Saturday, April 7, 2012

Saturday Discussions- Fairytale Re-tellings

You really can't escape them right now. Between shows like Grimm and Once Upon A Time on t.v., Snow White and the Huntsman, The Raven and Mirror Mirror at the theaters and all of the books coming out, you are bound to see/read a fairytale re-telling at sometime. These have been a huge craze lately and it doesn't look like it is going away anytime soon. I'm actually reading a retelling right now called Tiger Lily, which is sparking this discussion.

I want to know what you all think of this trend.

Personally, I can't get enough. I've always been a huge fairytale buff. Seriously, I listened to Disney songs in my car in high school and I've always been fascinated in reading about fairytales roots. For me, I like them when they are cutesy retellings okay but I really get into it when fairytales go a little slanted (as if you can't tell by my blog theme). Basically, Tim Burton makes my year everytime he comes out with a new movie. Plus, when fairytales go a little darker, they are getting back to their roots which I can definitely appreciate.

Seriosuly though, I'm always in awe of authors who can look at other stories and figure out how to re-imagine them. I have a hard time getting out of my own head as a writer and once I see a story going one way, it's hard for me to imagine an alternate route. So I tend to feel stuck when it comes to fairytales too. But some authors are so dang clever at nodding to the original and creating amazing stories on top of that. I love watching authors re-create figures that I love and bringing a whole new reason to love them!
I'm not saying that I want every author to only write re-tellings but I'm still definitely on this bandwagon and I don't plan on jumping off any time soon.

I haven't actually read too many fairytale retellings so why don't you tell me some of your favorites? Also, how do you feel about re-tellings?

7 comments:

  1. I love retellings. Not just fairy tales but mythologies too. It is fascinating to see how people translate stories because it says just as much about how the writer views the fairy tales or myths.
    I think a large part of the appeal is that these old stories and myths weren't so worried about appearances and being appropriate so there's a freedom there.

    I really love the Once Upon A Time series. 'Beauty Sleep' by Cameron Dokey is wonderful. 'Scarlet Moon' by Debbie Vigue is lovely. 'Water Song' by Suzanne Weyn is also amazing. Francesca Lia Block does some excellent dark reimaginings as well.

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  2. I'm still loving every retelling I come across (& my boyfriend and I are absolutely hooked on Grimm and Once Upon a Time).

    While wouldn't want every single book I read to be a retelling, the ones I have read have been really fun.

    Jim C. Hines' Princes series is definitely a different take on fairy tale characters. My family, though, would be John Connolly's The Book of Lost Things. SO good.

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  3. I'm really interested in them. I just watched 'Once Upon A Time' this morning and thought it was great. I also love the Nursery Crime series by Jasper Fforde.

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  4. I found Once Upon A Time a little boring, so I stopped watching it, but I love Grimm :)
    And I generally like retellings. Alex Flinn is a fantastic reteller. I loved Beastly.

    And Tim Burton is the BEST! :)

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  5. I love "Once Upon a Time" and "Grimm" and I love to read. However, I do not enjoy reading re-tellings of fairy tales.
    I've tried a couple of Jim C. Hines books as well as Jasper Fforde and found them boring. I really like Jasper Fforde's books, just not the fairy tale ones.

    Sorry....just my opinion.

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  6. I personally really enjoy fairytale-retellings. If you haven't read Sisters Red or Cinder, I would suggest both of them. You can find my review to Sisters Red here or to Cinder here. I would also suggest A Kiss in Time or Beastly by Alex Flinn.

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  7. I love retellings, too. Definitely!!! Beauty by Robin McKinley was the first I ever read and I couldn't believe how amazing it was to step right into that magical world. I think I like her Rose Daughter even better, though. Until I read The Goose Girl - wow!!!! Shannon Hale turned an obscure fairy tale into an entire world that I totally love!!! Mercedez Lackey write beautifully and adds twists like (and yet very different from!) JC Hines. And Alex Flinn adds a modern twist into all kinds of her stories. Beastly's pretty good, but she's got others, too. I totally agree about Mythology, too, and Classics, like Robin Hood. I heard Scarlet is really good and I can't wait to get my hands on it!! I think it's amazing to bring an old favorite to life brand new, too.

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