Gem ’s Comments (group member since Sep 12, 2022)

Gem ’s comments from the Once Upon a Time... group.

Kyle wrote: "Was going to add the same/similar thing as Gem. It's possible the "abridged" one at the library is actually unabridged.

Like Gem, the first copy I owned/read in my teens also had "abridged" on the..."

I was terribly confused when I went to get a copy from the library.

Cheryl wrote: "Thank you for the link, Gem. That's a good discussion! I'll have to look for The Serapion Brethren Volume I."

My pleasure.

Lisa wrote: "Hope you enjoy them, Chery! I am one of those weird people that don't like my Oreos being messed with though. I have no idea why they ever started making different flavors, other than the double st..."

While I agree with you for the most part. I like the lemon Oreos. They are lemon cream with golden Oreo cookies. Once I tried them I decided I really liked them (I love anything lemon) but I don't think of them as Oreos, just a good lemon cookie.

The one that, for me, ran neck in neck with the original Oreos they don't make anymore. Uh-Oh Oreos were the golden cookies with chocolate cream.

I'm not a fan of the double stuff.

Sorry to hear about your mom, I know the feeling. My mother had a stroke a few months ago we live in Arizona and she's in Florida. That's one of the reasons for our vacation, to see her for her birthday. And to have a honeymoon. Thankfully she's doing well, even driving already but it was scary. I'll keep your family in my prayers.

Cheryl wrote: "I'd like to talk about The Oxford Book of Modern Fairy Tales by Alison Lurie..."

My library has that book if you'd like to do a buddy read. Or we can float it out there to see if anyone else would like to read this selection as a group read. I'm all for a better understanding of what I'm reading.

Cheryl wrote: "https://www.surlalunefairytales.com/"

I've never seen this site before but it looks amazing. I've got a packed couple of weeks ahead of me, then a two-week vacation. I'm sure I won't have internet the whole time, we'll be traveling by train for part of that time. That said when I get home, I'm going to explore that site.

Cheryl wrote: "I know that there's a classification system for folk/ fairy/ wonder tales, too. I've not explored it yet, have you?

Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index

One of many places to see more is: https://sites.ual..."

This is the one I use: https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/folktext...

Cheryl wrote: "I'm not a fan of the original text or the ballet, and still I liked this less. Sorry."

I agree with Lisa, no reason to be sorry. I've learn that it's okay to not like a book, even one everyone raves about.

Breakfast at Tiffany's and Three Stories, The Great Gatsby, The Bell Jar, anything by Mark Twain, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer, I didn't like any of them. Don't even get me started on John Steinbeck, I've abandoned every book I started that he wrote.

Lisa wrote: "I could only get an abridged version from the librar."

Maybe not. The first time I read it the front of the book said:

"The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure Abridged by William Goldman"

Here is what I found out when I was researching:

DID WILLIAM GOLDMAN OR S. MORGENSTERN WRITE THE PRINCESS BRIDE?

Leah Rachel von Essen Nov 20, 2018

On my first read of The Princess Bride at age 13, I was amused and enchanted by the thought that S. Morgenstern had written a boring royal history that William Goldman had abridged into a masterpiece. I told my father so, and he looked at me, thought for a moment, and said that he didn’t think that was true. I realized my mistake. Of course it wasn’t. There was no Florin. There was no actual Inigo Montoya. But it was a rather depressing thought.

So several years later, when I read the 25th anniversary version, and it had all of this compelling, real-sounding information (wait, there’s a museum? they’re all real? the entire story is based on a true royal history! it is true!), I simply chose to believe it.

That’s how talented an author William Goldman was. After his passing in mid-November, countless readers have posted about believing: yes, his grandfather read him the “best parts” version of an old dusty classic by S. Morgenstern when he was young, and yes, this led him to take an actual book and abridge it into the classic The Princess Bride we hold in our hands today. Framing devices can be awkward, weak, but so many of us were fooled, or allowed ourselves to be fooled. Even now, as I write this, there’s a small voice in the back of my heart telling me that I’m wrong, and that Morgenstern did write an original.

from: https://bookriot.com/did-william-gold... (the article continues)

from Wikipedia:
The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure, The "Good Parts" Version is a 1973 fantasy romance novel by American writer William Goldman. The book combines elements of comedy, adventure, fantasy, drama, romance, and fairy tale. It is presented as an abridgment of a longer work by the fictional S. Morgenstern, and Goldman's "commentary" asides are constant throughout.

(from the first paragraph in Wikipedia)

This novel includes several narrative techniques or literary devices including a fictional frame story about how Goldman came to know about and decided to adapt S. Morgenstern's The Princess Bride. In Goldman's "footnotes," he describes how his father used to read The Princess Bride aloud to him; thus the book became Goldman's favorite without him ever actually reading the text. As a father, Goldman looked forward to sharing the story with his own son, going to great lengths to locate a copy for his son's birthday, only to be crushed when his son stops reading after the first chapter. When Goldman revisits the book himself, he discovers that what he believed was a straightforward adventure novel was in fact a bitter satire of politics in Morgenstern's native Florin, and that his father had been skipping all the political commentary and leaving in only "the good parts." This moves Goldman to abridge the book to a version resembling the one his father had read to him, while adding notes to summarize material he had "removed." Morgenstern and the "original version" are fictitious and used as a literary device to comment on the nature of adaptation and to draw a contrast between the love and adventure of the main story and the mundane aspects of everyday life. The nations of Guilder and Florin are likewise pure fiction.

