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Pattou, Edith - East
Wed, Oct. 13th, 2004 08:49 pmI feel as though I should have liked this book much more than I actually did. I think part of the problem is that I read and imprinted on Robin McKinley much, much earlier, so this just feels like a retread of Beauty.
I bought it mostly because it's a version of "East of the Moon, West of the Sun." Unfortunately, I don't remember the fairy tale that well, and so the book reads mostly like a combination of "Beauty and the Beast" and "Cinderella." Pattou does include an interesting superstition based on the direction one is born -- north children, for example, are supposed to be roving and stubborn -- but she doesn't really incorporate it much into the story except as a sort of frame. Does that make any sort of sense? The mother of the story is incredibly superstitious, but she seems to be the only person who subscribes to the particular birth direction superstition. She is often mocked by the rest of the family, and the book (and author) can't seem to make up its mind whether or not the mother's superstition is actually harmful or merely annoying. It just seemed to me that for a book named after the direction east, an important direction to the mother, and for a story based on "East of the Moon, West of the Sun," and with the prevalence of maps and cartography and compass rose symbols (Rose's father is a mapmaker), the superstition could have been worked deeper into the story. Instead, it felt merely perfunctory, as though the author had decided that it would be a cool idea, which is was, but didn't quite follow through.
Much of the book felt that it somehow lacked depth, actually. Rose is your standard heroine who is too restless and whatnot for her family. She also has a strange love of weaving, which, like the directional theme, was worked into the story in a rather perfunctory manner. I didn't particularly like or dislike her. I think it may be a prevalence of such spunky heroines, misunderstood but loved by everyone. Strangely, I just started reading Margaret Mahy's The Tricksters, and while the heroine in that is also somewhat misunderstood but loved by everyone, somehow her issues resonate with me more. I think it's because she is more overlooked than misunderstood. Also, Rose reminds me a great deal of Rois in Winter Rose, except East just doesn't work for me the way Winter Rose does.
While I like the fact that Pattou includes the point of view of the troll queen who originally kidnapped the boy-who-turns-into-the-white-bear, I also dislike how in the end, the trolls are generally shown to be a cruel and vicious people. I'm sure it's true, but it seems too pat an answer, and it seems a bit of a cop out to try to suddenly make the readers revoke any sympathy they may have felt for the troll queen.
I have all these complaints, but it's not a bad book. It's just that it could have been really good, but it fell back somehow to being only okay.
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minnow1212's review
I bought it mostly because it's a version of "East of the Moon, West of the Sun." Unfortunately, I don't remember the fairy tale that well, and so the book reads mostly like a combination of "Beauty and the Beast" and "Cinderella." Pattou does include an interesting superstition based on the direction one is born -- north children, for example, are supposed to be roving and stubborn -- but she doesn't really incorporate it much into the story except as a sort of frame. Does that make any sort of sense? The mother of the story is incredibly superstitious, but she seems to be the only person who subscribes to the particular birth direction superstition. She is often mocked by the rest of the family, and the book (and author) can't seem to make up its mind whether or not the mother's superstition is actually harmful or merely annoying. It just seemed to me that for a book named after the direction east, an important direction to the mother, and for a story based on "East of the Moon, West of the Sun," and with the prevalence of maps and cartography and compass rose symbols (Rose's father is a mapmaker), the superstition could have been worked deeper into the story. Instead, it felt merely perfunctory, as though the author had decided that it would be a cool idea, which is was, but didn't quite follow through.
Much of the book felt that it somehow lacked depth, actually. Rose is your standard heroine who is too restless and whatnot for her family. She also has a strange love of weaving, which, like the directional theme, was worked into the story in a rather perfunctory manner. I didn't particularly like or dislike her. I think it may be a prevalence of such spunky heroines, misunderstood but loved by everyone. Strangely, I just started reading Margaret Mahy's The Tricksters, and while the heroine in that is also somewhat misunderstood but loved by everyone, somehow her issues resonate with me more. I think it's because she is more overlooked than misunderstood. Also, Rose reminds me a great deal of Rois in Winter Rose, except East just doesn't work for me the way Winter Rose does.
While I like the fact that Pattou includes the point of view of the troll queen who originally kidnapped the boy-who-turns-into-the-white-bear, I also dislike how in the end, the trolls are generally shown to be a cruel and vicious people. I'm sure it's true, but it seems too pat an answer, and it seems a bit of a cop out to try to suddenly make the readers revoke any sympathy they may have felt for the troll queen.
I have all these complaints, but it's not a bad book. It's just that it could have been really good, but it fell back somehow to being only okay.
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minnow1212's review