Monday, 1 April 2013

Beauty by Robin McKinley

"It's said there's a castle in a wild garden at the center of these woods: and if you walk into the trees till you are out of sight of the edge of the forest and you can see nothing but big dark trees all around you, you will be drawn to that castle: and in the castle there lives a monster.  He was a man once, some tales say, and he was turned into a terrible monster as a punishment for his evil deeds; some say he was born that way, as a punishment to his parents, who were king and queen of a good land, but cared only for their own pleasure."

I can't remember where I first heard about Robin McKinley, but I've seen her books mentioned on lots of blogs that I respect.  As I love fairy tale retellings, I decided that the time was right to pick up Beauty, a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story.  In terms of plot, it's a fairly straightforward telling, with Beauty (an ironic nickname in this version) offering to become the captive of the Beast in order to save the life of her beloved father.  Once prosperous residents of the city, Beauty's family has fallen on hard times and they leave with her sister Hope's husband to settle in the countryside, where he will work as a blacksmith.  Beauty's father loses the path through the forest when returning from a journey and ends up at an enchanted castle, where he is treated kindly until he tries to steal a rose to take home for his daughter.  Rather than allow her father to die, Beauty leaves her family to live in the  castle, unaware of the secrets hidden by the Beast.

In the end, I really enjoyed Beauty.  I found the first section rather slow but as soon as Beauty actually arrived at the enchanted castle, the book was far more captivating.  There was a subtle hint of magic running through each sentence and it was fascinating to watch Beauty's attitude towards the castle and the Beast slowly change, until she simply couldn't imagine being happy anywhere else.  I'm not a fan of romance novels, but the romance in this fairy tale retelling was completely believable as Beauty's feelings changed slowly and gradually with time.  I loved the scene where the Beast shows her his library, which contains copies of books that will only be published much later, and the way that romance only came after respect and friendship.

It was hard whilst reading this to get the Disney film (a favorite from childhood) completely out of my head. Beauty is less dramatic; there's no Gaston also pursuing Beauty, and this made the ending quieter but more powerful.  McKinley wrote the character of the Beast very well; we only get to see him through Beauty's eyes but she manages to get across hints of his past and emotions.  From about the mid-point on, I couldn't put the book down and I ended it with a big smile on my face.  I'll certainly be looking out for more McKinley books to read, as she combines the fairy tale with a great portrayal of human emotion.

Source: Library
First Published: 1978
Edition Read: Corgi Books UK, 2004
Score: 4 out of 5
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16 comments:

  1. bermudaonion1 April 2013 at 14:13

    I'm not a fan of fairy tale retellings but my sister loves them. I'll have to tell her about this book.

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  2. The Relentless Reader1 April 2013 at 14:42

    This sounds so interesting. I'd never heard of it, thanks for bringing to my attention! The Disney flick is so pervasive in my mind, I can see why it'd be hard to let go of that tale. Is the Belle in this story as bookish as the Disney one? ;)

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    1. Sam (Tiny Library)2 April 2013 at 09:31

      The Disney film was probably my favourite as a bookish child! Beauty in this story is bookish, but there's more to her than that.

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  3. Jennifer1 April 2013 at 20:20

    Ooooh. I AM SO EXCITED. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie and I'd love to read a book that fleshes it out, plus fairy tale retellings are pretty much the best thing ever. Cannot wait to get my hands on this!

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    1. Sam (Tiny Library)2 April 2013 at 09:32

      Hope you like it Jennifer! The plot is similar to the Disney movie, just with less drama.

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  4. Lady Disdain1 April 2013 at 21:49

    I loved this retelling! I couldn't get enough of the writing style - it really did evoke the whole 'fable', old 'storytale' atmosphere for me. I don't know how some books do it, but sometimes I feel as I'm really being told the story - as it might happen when you're a child - instead of simply reading words on a page. And I don't mean that in the show don't tell sense. There's something exciting about having a story told properly to you, when the teller captures everything perfectly, and that's what this story did for me, I think.

    At the same time, though, I was expecting something to happen that was a little different to the original story, something a little unexpected, but nothing did. I wasn't too disappointed, though. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it =)

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    1. Sam (Tiny Library)2 April 2013 at 09:33

      Glad you loved it too, and I understand what you mean about it feeling like you were being told the story rather than simply reading it.

      I was expecting something dramatic to happen near the end, but I like that it didn't.

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  5. Jo @ Booklover Book Reviews2 April 2013 at 01:04

    No Gaston! Goodness me. I just adore the cover art on this title - you can probably guess red is my favourite colour ;)

    Sam, I notice you really enjoyed Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth too. Kate has recently released her next title in Australia, coming elsewhere in time I guess, also about fairytale retellings - it's called The Wild Girl. It's a fictional account of the life of the girl that lived next door to the Brothers Grimm, who told them many of the stories that appeared in their famous collections. Once again her prose is just beautiful - my review will published very soon.

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    1. Sam (Tiny Library)2 April 2013 at 09:34

      I'm not a fan of the cover art, but each to their own :)
      I'd heard about Kate's new book, The Wild Girl. I'm jealous that you've already read it as it sounds just as good as Bitter Greens! I will have to buy a copy as soon as I can.

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  6. Anonymous2 April 2013 at 01:28

    Still my favorite of Robin McKinley's books! I like all the library bits too -- I like it that they mention Robert Browning in particular just because, why not? And also because Robert Browning is half the time barely comprehensible to his contemporaries, let alone Beauty and the Beast. But if you want another, I truly do love Sunshine.

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    1. Sam (Tiny Library)2 April 2013 at 09:35

      I will try Sunshine next, I plan on reading a few more of her books. Spindle's End is supposed to be good too?

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  7. Unknown2 April 2013 at 22:55

    This is one of my favorite canonical retellings of Beauty and the Beast. So sweet.

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  8. Anonymous3 April 2013 at 02:45

    I love your blog and am now a happy follower.
    Elle
    http://bodybyzen.blogspot.com/p/living.html

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    Replies
    1. Sam (Tiny Library)3 April 2013 at 15:36

      Thanks for visiting, I'm off to check out your blog :)

      Delete

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