Review: Stardust by Neil Gaiman

This was my first Neil Gaiman book, and I’m kicking myself that I didn’t get to it sooner. I watched the movie years ago and quite liked it, but I loooooooved the book. From the opening line, “There was once a young man who wished to gain his Heart’s Desire”, I was hooked.

Stardust is a fairy tale for grown-ups. It follows Tristran into the land of Faerie on a quest to find a fallen star for his lady love, Victoria. When he gets there he finds the star is not exactly what he expected it to be, and there are more than a few speedbumps in his journey. It’s an exciting and entertaining ride filled with a range of fantastical characters and all kinds of magic.

Gaiman infuses Stardust with a wonderful fairy tale feel through his whimsical and lyrical use of language. This book reminded me a little of The Last Unicorn be Peter S. Beagle and The Princess Bride by William Goldman in the evocative, magical world it creates and its beautiful, vivid imagery. The story itself is fun, amusing and even a little sad at times. The different threads that seem totally unrelated in the beginning all converge in a lovely way and everything comes together wonderfully. It’s an absolute delight to read.

I loved the extensive cast of characters, both the good and the bad. The ghostly brothers of Stormhold were hilariously macabre, and the Lilim were the kind of baddies you love to hate. Tristran was adorable if a bit hopeless and selfish at times, and Yvaine was not only beautiful but funny and fierce. I even liked Victoria more than I expected. I only wish that more time was spent on Tristran and Yvaine’s developing relationship – vast amounts of time and many adventures are skipped over in a few sentences, and we don’t actually get to experience their growing feelings towards each other. I understand the book would have been much longer if these were included, but it would have been nice to witness a little of it.

Although I’m a massive fan of Happily Ever Afters, I actually really liked the bittersweet ending of Stardust. This fairy tale is for adults, after all, and we know that as wonderful as things can be, there is always pain and sadness and loss. So the ending was quite fitting and still happy in its own way. Everyone who loves magic (and frankly who doesn't?) will enjoy this book.

Rating: 4.5/5

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Published: 1999, Headline
Get It:  Book Depository

Bookish Buys: Once Upon A Time...

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Bookish Buys: Paper Art

On last week's Alice in Wonderland-themed Bookish Buys, Catherine drew my attention to this amazing paper art print from Paper Noodle and I knew I had to do a post about it.

Alice in Wonderland print

Isn't it beautiful? The same artist has more gorgeous prints, and there's one in particular that I feel I must have - can you guess which one?

Beauty and the Beast print

Little Red Riding Hood print

 Further digging uncovered some more wonderful paper art, like these two from Art Papier.

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Getting back to book-related art, how lovely is this Beatrix Potter-inspired sculpture from Isabel Talsma?

The Tale of Jeremy Fisher sculpture

For something a bit different, Paper Cut Words does, well, paper cut words. Or, more specifically, quotes.

Game of Thrones paper cut

Back to the fairy tales, Sarah Trumbauer has created some exquisite scenes.

Little Red Riding Hood paper cut

Rapunzel paper cut

Alice in Wonderland paper cut

The Wizard of Oz paper cut

Finally, The Sketchy Easel has a range of gorgeous fairy tale-inspired silhouettes.

Cinderella paper cut

Alice in Wonderland paper cut

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Bookish Buys: Custom Book Art

Friday Link Dump: Mad Hatters, Fairy Tales and Ryan Gosling

This real-life Mad Hatter's tea party looks crazy fun. Hats! Stilts! Masks! Facepaint! TEA!

The Real Housewives of Westeros. YES.

A possible Twilight TV series? NO!

This is what would happen if fairy tale characters lived now... and were 20-something. Hilarious.

This girl has some of the most amazing (if completely impractical) pop culture-inspired nail art I've ever seen. I can't even pick a fave, there are so many brilliant pieces here.

If you would like the illusion of horror movies destroyed, look at these behind-the-scenes pictures from iconic films. Most are hilarious but some are mind blowing - namely, Gizmo from Gremlins is actually a giant.

Ryan Gosling had swag even at age 12, wearing a denim shirt and pronouncing his words like "oot" and "aboot". 

That sound you hear is me drooling all over my keyboard thanks to these cake batter ice cream sandwiches.

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Every time I think Tom Hanks can't possibly get any more awesome - he does. 

Review: Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth

I'm a big fan of the "true story" versions of fairy tales. Well, OK, I'm really just a big fan of Ever After, but details, schmetails. My point is when I found out this was a story about the origins of Rapunzel, I knew I wanted to give it a try. It surpassed my expectations and I fell in love with the story and the characters. In Bitter Greens, Kate Forsyth has created a wonderful, beautifully tangled* narrative of three remarkable women..

