Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: SNOW WHITE by Donald Barthelme ISBN: 0684824795 Publisher: Scribner Paperback Fiction Pub. Date: 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.71
Rating: 5
Summary: Post Modernism at its best
Comment: EM Forster asked in his famous Aspects of the Novel why can't the novel invent a form less rigid and more suitable to its genius. I agree. So much of what is served up these days to the public is a waste of time and obviously exists simply for commercial purposes. Not Snow White. Here we have real literature with a capital L and here we have real imagination too. Based on the original tale, alert readers will love how a master writer converts the simple to the complex, the silly to the profound, and yet keeps us entertained as he goes. Oh, I know in this democratic era questions of elitism are de trop. But so what? Go ahead and read an elitist book. It won't hurt and you will have a lot of fun in the process.
Rating: 4
Summary: Crazy man, crazy!
Comment: This is one of those books that it's easy to get a lot from, and leaves you with endless questions as well. It's one that makes you laugh out loud and makes you say "Huh?" an awful lot.
One of the many things I enjoyed about this book is the interweaving of elements from the original tale and the Disney version (Heigh-ho!) The rhythmn of the narrative almost made me snap my fingers along to the beat. And the originality within a retold story put me in mind of Anne Sexton's work with fairy tales, but with a decidedly comic view.
With layer upon layer (which I can't seem to get enough of) that extends from the solidarity of modern relationships to the questions of "How unique is the American culture? Can it be preserved?" I saw many examples where exploration is encouraged.
But many many many questions linger. First and foremost: Who is the narrator? More like: Which is the narrator? All of the "seven dwarfs", or just one? Are the all facets of one person? I could really go on all day.
This is truly a book worthy of a second, third, and fourth read. There is just too much for my little mind to grasp at once, but definately a novel that entertains as well as, (and I hate this phrase but...) "makes you think."
Rating: 4
Summary: Unsure but interesting nonetheless
Comment: This tale, aside from retelling the Snow White fable, is chalk full of references to the Frog Prince, Robin Hood, and Tarzan. This, along with depicting the reaction to late '60's mentalities and theories (structuralism, socialism--hippy communalism, deconstructionism, and so forth), makes for a disjointed narrative. Of course, that is the point. Midway through the novel I realized that, as one reviewer wrote, Burroughs's cut-up method might have been used, for one cannot be sure when the events in the novel take place--in what order. Yet with Burroughs one is sure of this, with Barthelme, framing the society in which he wrote, it is intentional that one is not quite sure when, or even what, is happening. And with all of Barthelme's works, this is full of satire and black humor.
 |
Title: Sixty Stories by Donald Barthelme ISBN: 0140153004 Publisher: E P Dutton Pub. Date: 1995 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
 |
Title: The Dead Father by Donald Barthelme ISBN: 0374528225 Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux (Pap) Pub. Date: 2001 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
 |
Title: Forty Stories (Contemporary American Fiction) by Donald Barthelme ISBN: 0140112456 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 1992 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
 |
Title: Lost in the Funhouse: Fiction for Print, Tape, Live Voice (The Anchor Literary Library) by John Barth ISBN: 0385240872 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 1988 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
 |
Title: Evening by Susan Minot ISBN: 0375700269 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 1999 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
