November 2007 reading list: Retellings

It’s… still November. I apologize for the extreme delay in posting this — real life got in the way. This month’s theme is (was?) stories retold, reinvented, reimagined. (Mostly myths…!) All descriptions are taken from the book blurbs unless otherwise noted.

The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie. In this brilliant remaking of the myth of Orpheus, Salman Rushdie tells the love story of Vina Apsara, a beloved pop star, and Ormus Cama, an extraordinary songwriter and musician, who captivate and change the world through their music and their romance. Beginning in Bombay in the fifties, moving to vibrant London in the sixties, and frenzied New York for the last quarter century, the novel pulsates with a half century of music and celebrates the awesome power of rock ‘n’ roll.
Mia’s notes: Rushdie’s writing is always a lavish feast for the senses, and the way he layers symbols upon symbols, stories upon stories, is nothing short of magnificent. This is a fascinating remix of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth; if you have time, try contrasting it with Rainer Maria Rilke’s Sonnets to Orpheus. Available in a lot of local bookstores, in assorted covers (all gorgeous, by the way) and reprintings.

Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis., In this timeless tale of two mortal princesses–one beautiful and one unattractive–C.S. Lewis reworks the classical myth of Cupid and Psyche into an enduring piece of contemporary fiction. This is the story of Orual, Psyche’s embittered and ugly older sister, who possessively and harmfully loves Psyche. Much to Orual’s frustration, Psyche is loved by Cupid, the god of love himself, setting the troubled Orual on a path of moral development.
Mia’s notes: Lewis’s most beautiful book. It is written with great sensitivity and tenderness; rather than use the overt symbolism of the Narnia chronicles and the Space Trilogy, Lewis paints a subtle picture of love, longing, vision, and truth. It’s much better than the book blurb makes it sound, I promise It’s not one of Lewis’s most popular books, but it might be available locally — try A Different Bookstore.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. Joining the rich literature of runaways, Kafka On The Shore follows the solitary, self-disciplined schoolboy Kafka Tamura as he hops a bus from Tokyo to the randomly chosen town of Takamatsu, reminding himself at each step that he has to be “the world’s toughest fifteen-year-old.” He finds a secluded private library in which to spend his days–continuing his impressive self-education–and is befriended by a clerk and the mysteriously remote head librarian, Miss Saeki, whom he fantasizes may be his long-lost mother. Meanwhile, in a second, wilder narrative spiral, an elderly Tokyo man named Nakata veers from his calm routine by murdering a stranger. An unforgettable character, beautifully delineated by Murakami, Nakata can speak with cats but cannot read or write, nor explain the forces drawing him toward Takamatsu and the other characters. (from Amazon.com)
Mia’s notes: Sophocles would love this. Assuming he’d survive the apoplectic fit. Out of all the books in the list, this is perhaps the easiest book to find; Murakami is pretty widely-read here, after all. Try Powerbooks or National Bookstore.

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. Mikhail Bulgakov’s masterpiece is an ironic parable on power and its corruption, on good and evil, and on human frailty and the strength of love. Featuring Satan, accompanied by a retinue that includes the largge, fast-talking, vodka-drinking black tom cat Behemoth, the beautiful Margarita, her beloved–a distraught writer known only as the Master–Pontius Pilate, and Jesus Christ, The Master and Margarita combines fable, fantasy, political satire, and slapstick comedy into a wildly entertaining and unforgettable tale that is commonly considered one of the greatest novels ever to come out of the Soviet Union.
Mia’s notes: Brilliant, crazy, strange, surprising. One can get drunk on this book — it’s an addictive, intense read. I have heard this book called “shocking” several times, and I can definitely see why; Bulgakov turns convention on its head with reckless abandon (the way he deals with the Jesus/Pontius Pilate storyline, for instance, is guaranteed to raise some eyebrows). Up until recently I saw this book only in used-book stalls and shops, but a few weeks ago I saw several copies at a National Bookstore branch.

The Once and Future King by T.H. White. The whole world knows and loves this book. It is the magical epic of King Arthur and his shining Camelot; of Merlyn and Owl and Guinevere; of beasts who talk and men who fly; of wizardry and war. It is the book of all things lost and wonderful and sad. It is the fantasy masterpiece by which all others are judged.
Mia’s notes: While I believe the book blurb is suffering from a bad case of hyperbole — for one thing, this book is not so much a magical epic as it is a tapestry of lives — I do agree that this is a powerful retelling of the Arthurian legend. The characters are so painfully human that when Camelot fell (as, of course, it must) I felt something in my heart, well, wrench. It even made me sympathize with Guinevere. Guinevere, of all people…! Like Kafka, this should be easy to find — look in the fantasy&science fiction aisles.

Bonus:

Not exactly re-tellings, but two fairy tale collections I should mention are The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye by A.S. Byatt and A Knot in the Grain and Other Stories by Robin McKinley. Byatt’s writing is very beautiful, and I loved the title story. As for Knot… it’s marketed as young adult literature, but I think you could easily do away with the “young adult” label because the stories are wonderful, bringing together well-rounded characters and fresh twists on the traditional fairy tale.

Last 5 posts by Mia

Column: Who's Preying on Whom?: Two Experiences - May 24th, 2008
Column: The need for more libraries, or for better bookstores - May 6th, 2008
LIRA poetry workshop now accepting applicants - April 8th, 2008
Ang Bagong Libro exhibit: site remix - November 5th, 2007
Physics and writing: notes and ideas - October 8th, 2007

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

November 30, 2007 Written by: Mia | Filed Under Latest

Comments

3 Responses to “November 2007 reading list: Retellings”

Genone » November 2007 reading list: Retellings on November 30th, 2007 4:07 pm

[…] Check it out! While looking through the blogosphere we stumbled on an interesting post today.Here’s a quick excerpt It’s… still November. I apologize for the extreme delay in posting this — real life got in the way. This month’s theme is (was?) stories retold, reinvented, reimagined. (Mostly myths…!) All descriptions are taken from the book blurbs unless otherwise noted. The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie. In this brilliant remaking of the myth of Orpheus, Salman Rushdie tells the love story of Vina Apsara, a beloved pop star, and Ormus Cama, an extraordinary songwriter and musician, who captivat […]
sonnets on December 3rd, 2007 12:31 am

[…] November 2007 reading list: Retellings […]
magical novel romance djinn on May 19th, 2008 11:23 pm

[…] reinvented, reimagined. Mostly myths??! All descriptions are taken from the book blurbs unless othhttp://read-or-die.org/blog/2007/11/30/november-2007-reading-list-retellings/Shopping results for magical novel romance djinnMore Than Magic the djinn Series, Book 23.29 […]