It begins with the story of Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de la Force, who has been banished from the court of King Louis XIV and sent to a convent as punishment for her scandalous affairs and writings. Flashing back and forth between the convent and Charlotte-Rose's many (mis)adventures, Forsyth creates a vivid and realistic picture of an absolutely fascinating woman. Her extensive research and dedication to not just the historical period but Charlotte-Rose herself is clearly evident. I have to admit it's the first time I've ever heard of  Charlotte-Rose, but now I've had a taste I want to know so much more. I mean, not only did she write one of the earliest versions of Rapunzel, she did wicked cool things like dress in a bear suit to rescue her imprisoned lover. Yep. I have a bit of a girl crush on her.

Speaking of girl crushes, I also fell a bit in love with Margherita, the Rapunzel figure of the piece, whose story is woven naturally into my mate C-R's narrative. She's definitely not the weeping, hopeless damsel-in-distress type. I admired her fighting spirit and resourcefulness. I also appreciated the fact that her parents were more likable (and definitely more fleshed out) than they are in other versions of the story, but I have to say I was a bit disappointed in the prince. He was pretty swoon-worthy to start with, but the way he kept blaming Margherita for her imprisonment made me want to chuck him out the window. I thought she could have done better than him, locked in a tower and all. Of course, he is only the second person she's seen in years and the first to treat her even halfway decent, so I can't blame the poor girl for falling for his douchebaggery.

Which brings me to the third layer of narrative within Bitter Greens; the Witch's. We first see her as a beautiful yet terrifying woman who kidnaps Margherita and bathes in her blood (it's icky as hell, but not the worst thing she does, believe it or not). In time her own story starts to unfold, revealing her history and giving the reader, if not sympathy, then at least some empathy for her. While I enjoyed this part of the story, I would have liked to have seen it further developed. I was never really convinced of exactly why, even with her horrific past, Selena Leonelli was so obsessed with eternal youth and beauty. I also would have liked a bit more time spent on the other "Rapunzels" - I found this aspect fascinating. In fact, I really enjoyed Forsyth's unique explanations for the origins of the myth.

With so much going on, Bitter Greens could have easily become stuck in its own spider-web, but Forsyth balances the intertwining plots wonderfully. She builds each section up to a point where you just want MOAR, then switches gears and gets you all caught up in another character's head. It's a delicate line to walk and she gets it mostly right. Still, I was a little disappointed with the ending - after the slow burn of the bulk of the book, I felt it was too rushed and some things seemed forced. But that didn't materially lessen the loveliness of the book as a whole.

Rating: 4/5

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Published: March 2012, Random House Australia
Get It: Booktopia

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Bitter Greens helped me pass the time on a long train ride (isn't the cover purdy?).

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Forsyth has some great Bitter Greens tidbits on her blog as well some lovely Bitter Greens boards on Pinterest.

*See what I did there?

Bookish Fun: Battle of the Snow Whites

It seems that the powers that be in Hollywood have decided vampires are, like, so 2010 and have moved on... to fairy tales. We've already seen new versions of Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast (in the Vanessa Hudgens vehicle Beastly), but it looks as though Snow White is really where it's at. Because they're making not one but TWO versions of it at the moment - and they both look kind of awesome.

Sorry, Snowie, you're old news.

Film 1: The Brothers Grimm: Snow White (working title). According to the studio Relativity Media, it will be "a spectacular reimagining of the classic fairy tale - an evil queen steals control of a kingdom, and an exiled princess enlists the help of seven resourceful rebels to win back her birthright in a spirited adventure comedy filled with jealousy, romance, and betrayal that will capture the imagination of audiences the world over." There's even a love triangle - between the evil queen, the innocent princess and, of course, the handsome prince.
The date: Release is currently set at March 16, 2012.
The stars: Lily Collins (Phil's daughter) will play Snow White, while the prince who captures her heart will be played by none other than my Gatsby, Armie Hammer - who you might recognise as the Winklevii from The Social Network. Julia Roberts, meanwhile, will get to use her grin for the greater evil as the queen, and Sean Bean will be her king.
The sneak peek: So far, only a shot of Lily as Snow White has been released. She looks very pretty, and very much the fairy tale princess.

Film 2: Snow White and the Huntsman, which IMDb says is "a twist to the fairy tale - the huntsman ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed winds up becoming her protector and mentor in a quest to vanquish the evil queen."
The date: US release is set for June 1, 2012.
The stars: Kristen Stewart tackles this version of Snow White, while the titular huntsman will be played by Aussie spunk and Thor star Chris Hemsworth. Charlize Theron will play the evil queen, and Sam Clafin of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides fame will represent the prince - looking decidedly more creepy than handsome here.
The sneak peek: Here's a glimpse of all the key players, which suggests that despite being based on the same story, this will be a very different film to the Collins version.

I'm excited for both films - they both seem to have great casts and unique takes on the tale. The fact that I'm not a fan of Kristen's acting makes me lean towards the first version, but then I also dislike Julia Roberts. But judging from the tidbits of the stories that have been released, the latter film does intrigue me a little more. What do you think?