Lisa’s Comments (group member since Aug 16, 2014)

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

As I said in the May nomination post, I would add a Beauty and the Beast retelling to each month. So for June I will add
Beastly by Alex Flinn

I adore retellings of Beauty and the Beast, so will add one option that I haven't read yet from my TBR list to each month.
Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley

Gem wrote: "This one has been on my TBR list forever:
Heartless by Marissa Meyer"

Sounds interesting and we haven't done anything with Alice in Wonderland yet.

I love Rumplestiltskin and retellings! I have not read Spinning Silver, so will add this to my TBR list for sure. If you like Rumplestiltskin, I would suggest you might want to add Spun Gold by Brandie June to your TBR list.

I totally agree, Cheryl! It is always so irritating to me how much the dwarves complain, other than Balin (I think) who always seemed to be on Bilbo's side. I never understood how Thorin was held as such a hero and buried with extreme honor, when he was the cause of so much of the trouble to begin with.

I'm debating between reading it from OpenLibrary (thanks for the info, Chery!) or buying a copy from Thriftbooks. My library seems to have any other Oxford book possible, but not this one, of course.

Kyle, I think for myself it really depends on the book and story itself. I love how Smaug was handled by Tolkien - as you say, integral, but definitely actually a small part of the overall tale.
However, I have read and totally enjoyed books where the dragon or dragons are actually the main characters.
I also enjoy seeing the various ways dragons can be perceived and the various abilities that can be given to them based on the lore the author uses.

Hmm. LOL. With the Tolkien books and movies, I am the complete opposite of you, Gem. I have only watched the LOTR movies once each, and have yet to even watch the Hobbit ones. It honestly kind of irritated me when I found out there were multiple parts of The Hobbit movie because I knew it could easily be done well as one movie. According to others the movies include some of The Silmarillion and other tales.
I, on the other hand, have read The Hobbit countless times and the LOTR series several times. I always knew Gollum lived on an underground island in the middle of a lake. That was always easy for me to visualize. Oddly enough, the tunnels and caverns were the difficult thing to visualize.

I haven't watched the movies (well, I watched The Lord of the Rings ones, but not the Hobbit ones). Where did you think Gollum lived based upon the movies?
I am reading it slowly this time, as I have been dealing with multiple other things like family health issues, and reading a lot of other books at the same time. I am only in the middle of chapter 7

LOL. That was a good typo.
I actually had to look up The Rings of Power because I didn't know that is what the Lord of the Rings TV series is called and was wondering why someone would think it was a book. I guess you directed him to the actual books.
Gem, I hope you enjoy it as much as I always have. I honestly can't remember when I read it for the first time, but it was a very long time ago, definitely before I graduated and that was in 1979! I don't even know how many times I have read it, but it seems I always find something new and interesting each time.
This is the first time I am reading The Hobbit Companion and although I knew Tolkien was a professor with an intense interest in words and their meanings, reading how the words influenced the character of hobbits is fascinating.

Starting reading The Hobbit again is like visiting a very food (should say good, but seems appropriate) friend I haven't seen for a long time and happily catching up with each other and enjoying our time together. I actually sighed with happiness when I read "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. I feel that going through life without reading The Hobbit (and certain other books) is just missing out on some of the best life can offer.

I agree - good question. I will usually kind of just sing a tune in my head to the words. Which movie version, Adriel? I actually haven't watched the live action one yet, but plan to after finishing the book again.

Personally, I don't want to stick with just the same author. I like mixing it up with different tales, as well as styles. So I'm up for The Little Mermaid in May. We just need to figure out which retelling would be preferred. I know some of us have difficulty finding titles at times.

Could be that a lot of people consider snow and ice deadly, so therefore must be evil.

I'm fine with it if the group wants to go this way. I freely admit that it is not one of my favorites, as I really hate the idea of giving up your whole identity and self for another. The original is very tragic.

I think you will enjoy that part, Gem. It didn't disappoint.

Exactly, Gem.
I still find it so very interesting that in the original Hans Christian Anderson tale, the Snow Queen is not really the villain, but in most retellings, or even books such as Narnia, which have a Snow Queen, she is definitely the villain.

I still have no idea what is causing the apathy in Eldon. (view spoiler)[I have just gotten to the part where they meet the man from the hidden village in the mountains where the mirror was taken long ago. It might provide a means to break the "curse", but since the mirror was stolen very long ago, it doesn't seem that is the cause of the apathy. (hide spoiler)]
Celine's gift from her godmother is evidencing in multiple ways.

I also still find it funny that the title is The Snow Queen when it is really a tale, as Cheryl said, of innocent love and the trials that Gerda went through to bring her best friend back to himself.

This is fascinating that such a short tale could have so many variations again. My version definitely isn't really what I would consider Christian themed at all. The one that created the mirror is called an evil wizard that was a demon. He had a school to teach others to become evil, most of the students being imps. The mirror itself was the one that spread its evil due to laughing so hard that it shattered and was spread throughout the world.