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Lacey Louwagie's Reviews > East
East (East, #1)
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This novel is a retelling of "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" which is probably one of the most underappreciated fairy tales out there. Unfortunately, this retelling doesn't quite do it justice. The author chose to use multiple viewpoints, which felt more like a gimmick and less like the best way to tell the story (especially since I was only really interested in the stories from two of the five narrators). Also, no one ever seems to have given Edith that all important advice to "show and not tell." Despite the novel being almost 500 pages long, reading it feels more like skimming a summary than entering a world. For example, she uses phrases such as, "It was clear they really loved each other," without telling us what made it clear, which makes it sound like it actually wasn't all that clear at all.
Her treatment of the white bear and the four winds was interesting, but I didn't really appreciate the latter until I read her own afterward (which, incidentally, was more interesting than the story itself).
Even though it's only a two-star book, I find myself holding onto it because I'm rather proud of my collection of retold fairy tales.
Her treatment of the white bear and the four winds was interesting, but I didn't really appreciate the latter until I read her own afterward (which, incidentally, was more interesting than the story itself).
Even though it's only a two-star book, I find myself holding onto it because I'm rather proud of my collection of retold fairy tales.
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Reading Progress
October 12, 2007
– Shelved
Started Reading
December 1, 2007
– Shelved as:
youngadultfantasy
December 1, 2007
– Shelved as:
fairy-tales
December 1, 2007
–
Finished Reading
January 18, 2012
– Shelved as:
retelling
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Jennifer
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rated it 5 stars
Apr 17, 2011 01:53PM
she didnt give credit that it is actully an old norwegian folk tale... people got be careful and not take credit for somethng that isn't theirs
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Jennifer wrote: "she didnt give credit that it is actully an old norwegian folk tale... people got be careful and not take credit for somethng that isn't theirs"It's a retelling -- that's when you take an old story and tell it in a new way. Edith Pattou didn't lead people to believe that she had invented this story. She just told it in a new way.
Folktales, fairy tales, and many classics are now in the "public domain." That means that no one holds the copyright for them, and it's perfectly OK to create new versions of them without seeking any kind of permission, etc.
I couldn't disagree more! This is one of my favorite books and I can re-read it over and over again and not be bored.
i agree with elizabeth it was fantastic and the chapters of other view points gave you an opportunity to completely feel the whole situation and get the whole picture and find where all the pieces of the puzzel meet.i adore this book
For putting puzzle pieces together I perfer I Am the Cheese by Robert Crommier. As I said in my review she had for the frist 100 pages and then I got bored. I only finished it because I couldn't sleep. I perfer a story with more dialouge.
I completely agree with your review, this book was extremely disappointing. I almost didn't make it through. As soon as I read the first 3 chapters, which were basically the same thing from different POV, I knew it would be a struggle. The different voices were unnecessary IMO and all the narrators were very bland. Definitely needs the show, not tell, to make the story better!
I absolutely agree about this book "showing and not telling." I feel less connected to the characters, and would have probably put this down had it not been required reading for school.
Excuse me to all those of you who did not like this book... I thought it was excellent. Edith did a great job of retelling this story.
I could not agree with you more! And after reading her Q&A in the back, about how she had to storyboard the novel, since she couldn't keep the voices separate, that really revealed just how much trouble she was in, writing this story. It is clear that she was in WAY over her head with this, which led to a bland, basic, story. You have to be SO careful when telling a story from multiple POVs, and I would put her last on the list of authors who have used that storytelling frame
It does give credit that the story is based on a Norwegian folktale in the About the Author section.
