Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister: A Novel by Gregory Maguire
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Book Reviews of Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister: A Novel
Book Review: The truth of beauty
Summary: 5 Stars
The world has been intrigued by the question of beauty for centuries. Keats wrote, "Beauty is truth and truth beauty." This entertains the question of what beauty is, however, Gregory Maguire tackles a far more plaguing question, in his stunning novel Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, of what the truth of beauty is.Throughout his novel, an adaptation of the fairytale Cinderella, Maguire weaves the question about the truth of beauty. Clara, the Cinderella of our story, is physical beautiful, but doesn't always have beauty of character. Iris is less attractive, but her spirit and intellect thrive casting the glow of beauty about her. Ruth is slow, but her affection supercedes any other emotion or wit, thus making her actions the utmost in beauty. The list of characters continues, each with his or her own demons or imps as he refers to them. In each personality, Maguire crafts a three-dimensional individual. The depth he creates is compelling and exceedingly real. These are people you may know in your life. This character might be you. He writes a tangible, accessible, intense and detailed persona.
This is not a book that one just puts aside when it is finished. One must set aside, mull it over, consider its tenets, and discuss it with someone. One will want to, and maybe need, talk about this book with another reader. The novel's points are too profound to keep to oneself.
Perhaps the most astounding, tacit account in his novel is the relationship between young Clara and the Master's apprentice, Caspar. He spins the tale of young romance that is genuine. The romance is not only for the young, but for anyone who feels. One's breath catches as Iris sits next to Caspar, feeling the warmth of his body against her own. One is not only transported to that place of the boundless joy of intimacy, but the sorrow and pain of knowing another is in a position of control of your happiness.
In all, Gregory Maguire's book is one of questions, fears, survival, charity and goodness. He succeeds in his attempt to provoke the mind and enlighten the spirit. He challenges the preconceived notions of society, turning well-held conventions upside down. This novel is an entertaining read, wonderfully crafted story with a worth lesson.
Book Review: And I Thought I Knew the Whole Story. . . .
Summary: 5 Stars
Man, was I wrong. Maguire has crafted a spectacularly complex and complicated novel from the brief fairy tale with which most of us have been familiar since childhood--it all seemed so simple then. . . .
What Maguire does so effectively is makes the previously simple story so darned complicated. . . . What we have always believed or assumed turns out not to be true or exactly as we once thought. What had been so horribly wrong now seems to be almost right (or at least less wrong. . .). What we thought was so heroic and right now seems to be shady and suspect, at best. The lines between good and bad, right and wrong, beautiful and ugly, fact and fiction--they all seem terribly blurred, causing the thoughtful reader to reconsider his/her entire belief system and preconceived notions about life (OK, that's a bit extreme, but it is unsettling. . .).
I love the history Maguire gives us in UGLY STEPSISTER. Rather than just filling in the details from the story we already know, he goes back to the Brothers Grimm, takes their sketchy details (the ones Disney left out altogether), and turns them into a fairly complicated storyline, ending up somewhere around where most of think that Cinderella's story begins. By that time, our world has been turned on its side, and we no longer know quite what to think of the whole situation. Maguire changes nothing essential from Grimm's or Disney's stories, just enhances, adds, and recasts.
It is very easy to take a complicated story and make it simple, with pat explanations and formulaic answers. What is much more difficult--and what Maguire has done virtually to perfection--is take a fairly simple story and make it so much more complicated, complex, and significant. I bought this book and sat down and read it that very weekend--usually it takes me a few months (or years) to get a book to the "top of the list." WICKED is at the top of the list for my next significant block of time. I can't wait, and that speaks volumes about Maguire's work!
(I gave WICKED four stars--STEPSISTER is better, in my opinion. I have yet to read LOST and MIRROR, MIRROR--maybe next summer. . . .)
