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3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
A retelling of East of Sun, West of the Moon somewhat with some other elements woven through. A wonderful folk tale retelling.
If I were to rank the books I had read this year by how pretty the covers are, The Sigh would easily make the top ten. Unfortunately I can't exactly say the same about the contents.
The illustrations are quite lovely, as I would expect in reading something from Satrapi. From what I have read elsewhere, the story of The Sigh is a re-telling of an Iranian fairy tale, which drew me in as much as the gorgeous cover. I honestly went in with rather high expectations (Marjane Satrapi telling an Iranian fairy tale with a beautiful cover), which I think is part of why I am feeling so disappointed.
I'm not sure I particularly enjoyed the translation, as it seemed to be a bit awkward at times. Love at first sight has never done a whole lot for me in my fairy tales. A woman trying to solve her life's woes by selling herself into slavery... makes me uncomfortable? There were parts of this that were a genuine pleasure to read, the kind of strange good fun that can only be found in fairy tales. It was hard to enjoy the good parts when I was so distracted by the really unfortunate aspects of the tale, as well as the translations.
I honestly wouldn't try to talk someone out of reading this. It has its redeeming qualities. That said, I probably won't be jumping to recommend this.
The illustrations are quite lovely, as I would expect in reading something from Satrapi. From what I have read elsewhere, the story of The Sigh is a re-telling of an Iranian fairy tale, which drew me in as much as the gorgeous cover. I honestly went in with rather high expectations (Marjane Satrapi telling an Iranian fairy tale with a beautiful cover), which I think is part of why I am feeling so disappointed.
I'm not sure I particularly enjoyed the translation, as it seemed to be a bit awkward at times. Love at first sight has never done a whole lot for me in my fairy tales. A woman trying to solve her life's woes by selling herself into slavery... makes me uncomfortable? There were parts of this that were a genuine pleasure to read, the kind of strange good fun that can only be found in fairy tales. It was hard to enjoy the good parts when I was so distracted by the really unfortunate aspects of the tale, as well as the translations.
I honestly wouldn't try to talk someone out of reading this. It has its redeeming qualities. That said, I probably won't be jumping to recommend this.
Cute, but weird. The art was interesting; astrologers and magicians wear suits and ties.
I was afraid Audrey Niffenegger had ruined me for odd little fables, but this one was quite charming. It was odd, and disjointed, and maybe there's some fairy tale logic that I don't understand? At first it was a beauty and the beast thing (with a really creepy, stalky component, instead of the kidnapping relationship in the traditional story), and then instalove, and then a weird fairy tale moment with a feather, and then three little vignettes in which the main character asks to be sold into slavery and then solves all her master's problems. It's weird, weird, weird, but all fairy tales are.
Fairy tales are like poems; there's the text and the subtext. I'm not good at subtext, but this made enough sense that its charm won me over.
Fairy tales are like poems; there's the text and the subtext. I'm not good at subtext, but this made enough sense that its charm won me over.
it was a bit weird, not a childrens book despite being "all ages". it was interesting though, the last line was really the whole point of her strange tale. hm.
Cute short story with nice illustrations. But I don’t understand why the author needed to emphasize that one of the sisters, Orchid, was ugly? It just seemed odd and unnecessary.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
This one really surpised me. It was shelved in the graphic novels section of my local library, so when I took it home, that’s what I was expecting. Instead, it is more of an illustrated novella, since it is short (only 50 something pages) and the illustrations are usually minimal. I also expected it to be more of a retelling fo Beauty and the Beast based on the description of the back cover, which it wasn’t. Instead, it is a completely original story, with flavors of Beauty and the Beast, East of the Sun West of the Moon, and Cupid and Psyche mixed in. I ended up enjoying it quite a lot. The illustrations didn’t really do much for me, I would have been fine without them. I do wish it had been a bit longer, as the ending felt a little rushed to me. But still, it’s a unique book that’s a little bit different from what I’ve been reading lately, and it really hit the spot.
I love Satrapi's drawings- simple and rich. The story is told in an old-fashioned fairytale style.