Hale, Shannon - The Goose Girl

I'd been planning on reading this for a while, given that I seem to be irresistably drawn to all fairy tale retellings. Luckily, my sister got it and read it and passed it on to me! Muhahah. The joy of siblings ^_^.

Hale follows the story of "The Goose Girl" fairly closely, although she makes Ani a shy, retiring princess who never quite is understood by or understands her mother, who has the power of "people talking." Ani, on the other hand, listens to animals and talks to them. Ani ends up betrayed by her handmaid on her way to her wedding to a foreign prince and becomes a goose girl while her handmaid takes her place as princess.

The book reminded me of early McKinley a great deal -- the shy and reserved heroine who doesn't quite fit the role everyone wants her to fit into, the affinity for animals, finding a home in an unexpected place. Unfortunately, Hale's prose isn't quite as engaging as McKinley's, and the beginning in particular threw me off because the dialogue can sound a bit stilted. The book warms up a little as Ani finds her place among the palace staff, but while I was fond of the story, I never quite fell in love with it.

I think Hale sticks too closely to "The Goose Girl" framework for me; she adds motives and additional characters, and I do like her explanations for events in the fairy tale. But nothing in the book made me rethink the tale. I'm not really sure if this is a fault of the book, per se; I've read so many fairy tale retellings that I may just be a bit jaded. On the other hand, I almost never see this particular one retold, and since it's an old favorite of mine, I'm glad I read it anyhow.

Salzman, Mark - Lost in Place: Growing Up Absurd in Suburbia

Salzman recounts his childhood and adolescence in suburban Connecticut, including his aspirations to become a black belt in kung fu, a concert cellist, and assorted other high-flown ambitions. His burgeoning interest in kung fu is the most amusing part of this memoir, from his beginnings in eggplant-colored pajamas and a fake bald head (a substitute for a real gi and a shaved head) to his abusive and rather insane sensei.

I particularly like Salzman's voice; he somehow manages to convey his childhood enthusiasms quite clearly while also being able to laugh at himself and to gently poke fun at his own absurdities.

I got a little more swamped down later in the book, especially when the focus shifted from kung fu to other things; I think it was hard reading about his life not working out, even if it was told with humor. Also, I feel a bit bad, but I kept getting irritated at Salzman in the book for doing silly things and messing stuff up. I'm not quite sure what it is, but I suppose I felt like I didn't quite get his existential angst at one point.

Hrm. I seem to keep having this problem with memoirs or something, and I always feel like I'm being rather unfair, because it is in the end the story of someone's life, not fiction. And I'm too tired right now to formulate some giant theory of memoirs or the like, but it would be interesting... Obviously, I haven't read many ;).