Fairy Tale Adaptions: Part 1

Fairy tales, folktales, and legends are a bit of a cherished area of mine. I love how old, yet relevant and historical these tales are. They are magical and although I know most people scoff at them when they're adults, there is a TON of value in all of these stories. Stories like Cinderella and Aesop's fables were oral traditions, passed down from generation to generation. I've heard it said that language was the result of storytelling. People wanted to tell each other what they did that day or the *tall* tale of how they killed the largest mammoth in all the land, so language was born. Even though the stories may seem childish or grotesque in some cases, they are artifacts from past ages that still resonate throughout our culture with themes of love, greed, jealousy, and justice. Originally these tales were not collected for their appeal to children, but as an anthropological study of cultures. Maybe people don't understand the art of storytelling, but it's a lot more prevalent today than we think. Everyone has that friend or relative who is just captivating when they speak and they tell their stories in a way that makes you want to listen. That is a skill that is hard to come by, but that is what all of those ancient tales are about. One person mesmerizing an audience with a story. That is only part of what I ADORE about fairy/folk tales.

As part of a series of posts I will start, I will review fairy/folk tale adaptions.

One of my favorite folk/fairy tales is "East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon" from the Nordic lands. This is a story about an ordinary, yet determined, young woman who saves an enchanted prince from marrying a troll. Well another thing I love is fairytale adaptions and that is where East by Edith Pattou comes in.

East is an adaption of this fairy tale. It is a young adult novel about 500 pages long. Rose is an adventurous young girl who is determined to explore the world. She gets her chance when a great talking white bear comes and promises to solve her family's problems if only she will come away with him. Away she goes to a castle in a mountain where she must stay with the white bear. This is no average bear, however, and at night, Rose has a companion who lays beside her, but whom she is unable to lay eyes on. Her curiosity gets the best of her and she finds a way of seeing the stranger's face one night only to discover that by so doing, she has broken the enchantment...for the worse. The white bear/man is swept away by the troll queen to a land east of the sun, west of the moon. Rose refuses to let her mistake stand, so she goes on a great journey, searching for the white bear.

One nice thing about fairy tales is that they are short. This can be an annoyance when you really want to learn the motivations behind people's actions, or more of the story. I enjoyed East for the most part, but thought it was a little long winded. Not knowing all the details leaves some magic and mystery in the story, but I felt that this rendition overdid it. The story is broken down into chapters written by a few characters, which gave the reader a good break to hear different sides of the story and different voices. All in all, it was a bit too lengthy and not as captivating as I was expecting.

I will continue reading folk/fairy tales and their adaptions because I want to hear what happened and know more of the story. Isn't that the sign of a good story, that you always want more? What stories stand out to you?