was written was ground breaking and used as a spring-board for so many authors after him (Eggers even mentioned that he felt like an unwitting thief having read Barthelme after publishing a book of stories). Barthelme's talent and style was so original and true that it apparently soaked into the collective fiction-writing consciousness so that authors like Eggers could write like him before even having read him...
I've cracked into "Forty Stories" by Barthelme and am looking forward to reviewing that book when finished.
Ben Marcus (especially "The Age of Wire and String"), Mark Leyner (anything by him, but most definitely "The Tetherballs of Bouganville") and David Eggers (especially his short fiction) are all like branches off of the tree of Barthelme. I had no idea how much of a pioneer this guy was in experimental fiction. "Snow White", written in the '60s, just has to be one of the most seminal works in the genre. I haven't read enormous amounts in this field, but having now read fawning pieces about Barthelme by Baxter, Eggers and David Gates, I'm convinced that his canon of work should be required reading for anyone interested in experimental fiction. He's like the godfather of the field.
"Snow White" is a modern, fractured retelling of the well known fairy tale. There are parts that are just plain genius, others hilarious, and some that have you scratching your head and re-reading... certainly just as Barthelme intended. You can see how much of what was written was ground breaking and used as a spring-board for so many authors after him (Eggers even mentioned that he felt like an unwitting thief having read Barthelme after publishing a book of stories). Barthelme's talent and style was so original and true that it apparently soaked into the collective fiction-writing consciousness so that authors like Eggers could write like him before even having read him...
I've cracked into "Forty Stories" by Barthelme and am looking forward to reviewing that book when finished.
elena_monti's review against another edition
4.0
Il no sense di Barthelme ha molto più sense di quanto si creda.
Biancaneve è una donna annoiata che scrive poesie erotiche. I nani sono i nani e il principe azzurro è un inetto. Decostruire per riproporre in maniera nuova e ironica un archetipo, che poi non è altro che quello che, dagli anni 60, fa la cultura di massa.
“Nessuno è venuto ad arrampicarsi fino alla finestra. Questo dice tutto. Vivo in un’epoca sbagliata, quest’epoca non mi si confà. C’è qualcosa di sbagliato in tutte queste persone che se ne stanno laggiù con la bocca spalancata e l’occhiata balorda. E in tutti coloro che non si sono almeno cimentati ad arrampicarsi fino alla finestra. A coprire il ruolo. E nel mondo in se stesso, che non è in grado di fornire un principe. Che non è in grado perlomeno di essere abbastanza civilizzato da fornire la corretta conclusione della storia.”
Ha molto più sense di tanti libri autoproclamati impegnati ed è proprio qui che si pecca. Biancaneve è un libro che si vede poco e Barthelme è un autore che si legge ancora meno. In realtà avremo più bisogno di scritture così, che sono state fondamentali alla costruzione della moderna letteratura americana, fungendo da cesoia a dettami stilistici precostituiti. Quello che in Italia non è mai avvenuto ed è per questo che a mio parere la letteratura italiana contemporanea è debole. Si vola basso, si scrive sul sicuro, senza spregiudicatezza, facendo perno su sentimenti già navigati e a rischio zero.
E alla fine che palle.
Biancaneve è una donna annoiata che scrive poesie erotiche. I nani sono i nani e il principe azzurro è un inetto. Decostruire per riproporre in maniera nuova e ironica un archetipo, che poi non è altro che quello che, dagli anni 60, fa la cultura di massa.
“Nessuno è venuto ad arrampicarsi fino alla finestra. Questo dice tutto. Vivo in un’epoca sbagliata, quest’epoca non mi si confà. C’è qualcosa di sbagliato in tutte queste persone che se ne stanno laggiù con la bocca spalancata e l’occhiata balorda. E in tutti coloro che non si sono almeno cimentati ad arrampicarsi fino alla finestra. A coprire il ruolo. E nel mondo in se stesso, che non è in grado di fornire un principe. Che non è in grado perlomeno di essere abbastanza civilizzato da fornire la corretta conclusione della storia.”
Ha molto più sense di tanti libri autoproclamati impegnati ed è proprio qui che si pecca. Biancaneve è un libro che si vede poco e Barthelme è un autore che si legge ancora meno. In realtà avremo più bisogno di scritture così, che sono state fondamentali alla costruzione della moderna letteratura americana, fungendo da cesoia a dettami stilistici precostituiti. Quello che in Italia non è mai avvenuto ed è per questo che a mio parere la letteratura italiana contemporanea è debole. Si vola basso, si scrive sul sicuro, senza spregiudicatezza, facendo perno su sentimenti già navigati e a rischio zero.
E alla fine che palle.
bookswgreen's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
lavonda's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like it. But it was just weird. Few cool sentences tho
allyens's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25