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A review by jmmeyer
Snow White, Blood Red by Terri Windling, Ellen Datlow
3.0
So far:
The intro by TW is brilliant (as always). She provides an insightful look at the history of history fairy tales and places them within social context. As someone who isn't a fan of non-fiction I find her writing smooth - reminds me of a spoon full of sugar with medicine of her facts. I feel as though I learned a good bit but didn't suffer through a preachy, dry collection of words.
Jane Yolen's poem Knives about Cinderella is beautiful. It gives the long time victim some umph she deserves. I go between really enjoying Yolen and just avoiding her work because it can be so sad or unappealing but this is one piece that really hits the mark.
De Lint is a favorite of mine but this story was just pretty good. I think I might have read it before (this collection is 20 years old and many of the stories have appeared elsewhere since). I read this after reading another story in this collection that left me feeling a bit queasy so I was happy for the breath of fresh air de Lint provided. Good story over all, just not one of my favorites of his work.
The Changelings by Melanie Tem was...traumatic. This sticks to your heart like cholesterol and squeezes and makes you sad. The writing took a moment to get used to because it felt so frantic. I thought it was well written but overly sad. While I didn't enjoy reading this story, or want to ever read it again, I find myself telling people about it in an effort to give it away and not remember how sad and gross I felt when I was finished with it. If you like twisty, physiological horror this is a good story for you.
Persimmon it a fun little story. It isn't wonderful but is a quick, light read. I enjoyed it though found a few of the undertones a little gross. Mostly I think this was from the images of sex the men kept implying. A normal sized penis in a Thumbelina sized vagina conjures the most unpleasant sounds of ripping.
The Snow Queen. Love this story. McKillip is such an amazing writer, this story didn't disappoint. It walks a beautiful line between real life and fairy tale. Briony is a great character waiting for her own story and Gerda makes me happy - just as she is meant to. I wasn't super excited about the end but I think that's more a reflection of my desire for a woman to move beyond the man who captured and mistreated her heart. Forgiving is the action of a woman stronger than most though and so, while I wasn't in love with the end I loved the story as a whole and was thoroughly satisfied.
The intro by TW is brilliant (as always). She provides an insightful look at the history of history fairy tales and places them within social context. As someone who isn't a fan of non-fiction I find her writing smooth - reminds me of a spoon full of sugar with medicine of her facts. I feel as though I learned a good bit but didn't suffer through a preachy, dry collection of words.
Jane Yolen's poem Knives about Cinderella is beautiful. It gives the long time victim some umph she deserves. I go between really enjoying Yolen and just avoiding her work because it can be so sad or unappealing but this is one piece that really hits the mark.
De Lint is a favorite of mine but this story was just pretty good. I think I might have read it before (this collection is 20 years old and many of the stories have appeared elsewhere since). I read this after reading another story in this collection that left me feeling a bit queasy so I was happy for the breath of fresh air de Lint provided. Good story over all, just not one of my favorites of his work.
The Changelings by Melanie Tem was...traumatic. This sticks to your heart like cholesterol and squeezes and makes you sad. The writing took a moment to get used to because it felt so frantic. I thought it was well written but overly sad. While I didn't enjoy reading this story, or want to ever read it again, I find myself telling people about it in an effort to give it away and not remember how sad and gross I felt when I was finished with it. If you like twisty, physiological horror this is a good story for you.
Persimmon it a fun little story. It isn't wonderful but is a quick, light read. I enjoyed it though found a few of the undertones a little gross. Mostly I think this was from the images of sex the men kept implying. A normal sized penis in a Thumbelina sized vagina conjures the most unpleasant sounds of ripping.
The Snow Queen. Love this story. McKillip is such an amazing writer, this story didn't disappoint. It walks a beautiful line between real life and fairy tale. Briony is a great character waiting for her own story and Gerda makes me happy - just as she is meant to. I wasn't super excited about the end but I think that's more a reflection of my desire for a woman to move beyond the man who captured and mistreated her heart. Forgiving is the action of a woman stronger than most though and so, while I wasn't in love with the end I loved the story as a whole and was thoroughly satisfied.