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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
Generally: Art and presentation are gorgeous. This is an older translation, but even so the dialogue felt even older and more stilted.
Specific thoughts:
In this version Beauty doesn't want to marry the Beast not because he's ugly, but because his ugliness isn't compensated for with charm. The Beast is a dull and stupid creature. So. This 16 year old girl would be OK with marrying and sleeping with the Beast if he were charming and clever. Good to know. And then she marries him anyhow.
Don't know how to feel about the dreams she has about Human!Beast. Is it cheating to basically give her instructions on how to break the curse?
Why are the Beauty's sisters always referred to as a single entity who hates Beauty? And for what? Because their dad likes her best? Because she's the youngest? Because they think she's faking humility? Hard to tell, since the narrator assures us Beauty is genuinely unselfish. Conversely, if that's true, how come Beauty is the only "good" daughter?
But wait: At one point the father remembers "an ancient prediction, by which he had learn that this daughter should save his life, and that she should be a source of happiness to all her family." p. 42. This is not something you brush off in one sentence? There is a prediction about Beauty? Who made it? And when? Why is it ancient? Is this why the father always favored Beauty, and why the sisters hated her? Why didn't the father remember it earlier? Or are predictions like this common in wherever they are?
Beauty's dad counsels her to marry the Beast because he's reach and treats her well. Sure.
Hey, Beast's mom, the Queen, question: this woman, Beauty, is literally the one who freed your son from the spell. So what if she's a commoner! Your son was literally an animal monster thing! But the Queen would've literally rather have had him remain a Beast than get together with someone so beneath him. Yuck. On the other hand, the Queen is pretty cool. She was the general while the Beast was growing up, and looks like she kicked major ass.
Just kidding, Beauty is actually a princess and half-fairy, she was just adopted by the merchant. She's also the Beast's cousin. Well. Now that it's incest, they can get married, no problem. At least the Beast would've married her even if she weren't a secret princess, so there's that.
Can't blame the prince for not wanting to marry the Fairy, since she basically raised him. But the book focuses on her ugly (and nasty) nature, of course. But at least the rose thing makes sense now: they planned it, because a condition of the spell was that the woman had to come willingly, though fearing for her life. So they set Beauty's dad up - it was a TRAP!
I want a film version of this, but where the focus is Fairy court politics, while Beauty and the Beast just takes place in the background. That was the most fascinating part of this book.
Specific thoughts:
In this version Beauty doesn't want to marry the Beast not because he's ugly, but because his ugliness isn't compensated for with charm. The Beast is a dull and stupid creature. So. This 16 year old girl would be OK with marrying and sleeping with the Beast if he were charming and clever. Good to know. And then she marries him anyhow.
Don't know how to feel about the dreams she has about Human!Beast. Is it cheating to basically give her instructions on how to break the curse?
Why are the Beauty's sisters always referred to as a single entity who hates Beauty? And for what? Because their dad likes her best? Because she's the youngest? Because they think she's faking humility? Hard to tell, since the narrator assures us Beauty is genuinely unselfish. Conversely, if that's true, how come Beauty is the only "good" daughter?
But wait: At one point the father remembers "an ancient prediction, by which he had learn that this daughter should save his life, and that she should be a source of happiness to all her family." p. 42. This is not something you brush off in one sentence? There is a prediction about Beauty? Who made it? And when? Why is it ancient? Is this why the father always favored Beauty, and why the sisters hated her? Why didn't the father remember it earlier? Or are predictions like this common in wherever they are?
Beauty's dad counsels her to marry the Beast because he's reach and treats her well. Sure.
Hey, Beast's mom, the Queen, question: this woman, Beauty, is literally the one who freed your son from the spell. So what if she's a commoner! Your son was literally an animal monster thing! But the Queen would've literally rather have had him remain a Beast than get together with someone so beneath him. Yuck. On the other hand, the Queen is pretty cool. She was the general while the Beast was growing up, and looks like she kicked major ass.
