Showing posts with label Francesca Lia Block. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Francesca Lia Block. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Psyche in a Dress

By Francesca Lia Block

Psyche loved Love himself, and lost him. She became Echo, who disappeared, became only a voice, Eurydice, who faded when Orpheus looked back, Persephone, stolen, a queen only in darkness, and Demeter, a goddess, a mother, Psyche still. Psyche, which means soul. A modern blending of several lovely myths, and a great story about a young woman's quest to find herself, Psyche in a Dress is a gorgeous book, poetic and well written. Not one of those books that make you want to give the main character a good shaking and some advice, while you're reading it at least. Once you finish the book and think about it for a minute you might want to, but the book is told in such a dreamlike fashion that you just go with it. Doesn't keep you on the edge of your seat, but the beautiful storytelling more than makes up for it in my opinon. Greek myths make great stories and this book is no exeption. Psyche in a Dress is one of my favorite books, as much as I have them. I love this author. Her books have beautiful imagery, great characters, and tend to blur the line between reality and fantasy a lot, which I love. Psyche in a Dress is, in my opinion, one of her best books. Lovely, simply lovely. Purr.

Friday, February 19, 2010

The Rose and The Beast: Fairy Tales Retold

By Francesca Lia Block

There are nine short stories in this collection. I'm not sure what fairy tales all of them are supposed to be but I love them anyway. I think the fairy tales in here are: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Cinderella, Thumbelina, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White and Rose Red, Bluebeard, Beauty and the Beast, and the Snow Queen. They are all retold to be either modern or timeless, and some of them are hard to recognize. The author has a dreamlike writing style, and by dreamlike I mean just that, like a dream, slightly fragmented, slightly surreal, slightly incoherent and just a little hard to understand, but great nonetheless. I love this book and also what I've read of her other work. I love retellings of fairy tales and I loved these ones. Read it and love it. Tell me if you think I got anything wrong.