Book Review: A work of art beyond a retelling of Cinderella
Summary: 5 Stars
It is easy enough to describe Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister as a retelling of the Cinderella story. But that is too simple. Maguire makes the story his own by changing voice and main character. More a historic novel in form and tone than a fairytale the story is no longer the traditional one. To add a ring of truth he sprinkles in actual events, such as the conversion to Calvinism and the collapse of the tulip-bulb market in Holland in the early Sixteenth century. Fairytales were meant to instruct and to entertain. If Maguire had only reshaped Cinderella into a historic novel his removal of fairy godmothers and magic would leave a rather hollow story. But he doesn't. His characters mull over issues such as the role of art and beauty and their affects on society and the individual; extreme beauty can be as isolating as extreme ugliness. The discussion of these topics is made less daunting by retaining enough echoes of the original fairytale that the story remains familiar and comfortable.
There is also a beauty to the language of Confessions. One aspect of appreciating the work of any artist is recognition of his unique contribution to form and technique i.e. his transcendence of it. But another aspect, closely allied to form and technique, is how his art touches the heart and soul of its viewers. Maguire is a masterful writer whose use of language is beautiful beyond simple communication. He has written a novel that can be appreciated for its beauty of language, its compelling story, and its thought provoking questions - each aspect informs the others but never interferes.
I admit to being uneasy at first with Maguire's making of the Cinderella fairytale into a more mundane historic fiction. But further reflection led me to accept that it should be judged in its own right. Maguire is a talented writer and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister has found a permanent place on my crowded bookshelves.
Book Review: the cost of beauty
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a book that turns the story of Cinderella totally upside-down. Part historical fiction, part fantasy, part coming-of-age novel, this book tells the story of Iris, a young girl lacking in good looks, who is forced to leave her home in England when her father is murdered. Her mother, the harsh Margarethe drags her and her simple, dull sister Ruth to Holland where they are to live with their Grandfather. Unfortunately their grandfather has died without their knowledge and they are left homeless and penniless.
Over the course of the novel they become involved with the rich tulip merchant--van de Meere--and his uncommonly beautiful daughter, Clara, who is fated to become Iris's stepsister. Clara is strange and haunted. She never leaves the house and claims to be a changeling child. When Margarethe marries van de Meere, Clara retreats to the ashes; determined not to be seen, while Iris slowly finds the confidence to unveil the treacherous secrets that surround her life.
This book is extremely well written and is way more than a fairy tale. The twist at the end was really unexpected. the last two sentences are really beautiful, too.
"But to be most effective, the faces of children would need to be painted in a blur, the way all children's faces truly are. For they blur as they run; the blur as they grow and change so fast; and they blur to keep us from loving them too deeply, for they protection, and also for ours."
Anyway, I still can't descide whether or not his book was as good as Wicked. They are both amazing in different ways I guess. I did find Confessions took a long time to get to the actual Cinderella part but that's just me. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to see the happy, boring little story of Cinderella that we've all heard so many times, gutted, torn into tiny pieces, and then put back together again to create this masterpiece.
Book Review: Nice lessons without being preachy. Lovely novel!
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow! Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister is moving, poignant drama filled with magic, adventure, wit and subtlety. What a fantastic read!It begins with an old crone listening to children in the street reciting the fairy tale CINDERELLA, and realizing that they must be speaking of *her* family, but the story has been bastardized, butchered beyond recognition. This is how it "really" happened, from the point of view of the crone, one of the two so-called wicked step sisters. And what an absolute joy to read. Stripping the fairy-tale of it's magic mice and fairy godmothers allows for true issues of self-worth to be addressed, along with a good dose of romance and wit.
The story is cleverly plotted, coming up with mundane explanations for the magic in the fairy-tale, while telling the unique tale of the compassionate step-sister who is instrumental in her two sisters' development. The tension within the story is palpable and utterly credible. Iris, an awkward teen, fears her looks and the scary magic she perceives lurking around her in her new home and her new country. Clara's confrontation with "Wicked Step Mother "Margarethe is the story's driving conflict, and all the reasons behind the Margarethe's behavior are rivetingly explained.
Iris has a good, true heart, but must overcome her low esteem and fight her mother's tyranny to find love. Clara, too must come to terms with her looks, which she deems just as much a curse as Iris' ugliness. Her search for courage and competence after being raised as a porcelain doll is a valuable lesson to put across to readers without being preachy.
Margarethe is a formidable villain to every character in the story, capable of taking them all on with cunning. The writing is quick, intelligent and humorous and filled with menace, at all the right moments. Yum yum yum. Can't wait to read Wicked. Bravo!