Just kidding, Beauty is actually a princess and half-fairy, she was just adopted by the merchant. She's also the Beast's cousin. Well. Now that it's incest, they can get married, no problem. At least the Beast would've married her even if she weren't a secret princess, so there's that.
Can't blame the prince for not wanting to marry the Fairy, since she basically raised him. But the book focuses on her ugly (and nasty) nature, of course. But at least the rose thing makes sense now: they planned it, because a condition of the spell was that the woman had to come willingly, though fearing for her life. So they set Beauty's dad up - it was a TRAP!
I want a film version of this, but where the focus is Fairy court politics, while Beauty and the Beast just takes place in the background. That was the most fascinating part of this book.
Although I did enjoy the story it was rather difficult to read and most of it made no sense to me at all. I just couldn't see why most of it was necessary. I could have been cut by a good hundred pages
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Now that I've seen Jen Campbells video on The History of Beauty and the Beast, I can appreciate it more. I love the moral behind and didn't know that the story was based on an actual man (Petrus Gonsalvus) who had lots of hair on his face hypertrichosis, known as "the werewolf syndrome". Really interesting to learn about his life and seeing the similarities in Beauty and the Beast.
I also really like the illustrations of this specific edition, but I don't like the unabridged story itself. It's way too long and most parts were very boring and hard to get through.
That said, I like and appreciate the story and this edition in particular because of its illustrations, but I don't like the unabridged text as much, even though I appreciate that is exist.
I also really like the illustrations of this specific edition, but I don't like the unabridged story itself. It's way too long and most parts were very boring and hard to get through.
That said, I like and appreciate the story and this edition in particular because of its illustrations, but I don't like the unabridged text as much, even though I appreciate that is exist.
First, I want to comment on this specific edition of this story. It is gorgeous! The illustrations have that medieval look to them and the interactive elements are unnecessary, but still fun.
Now to the story itself. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite "fairy tale." I've read so many retellings that it's crazy to me that I'm reading the original for the first time this late in the game. After finishing it, I would say the closest retelling to the original is Beauty by Robin McKinley, at least from what I've read. This definitely was not a very short story even though it's about 200 pages. All the events happened, but with a good chunk of pages left, I wondered what else there was to say. The author used those pages to explain everything that happened from different points of view. First, we got the Beast/Prince's point of view of what happened. Then we got the Fairy's point of view. There is nothing left to question (like the Disney versions) once you are done. Part of me feels like it was overkill, but another part of me appreciates it.
I definitely enjoyed this book. The writing has that feeling of old school fairy tale and after the first 20 pages or so it pulled me right in. However, the story itself was probably a 4 star for me. What bumps it up to 5 is this amazing edition.
Challenges:
2019 Goodreads Challenge
2019 Mount TBR
2019 NEWTs Readathon - Charms: Read a book that you think has a gorgeous cover
Now to the story itself. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite "fairy tale." I've read so many retellings that it's crazy to me that I'm reading the original for the first time this late in the game. After finishing it, I would say the closest retelling to the original is Beauty by Robin McKinley, at least from what I've read. This definitely was not a very short story even though it's about 200 pages. All the events happened, but with a good chunk of pages left, I wondered what else there was to say. The author used those pages to explain everything that happened from different points of view. First, we got the Beast/Prince's point of view of what happened. Then we got the Fairy's point of view. There is nothing left to question (like the Disney versions) once you are done. Part of me feels like it was overkill, but another part of me appreciates it.
I definitely enjoyed this book. The writing has that feeling of old school fairy tale and after the first 20 pages or so it pulled me right in. However, the story itself was probably a 4 star for me. What bumps it up to 5 is this amazing edition.
Challenges:
2019 Goodreads Challenge
2019 Mount TBR
2019 NEWTs Readathon - Charms: Read a book that you think has a gorgeous cover
I mainly chose this book for the aesthetic - beautiful illustrations, pop-up sections and tabs to pull. I didn't finish it because it was quite a big book so I didn't take it on the train with me.
