Mermaid in Into the Forest

May 15, 2011 Christine rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy-myth-and-fairy, diverse-and-women-authors, h-c-andersen

Really a 3.5, but I'm rounding up because I liked how in touch with the original Turgeon seemed to be. Though, many of the other reviews are correct; the characters could be fleshed out a little more. Just read below.

This is one of those books that will make neither right or left book challengers/banners happy. It's got both God and sex in it.

It also, and this is the reason why it has God and sex in it, far closer to the original Andersen tale.

Andersen's mermaid tale has always been darker, far Really a 3.5, but I'm rounding up because I liked how in touch with the original Turgeon seemed to be. Though, many of the other reviews are correct; the characters could be fleshed out a little more. Just read below.

This is one of those books that will make neither right or left book challengers/banners happy. It's got both God and sex in it.

It also, and this is the reason why it has God and sex in it, far closer to the original Andersen tale.

Andersen's mermaid tale has always been darker, far darker than the Disney cartoon. Ursula is just the sterotypical Disney villian (she isn't as attractive as everyone else) and outside of her poor unfortunate souls, there is not much to fear in the Disney version. In Andersen's tale, however, the sea witch is not the scary bit. It is what the mermaid goes though when she becomes human. It always feels as if she is walking on glass. In order to gain what she wants, a soul in Andersen's tale, she must always be in pain (Andersen forsaw evil shows, I'm sure). Andersen's characters suffer (Tatar and others call it a "cult of suffering"); the suffering is the badge of thier humanity. To drop the suffering, to drop the cost, to even drop the soul, to turn the mermaid into the princess who needs rescuing, disrespects the story.

Turgeon doesn't disrepect the story; she keeps to the heart of it. Hence the view of the challengers. This book is going to be at least challengered somewhere, if it isn't already.

Turgeon's tale focuses on the two central female characters - the mermaid and the princess. These two women inadverently find themselves as rivals for the same prince, who is somewhat a louse and somewhat not. He's human too, not the Prince Eric. Turgeon's Christopher and his relationship with the mermaid hews far closer to Andersen where the mermaid sleeps at the foot of his bed.

Turgeon also keeps the quest for the soul. While she makes the mermaid more of a lover, the idea and desire for a soul are there as well. The princess as well feels some type of call. Turgeon keeps the focus on this aspect of the story. The mermaid story in the original had god and the hint of sex; Turgeon plays up the sex and keeps the god. It makes the story more than the plain old Disney version.

Intersting, while the Disney mermaid seems to exist in a mostly male world, Turgeon's world is dominated by women - the princess, the mermaid, the ladies in waiting, a sea-queen (whose husband just nods). The women act like women, friends, not friends and so on. It is not the female vaccum that the Diseny version is. Ariel helped by men and harmed by the only other woman of note. Even the sea-witch in Turgeon's tale gets far more depth.

Part of what Turgeon seems to be doing is playing with the idea of expections. But Lenia, the mermaid, and Marte, the princess, are, if you will excuse the pun, fish out of water at points in the novel. Thier choices even forced to be more of outsiders at points in the story. Additionally, Turgeon does make good use of doubling in the novel, though the sea-world is better drawn than the land world.

So yes, the novel does have some flaws, but overall this is a very good retelling of a fairy tale. I got this used, but if I had spent full price for it, it would have been worth it. ...more

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Mar 18, 2011 Kyle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: digital, fantasy, fairy-tales, romance, 2011-reads, favorites, 2011-top-ten, re-read, 2014-reads, 2016-reads

This is an absolutely gorgeous retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale. I couldn't put it down. "The Little Mermaid" is one of those fairy tales that I've always thought could never be retold in a satisfying way because the original is so perfect the way it is. But Carolyn Turgeon has done it and succeeded. The main thrust of her novel is a surprisingly faithful adaptation of the original story, the main twist being her exploration of the character of the rival princess who eventually ...more

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Apr 10, 2011 angsaysroar rated it it was ok

I'll be honest in saying that when I initially picked up this book it was because I had $20 of a Groupon I had purchased that I had to spend and I wasn't sure what to expect.

The twist on the tale is something I enjoyed, however the characters were very two dimensional with very little development. However, despite that I could relate on some level to the princess who felt she was destined for more and the the mermaid who longed for a world different from her own.

Things you should be aware of pri ...more

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