Thursday, June 5, 2008

Beauties and Beasts

Beauty and the Beast is my favourite fairytale. I love fairytales.
I've started collecting and keeping track of different versions of Beauty and the Beast. I felt like making a list, so here we are (I'm sure I'm missing a few I know of ... novels listed vaguely in order of how close the story comes to the original fairytale):

Novels:
  • Beauty: A Retelling of Beauty & the Beast - Robin Mckinley (more "traditional" version)
  • Rose Daughter - Robin Mckinley (delicious twist ending!)
  • Beast - Donna Jo Napoli (the Beast's side of the story)
  • A Terrible Beauty - Nancy Baker (vampire version - love it!)
  • Goddess of the Rose - PC Cast (a delectable fantasy romance...)
  • Sunshine - Robin Mckinley (vampires, wit, a dash of Beauty & the Beast)

Related fairytales:
  • Rose Red and Snow White
  • East of the Sun, West of the Moon
  • Tam Lin (2 good Tam Lin novels: An Earthly Knight - Janet Elizabeth Mcnaughton; Winter Rose - Patricia Mckillip)
Also noteworthy are the Fables comics by Bill Willingham. The first trade, Legends in Exile, starts with Rose Red and Snow White. I haven't actually read it yet - it's on my wish list. I started in the middle, with Wolves, a delicious read with Snow White and Bigby (the wolf - think about it) and I just devoured it.
I love Disney's Beauty and the Beast, although I liked the Beast better than that pansy of a prince that he becomes.

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