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04/29/2003 Entry: "The Story Behind Robin McKinley's Rose Daughter"
Robin McKinley's first book was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, called Beauty (excerpt), written in 1978 . She came back and wrote another version almost twenty years later: Rose Daughter (excerpt). An essay on how and why she came back to that story: "Beauty is not merely a first novel; it is also a young writer's first novel. I wrote it when I was twenty-four. I wrote Rose Daughter when I was forty-three. A lot has happened. I've learned a lot, experienced a lot, thought a lot, written a lot. Despite Beauty's exorcism, Beauty and the Beast is still my favourite fairy-tale; I can't change that any more than I can change having grown up in the fifties when it was the only fairy-tale around that didn't have the heroine waiting limply to be rescued by the hero. It's never again become a place in my head where I go, but then I don't seem to need quite the same sort of haven from the real world that I did when I was younger. But quietly, when I wasn't looking, it regrew."
No wonder I like the Beauty and the Beast story! "the only fairy-tale around that didn't have the heroine waiting limply to be rescued by the hero."
Replies: 5 comments
of course, it looks like "new" is a relative term, since the essay was written in '96. :)
Posted by elaine @ 04/29/2003 10:51 AM PST
Beauty has been one of my favorite books since jr. high, when my best friend gave it to me as a (Christmas? birthday?) gift. And she was one of our favorite authors overall back then, too. I will have to get a copy of this new book.
Posted by Elaine @ 04/29/2003 10:44 AM PST
I've never seen the Cocteau version, but just came back from the link you posted. It looks wonderful..wonder how I could acquire it around here? hmmmm I'll have to do some checking around. The books I've put on my list to look for the next time I go to Books A Million. They have such a huge inventory, hopefully they'll be in stock.
Posted by deb @ 04/29/2003 10:31 AM PST
I strongly recommend both of these books! Plus the Cocteau french movie version is gorgeous.
Posted by Anita @ 04/29/2003 08:14 AM PST
I love it, too, and so do both of my girls. We all watched it again for the umpteenth time last week.
Carrie, the oldest, was lucky enough to see the production on Broadway a couple of years ago. I was soooo envious!
Posted by deb @ 04/29/2003 07:57 AM PST