First of all I am glad to say that the Zipes reading is overwith, at least for now. Secondly, I would like to express that I LOVE the Jane Yolen book, Briar Rose. Seeing as the story of a sleeping princess has and will always be my favorite fairy tale, and that I am not a beacon for change I was a little skeptical of this book. But, I could not put down this book, even though I was reading way far ahead and I had other school work to be doing. Yolen did an amazing job with intertwining Gemma's story of Briar Rose with Becca's everyday life. Yolen also did a good job of making us want more, with the finiding of the clues, one by one.
Two semesters ago, I took a class on the Holocaust and the tradgeties that came from those dark years. Therefore, I had heard of Chelmno, and the minute it came up in the book I was frightened that Becca would never be able to hear her grandmother's whole story. I believe that the climax of the reading, so far, was when she met Josef. I so wanted Josef to be her grandfather, because that would be amazing for Becca.
As you can tell, I have loved this book! What do you think about it?
3 comments:
Absolutely relieved that the Zipes readings are over for now. That last chapter on valuing the value of children's lit or whatever it was called cas tortuous. I too finished Briar Rose ahead of time but more so because I checked it out from the library and it's due back in a couple of days. It was pretty good reading. I thought the story was sweet and endearing and the story and struggles really made me like the characters. I don't generally read popular fiction but I did actually like the book. Of course I too thought it would have been cool to have that guy be the grandfather but realistically, that would have been too clean of an ending. The "I am Briar Rose" death claim came full circle both within the fairy tale and the real life account and I think we all want a part of our lives to be somewhat magical and mystical and find it fun to suspend that disbelief and root for the impossible. I think that we can relate to Becca in a number of ways, wanting to know more about your past, keeping a promise to someone deeply cared about and maybe trying to overcome her gemma's death by finding out more about her life (denial or bargaining perhaps), these are all common human responses and I think Yolen portrayed them with real clarity.
The Briar Rose reading taught me a lot. I was so surprised that it wasnt just about the grandmothers fairy tale, that in the begining I was a little confused. I didnt excprect it to jump across the ages. The author did a great job with the character decriptions and made me love Rebecca for keeping her promise while I was annoyed by the two sisters. I have not finished the book yet, but am only a chapter or two away from the ending. Storys like this make me think of how childhood chants and games really came about. It opens my eyes to the possibilities of history all around me.
I also love reading Briar Rose and am totally happy to be done with Zipes. I have never read Briar Rose before, but I had expected it to be told like the old Sleeping Beauty tales were told. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Yolen had put a whole different spin on it. I have read things about the Holocaust, but I have never heard of Chelmno. I like how Yolen is taking Sleeping Beauty and transforming it into a real life scenario. I also wanted Josef to be her grandfather because I thought that it would be a good ending, but I was far from the end. I haven't finished it yet, but I am completely enjoying it and i can't wait to see how it ends.
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