Questions for Discussion
1. Maguire has said he doesn't want to be known as the writer who retells children's stories for adults. Is Mirror Mirror a retelling of the story of Snow White, or is it something else? Something more than a fairy tale? Something less?
3. ... What does it do to an old tale to slap it into a particular set of decades -- in the instance of Mirror Mirror, the first three decades of the sixteenth century? Is that story at home here?
11. Who is the fairest one of all?
10 comments:
I felt like her was trying to hard, and that the action got lost in his vague discriptions. I also dislikes some of the crass stuff in the book, that felt toally unnecassary.
On a good note :), I really did like how he rooted the story in an exact moment in history, since I am a sucker for historical fiction. It makes it feel like the story could have really happened. Now, if the story had only been better . . .
I'm half asleep, so please ignore my spelling mistakes - ie: I meant "he," not "her" :).
Alright - I'll get this started. I'm still thinking about these questions, so I'd love to hear your input.
For #11 - Who is the fairest one of all?
The mirror says Bianca, but you need to think about why the mirror chooses her. If you had a different person asking, would you have a different answer? Also, Bianca was such a flat character - I didn't like her. She was out of the picture for most of the book and you never got to know the "real" Bianca. Whereas Lucrezia was a much more complex character, who had both good and bad. Though maybe that's the point - Maguire wanted us to focus on the complexity of real people. Although Lucrezia is definitely more complex than most of us (thank goodness). While she is a pretty despicable person, I liked her character.
Anyway, back to the question - by the end of the book, no one seems to be "The fairest one of all." Everyone has something that corrupts them - even the goose boy. Bianca has been asleep for so long, she didn't have a chance to be corrupted.
Oops! Sorry Lisa - I must have been busy typing while you posted. Didn't mean to ignore your comments.
I also liked that he rooted the story in an exact moment in history.
Okay, I felt the first part of the book was great. We had a conflict, characters, the witch, all the elements for a great story.
I didn't like the whole incest thing touched on, but I felt it was integral to the plot and characters that were built around it with how Bianca was plotted against and why.
What I felt was totally unnecessary was the incident with the hunter and the unicorn and then after that, every other sexual reference was completely out of place. Where was all that in the beginning? It's like the author had that one incident and then couldn't let go.
It did feel like it could have really happen with the moment in history. I agree with Lisa, I think it does make the story seem as if it could really happen. It's much more appealing to think these are things that could of happened then something so blatantly Disney and magical that it would have been impossible.
As Melissa stated, Bianca is a very static character. She never changes. What was up with her walking back home with Ranucchio? Um, he performed the most physical betrayal that Bianca knew of. I was mad that it wasn't Michelleto who woke her up with a kiss. Ranucchio lost his chance at redemption, yeah he threw the money away and didn't kill her, but he didn't protect her in any way. He left her for the woods to kill her.
The dwarves and Vincente were more dynamic than Bianca. Although, how Vincente could ever think of Lucrezia as something that could tempt him is beyond me. She ripped him from his little girl who he 'loved' so much, and he knew this and still he wanted to feel something for her when he came back after being in prison for 10 years.
I disagree with Melissa in who is the fairest of them all. Yes, even the goose boy was corrupted, in a sad way, if I read between the lines correctly. But I thought Primavera (sp?) was the fairest of them all. She had pagan beliefs and she was a gossip, but she help true to her beliefs throughout the whole book. Even to the point that she had her tongue cut out. She might not have had worldly beauty like Bianca or Lucrezia, but she had integrity, and that never fades.
I will probably post more later, I am still stewing on some things, and I will probably have responses to any other remarks.
Overall, I was disappointed in the book. It could have been a lot better, and I don't think I will be reading any more of his books.
Cat - I like your point on Primavera. She truly never stood down from what she believed, even when threated by Lucrezia.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on the mirror.
I don't think that mirror is actually a mirror. It has mirror like qualities, but is more of a window the dwarves made to observe human in their quest to become more human and progress beyond their stonish forms.
The was a passage in the book where the dwarves explained that I think, I don't have it with me, but I can look up the page number when I get home.
But the mirror showed Bianca everytime Lucrezia looked in it b/c she was on the other side of the window. Just like when Bianca looked in it she saw the room in her house and Lucrezia as well b/c she was there at the time. But it also shows what the person wants to become or wishes to see. I think. I'll go back and look to double check, but I remember thinking that at one point. But that was why the dwarves wanted it back, b/c it wuld twist the mind of the human who looked through it too many times b/c of what they saw, and then also the fact that it was made with quicksilver and that causes mercury sickness. They never wanted Bianca to look through and after that one time, it never referenced her looking through it again. It was dangerous to humans b/c they are so frail and ever changing versus the dwarves who exsist in completely different time and matter, they are more able to handle the things they see in the mirror b/c they change so slowly and seemingly only by human interaction. We see the dwarves pregress while Bianca is with them. We see the severity of their change when the 8th one returns and they don't understand or recognize him. Some of that is the influence of the mirror and Bianca's habitation with them.
Did that answer the question or was I just totally rambling?
okay, some page numbers about the mirror. I did remember some things wrong, but not wholly wrong.
p161-162 Bianca's first gaze into the mirror.
"[Heartless], with an expression suggesting he regretted her appetite for the past...'Go ahead, look if you must.'"
p189-190 Lucrezia sees Bianca in the mirror for the first time.
p191-192 Bianca looks in the mirror and sees and recognizes her home and Lucrezia.
p200-202 Nextday expounds on the nature of dwarves and why they need to get the mirror back. Also some discourse on the effects of quicksilver on humans.
p227-229 Heartless describes some of the effects Bianca and her human imagination has had on them. She suggests stealing the mirror, helping them to become more human.
p234 Lucrezia begins to learn more about the mirror as a window on the dwarves activity. She also sees them become more defined and humanish.
p235 The mirror begans to take hold of Lucrezia.
p247 The question the mirror can answer, if the right question is asked. Also a little insight as to what mirrors are and do.
Hope that helps a litte. The mirror was a little hard to get a grasp on. It seemed to change as much as the dwarves claimed humans do throughout the story.
How come no one else is posting? I know we have more than 3 members on this blog.
Okay, here is what I think... I thought that the book was a great idea. Writing a book with a different twist on Snow White... I mean, that is interesting. I thought that it could've been better though. I felt like in the beginning I wasn't sure where it was going... I knew because of the whole storyline, but it seemed to take forever to get there. For me, anyway... I disliked the way it ended. I agree with Cat about Ranucchio... it just didn't sit right. I was expecting something to happen with the Gooseboy (what was his name again?). I felt like he deserved it, he'd been treated so horribly by his mother... I mean, I think he should've gotten his happy ending.
Let's see, what else... Primavera was my favorite character. I felt that she just seemed the most developed out of all of the characters besides Lucrezia. You understood Primavera, how she worked and her beliefs, same with (to some extent) Lucrezia. The others, I just didn't feel like I knew them that well. Even with Vincente it was hard to understand what made him tick.
I liked, however, the setting. I agree with Lisa that it felt like it was something that actually happened. Overall it was okay... not my favorite reading ever, but it was definately one I had to think about, even as I read.
Oh, sorry, I wasn't answering an actual question. Sorry!
Don't be sorry, Michelle! That was some good input. The questions are just to get us started. And interesting point about how it makes a differnce reading the story if you know the real fairy tale. If we didn't all have that in mind, we'd have idea where it was going.
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