A lovely story for all fairy tale enthusiasts, great to read part of the original telling of this classic in such a beautiful format.
A lovely story for all fairy tale enthusiasts, great to read part of the original telling of this classic in such a beautiful format.
I'm forever grateful that the Disney version was my first foray into the fairy tale of Beauty of the Beast cause if the original was, I wouldn't like it. It's a lot of things that I really didn't like about the original version which I'm about the list.
1. Beauty being a Mary Sue- I know this was written before the term was even coined but boy our MC is the definition of it. She's very beautiful, kind, kind of naive with every guy falling completely in love with her which pretty much sums up her character. She likes to read but it was kind of glossed over and not really talked about. She's kind of shallow cause she constantly thinks of the beast being just a stupid animal although all he show to her is kindness and intelligence that doesn't befit a normal animal. The story supposed to be an allegory to woman around that time who is showing apprehension to arranged marriages but it doesn't help when you constantly thinks that a person who show you nothing but kindness as inferior you cause they are different than you. That kind of negates everything that I knew the story of BATB to be about. She eventually comes around and loves the beast but without feeling guilty about it. Also the love triangle between her the beast and his human form that she saw in dreams which is my second point.
2. The dreams plotline- OMG!! This probably the #1 reason why I don't like this version at all and I'm so glad that the abridged and other versions/retellings took it out. While Beauty was in the castle, she would have dreams of the human handsome side of the beast which she completely feel in love with in a matter of one night. Yep Insta-love to the max with this. Every night the human side of him is trying to get her to see what's behind the beast which she constantly refused to. This is a problem for me because it negates what beauty and the beast means to me. BATB is all about learning the inner beauty of someone who from the outside may seem monstrous but truly is a good person on the inside. It's also about learning to accept who they are. It's the true definition of "never judge of a book by it's cover." It totally negates that when she totally falls in love with the handsome side of him and gives two cents about the beast. In other versions that I have loved ( cough disney version) they take this out completely which is for the better because it brings a type of complexity that only hiders and not help the story.. They totally focus on the beauty falling in love with the prince in ONLY his beast form which is brings me to my third point.
3. Beauty and the Beast relationship and interaction (honestly lack of) - Now this is where I show that I'm totally spoiled by the Disney version to the max. In the Disney version after the first couple icy interactions, you are shown them having a snowball fight, reading to each other, having lunch and finally the famous the dinner / ballroom scene. You actually have scenes with them interacting, getting to know each other and becoming friends. These scenes actually convinced you that those two are truly in love with each other which the spell is broken at the end.. In the original version, the only interaction you have with them is having dinner which they talk for a few mins although she sort of becomes annoyed when he asked the question the "Will you sleep with me question." and then leaves. That's it for the time she's there. This brother me because it was so many ways they could have interacted with each other in that castle. He could have taken a walk with her to show her all the castle grounds, fed the monkeys with her or attended an opera or play with her. Them doing activities together would have help convinced the readers of those two falling in love with each other.( Although he fell in love with her as soon as he met her. ) I think if she would have more interactions than her thoughts of the handsome person in her dreams would have diminished. She would be getting to know him and realizing that he really is a good person and wouldn’t have to be convinced by her dad to marry him. Here’s the kicker that really ticked me off. The fairy (which I’m going to get to later) told him to have limited interaction with her but to use the dreams instead. I’m like “YOU WANT HER TO FALL IN LOVE WITH THE BEAST TO BREAK THE SPELL NOT THE HUMAN! THAT TOTALLY DEFEATS THE PURPOSE!” Also their relationship consist of stalking since he was watching her while she sleeps and guilt tripping since he told her if she doesn’t come back he will die. You can kind of say that it’s also codependence because he was actually trying to kill himself by starving when she didn’t return back on time. I can’t forget the fact that the whole thing was a set up by the fairy and him to break the spell. ( I’m going to get more to that with the fairy as well.)
And people say that it’s all about Stockholm syndrome …
Try Stalking, Guilt Tripping, and Codependency for size...
