Comments on: Beauty by Robin Mckinley

by: cassie

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 21:41:59 +0000

“I don’t have the fortitude to read anything that caters to a younger audience that relates (however tangentially) to Disney princesses. My head might just explode.”

I think McKinley’s head would explode if she read that.

FWIW, McKinley wrote Beauty at a least a decade before Disney’s movie came out, and she has said/written rather adamantly that she does not write books for a YA or child audience — which I think is why her books resonate with adults, even if they’re shelved in the YA section (actually, I find them all over the bookstore: Sunshine in horror, The Blue Sword in SF/F, Spindle’s End in YA, etc). I first read Beauty when I was 10 or 11 and still love it; I don’t think there was anything in it that was inappropriate for a 10 year old, but I probably missed a lot of the deeper themes at that age.

by: Saam

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 11:36:38 +0000

Eilonwy, I know what you mean. I loved it for its strangeness the first time, but have gotten a bit more out of it each time I have another go. I also keep promising myself that next time I read it I’m going to write down all the books they mention in it & attempt to get myself an English degree…or a Classics one!
Good Omens is also on the favs list…so snarky.

by: Grrrly

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 15:42:32 +0000

if you like retellings of beauty and the beast (and fairy tale retellings in general) bam, you should try francesca lia block’s ‘the rose and the beast’, which is her collection of retold fairy tales. in block’s version, the beast changes into the man, but beauty changes too and becomes more beast-like. in the end (and i’m paraphrasing from memory here) “sometimes they would argue, and when that happened, she would bathe, comb the tangles from her hair, and start wearing shoes again for a few days. she loved him with all her heart, her beast-boy, but sometimes, secretly, she wished that he would have remained a beast.” i loved that it wasn’t “now he’s a man and they can live happily ever after in perfect harmony and luuurve”. oh, and emma donohugue’s ‘kissing the witch: fairy tales in new skins’ is pretty fabulous too.

by: shuzluva

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 15:18:51 +0000

AnimeJune, you may love the film (and I do too), but when you’ve seen a Disney move approximately 300 times in one month…well let’s say I’ve had enough for a long, LONG while!

by: AnimeJune

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 15:09:15 +0000

I loved “Beauty” since I read it when I was thirteen.

I was never bothered by the Beast’s change back into a man - because the whole point is that Beauty fell in love with his personality and character, not what he looked like. Whether he was hairy or handsome wouldn’t have made a difference - the last-minute handsome-ification would just be a pleasant bonus, and a convenient removal of a potentially icky bestiality element. I also saw it as a visual metaphor - she tames the beast out of the man. Well, not in McKinley’s case, but still…

And I adored the Disney film, I’m not ashamed to say. Even though when you do the math, you realize the Prince was ELEVEN when he was changed into a Beast. Like, a CHILD. That beautiful enchantress couldn’t have grounded him or taken away his X-box like everyone else does with rude eleven-year-olds??

by: tumperkin

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 14:34:15 +0000

Anyone who loves fairytales but hates Disney princesses should check out the fabulous Angela Carter’s Fairy Tales. She does a great line in retelling fairytales for grown ups. Her Cinderella has no hesitation in stuffing her foot into the lost slipper to get her guy even after her stepsisters have already had their bleeding stumps in there (the sisters slice off a toe and part of a heel respectively to try to fit the slipper - as they do in the traditional versions). The film A Company of Wolves (grown-up Little Red Riding Hood) was based on one of her stories and anyone who loves a “Girl meets Beast” story has GOT to see that film!

by: Teddy Pig

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 14:27:00 +0000

This sounds way too gentle and nice for me.

I like my men like beasts not my beasts like men.

by: Jackie

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 13:55:29 +0000

I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve never heard of this author, let alone read her work. That’s going to change.

by: shuzluva

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 13:39:24 +0000

The current “Princess” obsession in my household makes me loathe to read anything to do with fairytales (which is what happens with girls under the age of four). I have had enough of Ariel the Whining Brat, and it shocks me that Disney managed to create a female character in 1989 that had less gumption than Cinderella in 1950. I can’t wait to break out the Mulan DVD. I’m praying that the girls like it, because Beauty and the Beast is in the DISNEY VAULT. Damn marketing ploys.

Unfortunately I’m going to have to stay away from this particular book. I don’t have the fortitude to read anything that caters to a younger audience that relates (however tangentially) to Disney princesses. My head might just explode. However, I will check out the author’s other books, since her writing has received such glowing praise here!

by: Eilonwy

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 12:37:05 +0000

Saam: As for Tam Lin, absolutely!! (There are two books that I keep within easy reach for comfort and Tam Lin is one of them, the other being Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens.) I cannot tell you all how much I want a Thomas Lane of my very own. Did you find that Tam Lin took a second read to adore? (Many people I know didn’t particularly care for it the first time, yet were drawn to read it a second, which is when they fell in love with it.)