(from the paragraph entitled "Context in Wikipedia)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pri...

Don't get me wrong there are abridged editions out there, especially the audiobooks, I listened to one that was about 2.5 hours long, there is no way that wasn't abridged.

Hope that helps.

Cheryl wrote: "Please tell me it's going to become more Engaging and/or Satisfying. I'm about to give up, as he becomes an apprentice to a paper merchant. I just don't care about him or anyone else yet. Seems lik..."

I listened to an audiobook version, the narrator was pretty good. It's a pretty slow book, with not much action more about relationships or lack thereof.

Lisa wrote: "Yes, Gem! I just read that (about the man and woman in the woods) and was kind of shocked. What a twist.
I had wondered about the title from the beginning and exactly what it referred to. Could it ..."

Hiddensee is a place if I listened correctly.

Lisa wrote: "I don't consider that cheating at all! In fact, some books are much more enjoyable on audiobook. The key seems to be having a good narrator. I always have an audiobook going that I listen to while ..."

I really don't either. Especially with some of the classics that contain archaic language. It's much easier to listen to the book than to try to read it, imo.

Ahh.... the identity of the old man and old woman. (view spoiler)[Hansel and Gretel but living as husband and wife as the pastor assumed? (hide spoiler)]

Lisa wrote: "Gem, you are speeding right through! I think I am only on page 152, chapter 57. I am reading it somewhat slowly, but think that is OK since I am actually thinking about a lot of the things while re..."

I'm cheating, I'm listening to an audiobook. I started reading it but I have two books I want to finish before the 1st, and this way I can "read"/listen while doing my needlepoint and hopefully start and finish the other book in the next few days. I read very slowly so listening helps me to get additional selections in. Sometimes I can't follow a story well with audio and miss details, but I'm not having issues with this selection.

In honor of Hiddensee I had a couple of Spekulatius cookies with my coffee this morning. Perfect.

Chapter 15 tells us who Dirk is... (view spoiler)[Drosselmeier. (hide spoiler)]

This story is set in 1808 and Chapter 7 talks about a visitor to the old man and woman's hut. He was writing down stories the old woman told. Could this be one of the Grimm brothers? It coincides with the timeline perfectly.

I had a lol moment at then end of Chapter 29, it is so something I would say to my boys, "And please don't shriek. Anything but shrieking. If you must kill one another, do it silently. It's much more effective that way."

I found a free blackwork bookmark pattern that says "Once Upon A Time." You can find the pattern here if you'd like it: https://www.stitchingthenightaway.com...

I now most of us have finished this story and have moved on to Hiddensee but I belong to another group that is reading this story this month as well. There was a reply there that I found extremely informative and thought it might shed some light on this selection. It's message #33 in this discussion: Catching up on the Classics

Lisa wrote: "However, the children were together and once they started talking about what gifts they thought they would get, their fear seemed to diminish. I think it was because when the story was written, there wasn't electricity in homes like we are used to. Most lighting was in the form of lanterns and candles still. So having the children in a darkened room really increased their awe factor when the doors were opened up to reveal the lit up tree."

Really good points which didn't cross my mind. Thanks!

In the beginning, when the children were not allowed in the parlor (and another room, I don't remember which one ) I understand because the parents were setting things up for Christmas Eve. But it specifically said the room the children were in had no light. That was... strange. This makes me believe that there may be some translation errors where the original uses archaic language that doesn't mean the same thing it does today.

As an adult, I didn't/don't mind dark. I actually enjoy dark stories. I've a copy of the Grimm Fairy Tales that were translated from the original two publications before they began sanitizing them for children. I've also read some of the Colored Fairy Books and some of those tales are dark as well. I'm not sure I would read this version of The Nutcracker to a young child, an older one but not a little one.

I found the godfather to be grumpy, kind of like yelling out the front window for the kids to "get off my lawn." I did tell a scary story... seven-headed mouse, another mouse being stepped on, etc. But I didn't catch anything that hinted at him being inappropriate with the girl. Maybe I missee something.

Lisa wrote: "What is the age of the younger daughter (the main character) in your version and what is her name?"

I said before I wasn't aware of the older sister but when I listened to the story this morning, there she was. And Maria was seven, the youngest.

Shanna wrote: "If I’m being honest, I hate the nutcracker. It’s always creeped me out. There are parts that feel like a drug or alcohol induced vision and creepy older men and it just gives me the heebie jeebies."

So funny, I've always said that Lewis Caroll must have been high when he wrote Alice in Wonderland.

I do think this selection has a more cohesive story than Alice in Wonderland. There are times I just do not follow Alice and I've read it a few times.