Moving on.
4.The “wicked” fairy reason to cursing the prince- Ok Now what to do expect when you asked to marry the boy (for power of course) who saw you as a mother figure when his real mama was away at war? WHAT DID YOU EXPECT? FOR HIM TO SAY YES??? He saw her as a mother figure and that was it.. It was honestly not fair to him when he only saw her as that. Yes, the queen called her ugly and old but it’s not fair to punish him for it. In other versions (Disney and 2014 French), you can understand why he the prince got cursed it was honestly his fault why he did. When you act like an ass to a kind old lady who offered you a rose and asked for a place to stay for the night, than you deserved to get a curse on you. When you’re hunting after a golden doe after the woman you love told you not to anymore which you continue do so which turns out to be her when you killed it, then you deserved to get cursed by her vengeful forest daddy. Turning down someone that you see as a mother figure doesn’t warned getting curse even if your absent mother opens her mouth.
5. The “ good” fairy- Oh boy. If it’s ever was a character than wanted a pat on back for her “ good deeds” the more than the good fairy. Oh goodness! I got tired of her acting as the hero of the story. Pretty much after her sister cursed the prince, she was the one who step in and pretty much dictated the whole situation. From choosing her niece aka the prince cousin to be the one the break the curse to actually setting her father up to come to castle to pick the rose to bring one of his “daughters” back which started everything in motion. It’s like everything she did was to “one up” her evil sister and get revenge on her other sister which was actually Beauty’s real mama. She was also the one who told the prince to not interact with beauty when he was in his beast form but only in his human form. Like I said earlier, it negates the story because they want beauty to fall in love with his beast form so it can break the spell. She was also responsible for bringing beauty to the merchant which she through was her father. You come to find out that the King (the prince Uncle) was actually her dad and her mom was fairy. At this point, the whole story was starting to sound like one big wish fulfillment to max . Beauty is actually a princess and fairy which is whole Deux Ex Machina since the prince mama was very close to not giving her blessing since she through she was inferior birth. She found out she’s actually her niece and everything good to go. One thing that piss me off is when the fairy told the father that she’s not his daughter anymore but the kings.. He raised her as his own for all these years and is the reason why she considers marrying the beast. You can’t just tell him in such a rude matter that he should stop considering her as his own. That’s very inconsiderate to him and to beauty.
Ok
There’s one thing I did like which was the prince back story which I touched on. I honestly feel like Beauty should have been seeing his backstory in the dreams instead of him telling to her towards the end which made the story longer than it should. You could have killed two birds with one stone which the 2014 version incorporated. Also Beauty’s mother backstory was pretty interesting too.
Ok! This thing is almost 1600 words so I’m about to wrap it up.
All in All I honestly glad I read it so I can finally understand where some accept of the retelling coming from but I wish I could have enjoyed more. Beauty and the Beast maybe my fave fairy tale which I love reading retellings of it doesn't mean I have to love the original which I didn’t. I recommend the Abridged version since I think the Disney is more based on it.
1. Beauty being a Mary Sue- I know this was written before the term was even coined but boy our MC is the definition of it. She's very beautiful, kind, kind of naive with every guy falling completely in love with her which pretty much sums up her character. She likes to read but it was kind of glossed over and not really talked about. She's kind of shallow cause she constantly thinks of the beast being just a stupid animal although all he show to her is kindness and intelligence that doesn't befit a normal animal. The story supposed to be an allegory to woman around that time who is showing apprehension to arranged marriages but it doesn't help when you constantly thinks that a person who show you nothing but kindness as inferior you cause they are different than you. That kind of negates everything that I knew the story of BATB to be about. She eventually comes around and loves the beast but without feeling guilty about it. Also the love triangle between her the beast and his human form that she saw in dreams which is my second point.
