Journal Entry 1 by tangledthreads from Derby, Derbyshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, September 03, 2003

(Small hardcover edition.) Jacket blurb: "'The Frog Prince' tells the story of a meditative frog's love for a rebellious princess, how she came to love him in spite of herself, and how her refusal to compromise helped him become who he truly was. This is a magical book that moves (amphibiously) from story to meditation and back, from the outrageous to the hilarious to the silly to the sublime."

I love this little book! It's quite unlike any other fairy tale adaptation I have read. It has a very philosophical/metaphysical/scientific tone (if all those things can co-exist!), and a dry sense of humour. It might be a bit wordy for some people, but it works for me!

Here's a little extract to give you an idea of the style: "A century and three quarters before our story begins, during the first, tentative stages of the Renaissance, when one Western mind-world was dying and another was in the throes of being born, the wisest men and women in Europe could observe a hairline crack, as it were, on the surface of reality. This kind of crack is more likely to form in the life of an individual than in the life of an entire culture. When a woman or a man undergoes a deep spiritual transformation, there are certain critical points along the way when what is partial needs to be shattered in order to become what is whole. At such points, the hidden powers and illnesses of the soul may be unleashed, giving rise to bizarre phenomena in which darkness and light are interchangeable and in which it is sometimes difficult to distinguish miracle from madness."

See what I mean?!

More Full Length Fairy Tale Novelisations:
White as Snow by Tanith Lee (Snow White)
Beauty by Robin McKinley (Beauty and the Beast)
The Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley (Beauty and the Beast)
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire (Cinderella)
Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire (Snow White)
Wicked by Gregory Maguire (Wizard of Oz)
King Rat by China Mieville (Pied Piper of Hamelin)
Beast by Donna Jo Napoli (Beauty and the Beast)
The Magic Circle by Donna Jo Napoli (Hansel and Gretel)
Prince of the Pond by Donna Jo Napoli (Frog Prince)
Spinners by Donna Jo Napoli (Rumpelstiltskin)
Zel by Donna Jo Napoli (Rapunzel)
Was by Geoff Ryman (Wizard of Oz)
Fair Peril by Nancy Springer (Frog Prince)
Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper (Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White)
Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson (sort of) (Twelve Dancing Princesses)
Snow White and Rose Red by Patricia C. Wrede
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen (Sleeping Beauty)  

Journal Entry 2 by tangledthreads from Derby, Derbyshire United Kingdom on Sunday, August 15, 2004

I am starting a bookring to release this book – please send me a Private Message including your screen name and country if you would like to join (I will assume you are able to ship overseas unless you tell me otherwise).

*I will make a list below of members in the order the book will circulate (this may be amended later depending on shipping preferences/location etc).

*The current owner of the book will be shown on the list in bold and marked with an arrow (>).

*Please make a journal entry when you receive the book, then read, review and release the book within 1 month of receiving it, to keep the circle turning.

*When you are ready to release the book, send a PM to the next member on the list asking for their postal details.

*When the last person on the list receives the book, please send me a PM for my postal details, for the book’s return journey.

BOOKRING MEMBERS
1. TangledThreads (UK)
>2. katayoun (Iran)
3. SandDanz (USA - prefer to ship within US)
4. karendawn (USA)
5. MollyGrue (USA - prefer to ship within US)
6. bookharlot (USA - prefer to ship within US)
7. tyvmdear (Canada)
8. Suefitz (USA)
9. starbytes (Malaysia)
10. alans-daughter (UK - prefer to ship within UK)
back to me,
11. tangledthreads (UK)

(Shipping order not yet finalised so above sequence may/will probably change) 

Journal Entry 3 by tangledthreads from Derby, Derbyshire United Kingdom on Monday, October 04, 2004

On way to first ring participant, katayoun... 

Journal Entry 4 by katayoun from Tehran, Tehran Iran on Wednesday, January 05, 2005

i can't understand why it took this and it's companion so long to get here but i'm so glad that they are here. thanks tangledthreads, got 2 books before this (one of them a collection of short stories!:)) and then it's this. and again WOW what lovely labels, most beautiful 

Journal Entry 5 by katayoun from Tehran, Tehran Iran on Monday, January 17, 2005

so it's finished and ready to be sent on to sanddanz. ok that was the easy part, now about what i thought about the book, well i thought the writing was a bit contrived, trying to be "something" but not really understanding that something. funny? not really, more like pompous and though it looked like it was talking about something important, it really didn't and it really wasn't. but then it's maybe because i like my fairytales to be fairytales and so i couldn't relate to this. would love to see what others thought and also i loved the feel of the book, it was physically a beautiful book.
thanks so much for the ring tangledthreads and will be mailing in a couple of days. 

Journal Entry 6 by katayoun from Tehran, Tehran Iran on Sunday, January 23, 2005

and on it's way to SandDanz, it should be there in a month, give or take a week and OFCOURSE touch wood and postal gods willing! :) thanks tangledthreads for the ring 

Journal Entry 7 by SandDanz from New Albany, Indiana USA on Wednesday, February 09, 2005

This arrived in the mail today. I have to agree with katayoun about the gorgeous label!!! :) I have a few other bookrings currently, but this looks like a quick read so I'll try to sneak it in amongst the others. ;) 

Journal Entry 8 by SandDanz from New Albany, Indiana USA on Thursday, February 24, 2005

Finished this book today & should get sent out tomorrow afternoon most likely.

My "review" of the book:

I really wasn't sure what to expect with this book when I signed up for the ring, nor when it arrived at my apartment. I had trouble getting into the writing style in the beginning. I never did really adapt to it, but at least got used to it. Anyway... the story didn't seem to be the true story of the Frog Prince flourishes as I was expecting. Instead it was a new version of the Frog Prince with flourishes that were basically just long, drawn out descriptions of every little thing that happened. I personally found this a bit boring. However, there were enough little perks in the book that made me grin (i.e. him arriving as they are eating frog legs, him "singing" for her, the dreaded thought of dying, etc...) I'm glad I had a chance to read the book, but it wouldn't be a book I'd read again and most likely if the author did/does re-write other fairy tales in this manner I wouldn't read them either.

 

Journal Entry 9 by SandDanz at by mail in To the next participant, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Friday, February 25, 2005

Released 7 yrs ago (2/25/2005 UTC) at by mail in To the next participant, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Book has been sent on to KarenDawn. :) 

Journal Entry 10 by karendawn from Lafayette, Indiana USA on Monday, February 28, 2005

The book arrived today. Thank you! Although I'm at a busy point in my semester (two weeks before Spring Break - papers and other things due), I will be happy to take breaks and sit down with this book. So I expect to get it back out in the next week or two (it's not too long of a book). 

Journal Entry 11 by karendawn from Lafayette, Indiana USA on Thursday, March 03, 2005

This was an okay book. Yes, it did add details to the original story, but I'm not entirely sure that anything but details was added. And I felt that the ending was a bit rushed and too easy. Of course, we know how the story ends, but it's just over too quickly, especially after the long set-up.

Thank you for sharing the book. It's already on its way to MollyGrue. 

Journal Entry 12 by MollyGrue from Tacoma, Washington USA on Saturday, March 12, 2005

Caught this tonight and am looking forward to reading this! Thanks! 

Journal Entry 13 by MollyGrue from Tacoma, Washington USA on Monday, March 28, 2005

I liked it, but it was far more literary than I thought it would be.

Reserved for the next reader. 

Journal Entry 14 by MollyGrue at in the mail in Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Monday, April 04, 2005

Released 7 yrs ago (4/4/2005 UTC) at in the mail in Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Happy reading!