Comments on: Review: Some Kind of Fairy Tale, Graham Joyce

By: The Literary Horizon: Some Kind of Fairy Tale « The Literary Omnivore

The Literary Horizon: Some Kind of Fairy Tale « The Literary Omnivore — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 11:01:31 +0000

[…] at The Speculative Scotsman notes that you need to be open to it, but it’s very worth it. Jenny at Jenny’s Books enjoyed it, but found that it often made subtext explicit and the fairy world had some bizarre […]

By: Eva

Eva — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 01:18:06 +0000

In reply to Jenny. *places The Replacement on hold at library despite leaving for trip next Tuesday*

By: Trapunto

Trapunto — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 19:37:47 +0000

Graham Joyce has a place in my heart right next door to DWJ. I so, so wish you could have started with one of his best ones! Like DWJ, his books vary wildly both in intention and execution. He’s always walking that genius left-brain-complex-conceptual and right-brain-magical tightrope, so he wobbles a bit sometimes.

By: Aonghus Fallon

Aonghus Fallon — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 12:00:41 +0000

Andrew Lang wrote a novella called ‘The Gold of Fairnilee’ which explored very similar themes. It’s worth checking out and probably available on Gutenberg. ‘Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell’ owes a clear debt to ‘Kingdoms of Elfin’ by Sylvia Townsend Warner, which came out some time in the late Seventies. If you like the first, you might like the other.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 15:04:26 +0000

In reply to spikeabell. Wow, thanks for all the recommendations! My rotten libraries don't have any of those, although I do intend to try more Graham Joyce pretty soon. Bitter Greens sounds amazing -- Rapunzel is one of my favorite fairy tales (because I too have long hair), and I've seen very few good retellings of it.

By: spikeabell

spikeabell — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 05:21:17 +0000

Hi Jenny,

A very precise review of ‘Some kind of Fairy Tale’, I agree on all accounts, thank you for articulating it so. I did in the majority enjoy it. Have you read any of his other books? Memoirs of a master forger – William Heaney, has more laughs and many descriptions of good red wine being quaffed that by the time you are half way through the desire to go and open a bottle is quite severe. Have you read Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth? A fabulous retelling of the Rapunzel tale interlaced with stories from the life of 17c Charlotte-Rose de Caumont la Force. I love Dianna Wynne Jones, my favourites would be; The Power of Three, Fire and Hemlock and Deep Secrets. Look forward to your future reviews.

Cheers,

Spike.

By: Coffee & a BookChick (@CoffeeBookChick)

Coffee & a BookChick (@CoffeeBookChick) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 00:18:49 +0000

Holy mother of pearl. How have I missed this one? Must read. Stat.

By: The Literary Omnivore

The Literary Omnivore — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 17:40:26 +0000

This is on my reading list for that exact reason—ambiguity as to whether or not the fairy world is real or not. I do wish there were more evidence against her, to make it more nuanced.

Also, the concept of a “weird lake orgasm thing” will haunt my nightmares.

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 11:27:47 +0000

In reply to Jenny.

http://bjorn.kiev.ua/librae/Tolkien/Tolkien_On_Fairy_Stories.htm

By: Bookwyrme

Bookwyrme — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 23:09:35 +0000

In reply to Jenny.

Oh, you must, must, must read Tolkien’s “On Fairy Stories.” It’s pretty easy to track down.

But it is a different look at fairies and fairy tails than Jonathan Strange. I love both to bits.