2. The dreams plotline- OMG!! This probably the #1 reason why I don't like this version at all and I'm so glad that the abridged and other versions/retellings took it out. While Beauty was in the castle, she would have dreams of the human handsome side of the beast which she completely feel in love with in a matter of one night. Yep Insta-love to the max with this. Every night the human side of him is trying to get her to see what's behind the beast which she constantly refused to. This is a problem for me because it negates what beauty and the beast means to me. BATB is all about learning the inner beauty of someone who from the outside may seem monstrous but truly is a good person on the inside. It's also about learning to accept who they are. It's the true definition of "never judge of a book by it's cover." It totally negates that when she totally falls in love with the handsome side of him and gives two cents about the beast. In other versions that I have loved ( cough disney version) they take this out completely which is for the better because it brings a type of complexity that only hiders and not help the story.. They totally focus on the beauty falling in love with the prince in ONLY his beast form which is brings me to my third point.
3. Beauty and the Beast relationship and interaction (honestly lack of) - Now this is where I show that I'm totally spoiled by the Disney version to the max. In the Disney version after the first couple icy interactions, you are shown them having a snowball fight, reading to each other, having lunch and finally the famous the dinner / ballroom scene. You actually have scenes with them interacting, getting to know each other and becoming friends. These scenes actually convinced you that those two are truly in love with each other which the spell is broken at the end.. In the original version, the only interaction you have with them is having dinner which they talk for a few mins although she sort of becomes annoyed when he asked the question the "Will you sleep with me question." and then leaves. That's it for the time she's there. This brother me because it was so many ways they could have interacted with each other in that castle. He could have taken a walk with her to show her all the castle grounds, fed the monkeys with her or attended an opera or play with her. Them doing activities together would have help convinced the readers of those two falling in love with each other.( Although he fell in love with her as soon as he met her. ) I think if she would have more interactions than her thoughts of the handsome person in her dreams would have diminished. She would be getting to know him and realizing that he really is a good person and wouldn’t have to be convinced by her dad to marry him. Here’s the kicker that really ticked me off. The fairy (which I’m going to get to later) told him to have limited interaction with her but to use the dreams instead. I’m like “YOU WANT HER TO FALL IN LOVE WITH THE BEAST TO BREAK THE SPELL NOT THE HUMAN! THAT TOTALLY DEFEATS THE PURPOSE!” Also their relationship consist of stalking since he was watching her while she sleeps and guilt tripping since he told her if she doesn’t come back he will die. You can kind of say that it’s also codependence because he was actually trying to kill himself by starving when she didn’t return back on time. I can’t forget the fact that the whole thing was a set up by the fairy and him to break the spell. ( I’m going to get more to that with the fairy as well.)
And people say that it’s all about Stockholm syndrome …
Try Stalking, Guilt Tripping, and Codependency for size...
Moving on.
4.The “wicked” fairy reason to cursing the prince- Ok Now what to do expect when you asked to marry the boy (for power of course) who saw you as a mother figure when his real mama was away at war? WHAT DID YOU EXPECT? FOR HIM TO SAY YES??? He saw her as a mother figure and that was it.. It was honestly not fair to him when he only saw her as that. Yes, the queen called her ugly and old but it’s not fair to punish him for it. In other versions (Disney and 2014 French), you can understand why he the prince got cursed it was honestly his fault why he did. When you act like an ass to a kind old lady who offered you a rose and asked for a place to stay for the night, than you deserved to get a curse on you. When you’re hunting after a golden doe after the woman you love told you not to anymore which you continue do so which turns out to be her when you killed it, then you deserved to get cursed by her vengeful forest daddy. Turning down someone that you see as a mother figure doesn’t warned getting curse even if your absent mother opens her mouth.
