Happily ever after

This morning I read the first two chapters of Orson Scott Card’s Enchantment and rather like it so far. It’s got the right fairy tale feel to it, with things happening, and there’s the whole Slavic/Russian atmosphere to boot. (I’m realizing that I have a strong affinity towards the north of Europe/Asia, whether it be Russia or Germany or Iceland or Britain. The south (Greece, Italy, Australia, India, etc.) has its own charm, to be sure, but it utterly pales in comparison to the north — as far as my interests go. I’m sure there are people who love the south just as much as I love the north.)

Anyway, I decided to go check out some books on Russian folklore, so I went to the Wikipedia page and found a reference to Afanasyev’s collection of fairy tales (similar to the Grimm brothers’ collection). It was only a short minute later that I had looked it up in the library catalog and had a call number written down, along with the call numbers for Grimm in English and for Bruno Bettelheim’s The Uses of Enchantment.

At that moment I was waiting for a phone call, so I sat back to read a few more pages of Card’s Enchantment before heading over to the library. Imagine my surprise when on the very next page I found Ivan (the main character) studying Afanasyev’s collection. Random but not. At any rate, I couldn’t wait to get over to the library by that point. :) And now I’m back, with a copy of Hans Christian Andersen as well.

I love fairy tales. :) The feel of magic in the air is unbeatable. Right now I’m having to exercise some serious self-restraint to keep from abandoning my homework and diving into Enchantment until I finish it, even if it takes until tomorrow morning. :) (But alas, that’s the sort of thing that I can’t really indulge in at the end of the semester. During finals week, however, is a different story. :))

Oh, I too just love fairy tales. I love to find the core myths, legends, and tales from the all different cultures. I see it as one of the many things that bind the nations. Though differently told in each culture, I have noticed many common threads that enchant me.

Some of my favorite retellings of classic fairy tales are “Beauty” by Robin McKinley and “Ella Enchanted” by Gail Carson Levine,

This weekend as a treat after finals are over (~sigh~) and done with, I plan on reading “Fairest” by Gail Carson Levine. I bought it for my roommate for her birthday a few weeks ago, and have been yearning to read it ever since.

As for “Enchanted” by Orson Scott Card, I remember enjoying it when I read it a few years ago. It is a very Russian tale.

What I find most fascinating is how most of the core fairytales were actually brought back with the knights returning from the crusades, and are steeped in religious symbolism?

Aw, Enchantment is one of my favorites. Although the first time I read it, I found the first few chapters boring. Which probably means if you read any further, you’ll be hopelessly sucked in. For the sake of your homework, think before you read!

JK, of course. Reading is always more important than homework.

Happy Reading. :D

Ben, I thought you were smarter than this! When I wanted to read fairy tales all semester I turned my reading into research and wrote a paper on the origin of evil stepmothers in fairy tales. I’m sure you could write a comparative analysis on the archetypal themes that dominate Northern European fairy tales. :)

Julia: I went to check out Beauty once, but it wasn’t on the shelves. This summer, though… Fairy tales and myths are perhaps my most favorite type of literature. That’s probably why I love Tolkien so much.

Liz: It’s true, reading is more important than homework. I’ll forget homework by next week, but the books I read will stay with me forever.

Heather: LOL, I did actually do that last semester in my C.S. Lewis class. This semester it’d be a bit harder to pull off, but I’ll see what I can do. (Yes, I realize I probably should have started on my papers much earlier than this, seeing they’re due Monday and Tuesday, but oh well.)

The Dover Thrift Editions are worth a look for some good fairy tale collections that are affordable (as far as money, if not time).

Fairy tales do come true…
Happily Ever After…the celestial Kingdom
Knight in Shining Armor (the bridegroom)…Christ
Damsel in distress…us (the bride)
Wicked Witch… the Adversary
The Hero Journey or Hero Myth Cycle…The Plan of Happiness
Poison…temptation
Fairy godmothers, good magicians…angels, heaven’s help
lost…our mortal state
found…back on the true path

We use fairy tale and myth in our society to cast doubt, to put down those things that are a lie in story. That is only because we have lost our sense that myth and fairytale are symbolic. Have you read Joseph Campbell’s Hero of a Thousand Faces?

For years I avoided myth and fairytale because I was blind to the symbolism. I am an artist and I love symbolism.

Scott: Mmm, good point! Sometimes the Dover typography is too horrendous for me to digest, though, with ultra-small margins and ugly typefaces. I can see why they’d want to have small margins — fewer pages = less cost — but still, readability is important. (And there’s no reason they couldn’t have chosen better typefaces, really.) So I’m kind of biased against Dover, but only on those two points. I really like the idea, though, and for people who aren’t overly sensitive to typography, they’re great.

Donna: Nice comparisons. :) I haven’t read Hero yet, but I checked it out from the library yesterday and it’s now sitting on my desk. (But I just realized today that I have to read 500 pages of Aeneid criticism by Monday instead of a week from Monday. So for now I’m going to be downing a bunch of essays on Vergil’s poetics. But soon!)

I too am excited to read “hero” I got the book a few months ago, but have been unable till now to read it. I think I shall do so after I finish “Fairest”

hmmm, I just love fairy tales, myths and ledgends…

Oh, and have fun with Vergil. I never memorized it, but I enjoyed studying it for a Greek Poetry Seminar last Semester ;-)

Read the Aeneid last semester, along with Sophocles plays. The Aeneid is definitely a book written for men, by men. A few parts were too gruesome for me. I am visual and a mother of sons and grandsons. I liked the way he listed the dead by their names and what they had done in life, a reminder to the video game generation that those killed are real people with real lives. Very haunting.

I would like to read the Georgics in Greek, see what inspired America’s founders. I read an article by Bruce Thorton “The Founders as Farmers: The Greek Georgic Tradition and the Founders (Vital Remnants- a book I borrowed from BYU library). I Would like to read the Eclogues by Virgil and even the New Testament, in Greek, as well. Looks like I get to learn Greek, this summer.

Oh how I love that book-it’s my favorite book by Card-not even the Enderverse beats it (though it comes pretty darn close). I find the storyline just *that* amazing. But I love Russian myth, so I’m a bit biased…

Julia: Reading Virgil in Latin has been far more enjoyable than I thought it would be. There’s really something about reading great literature in the original language. It’s unbeatable. :)

Donna: Virgil’s imagery is often strong, yes, but that’s what makes it so good. If it were gratuitous, then perhaps I’d give pause, but it’s no worse than the Bible or Book of Mormon. :) I plan to finish reading the Aeneid this summer, then go on to the Georgics and Eclogues. Latin’s a fun language. :)

Joni: Russianness is definitely growing on me. I checked out a book on Russian history Saturday night and it’s spine-tinglingly exciting.