5. The “ good” fairy- Oh boy. If it’s ever was a character than wanted a pat on back for her “ good deeds” the more than the good fairy. Oh goodness! I got tired of her acting as the hero of the story. Pretty much after her sister cursed the prince, she was the one who step in and pretty much dictated the whole situation. From choosing her niece aka the prince cousin to be the one the break the curse to actually setting her father up to come to castle to pick the rose to bring one of his “daughters” back which started everything in motion. It’s like everything she did was to “one up” her evil sister and get revenge on her other sister which was actually Beauty’s real mama. She was also the one who told the prince to not interact with beauty when he was in his beast form but only in his human form. Like I said earlier, it negates the story because they want beauty to fall in love with his beast form so it can break the spell. She was also responsible for bringing beauty to the merchant which she through was her father. You come to find out that the King (the prince Uncle) was actually her dad and her mom was fairy. At this point, the whole story was starting to sound like one big wish fulfillment to max . Beauty is actually a princess and fairy which is whole Deux Ex Machina since the prince mama was very close to not giving her blessing since she through she was inferior birth. She found out she’s actually her niece and everything good to go. One thing that piss me off is when the fairy told the father that she’s not his daughter anymore but the kings.. He raised her as his own for all these years and is the reason why she considers marrying the beast. You can’t just tell him in such a rude matter that he should stop considering her as his own. That’s very inconsiderate to him and to beauty.
Ok
There’s one thing I did like which was the prince back story which I touched on. I honestly feel like Beauty should have been seeing his backstory in the dreams instead of him telling to her towards the end which made the story longer than it should. You could have killed two birds with one stone which the 2014 version incorporated. Also Beauty’s mother backstory was pretty interesting too.
Ok! This thing is almost 1600 words so I’m about to wrap it up.
All in All I honestly glad I read it so I can finally understand where some accept of the retelling coming from but I wish I could have enjoyed more. Beauty and the Beast maybe my fave fairy tale which I love reading retellings of it doesn't mean I have to love the original which I didn’t. I recommend the Abridged version since I think the Disney is more based on it.
I loved the design of the pages and interactions throughout the book. The creaters turned an already important classic into something that I not only want to keep but also want to display and share. I have also bought the Peter Pan book in the same format and plan on buying the Jungle Book as well. I had never read the original story of Beauty and the Beast, and this book helped me feel connected to the history of the story and all the versions that have been created since then.
So, I think because Belle has always been my favorite Disney princess, I thought this story would captivate me and be my favorite read of all time. I was sadly mistaken.
I knew going in and the time period that this story was not going to mirror the Disney classic much, but there really was no correlation other than there being a young girl with striking beauty and a prince turned into a beast.
We don’t know their real names, so I am not sure where the title of Prince Adam came from with the Disney film. All I can come up with that is in this story they are in a place named Adam. So maybe the Prince of Adam and they condensed that to be Prince Adam.
Given the time frame, the relation between all of the characters was a given, but just weird to me. I just don’t quite understand the whole idea of keeping it in the family.
All in all, I still love Beauty and the Beast and even though I was disappointed that there is no real connection, I still love the movie and Belle. I did enjoy this book and think the illustrated edition is a wonderful tie in.
I knew going in and the time period that this story was not going to mirror the Disney classic much, but there really was no correlation other than there being a young girl with striking beauty and a prince turned into a beast.
We don’t know their real names, so I am not sure where the title of Prince Adam came from with the Disney film. All I can come up with that is in this story they are in a place named Adam. So maybe the Prince of Adam and they condensed that to be Prince Adam.
Given the time frame, the relation between all of the characters was a given, but just weird to me. I just don’t quite understand the whole idea of keeping it in the family.
All in all, I still love Beauty and the Beast and even though I was disappointed that there is no real connection, I still love the movie and Belle. I did enjoy this book and think the illustrated edition is a wonderful tie in.
Honestly, this is more of a 3 ⭐️ with a bonus ⭐️ given for the gorgeous MinaLima edition. This French fairytale from the 1700s absolutely drew me in at the beginning. I was enchanted with the beautiful language and the story itself. It is creative and engaging. The enchantment seemed to wear off about 2/3’s of the way through when it seemed to be dragging on and on. I would have cut out chapter 8 in its entirety as we are introduced to characters and then given extensive backstories for them. I didn’t care. I wanted the focus to remain on Beauty, her family and the Beast. That part of the book is wonderful.