Italian Folktales (Fiabe italiane) is a collection of Italian folktales published in by Italo . (Terra d'Otranto); The School of Salamanca (Terra d'Otranto); The Tale of the Cats (Terra d'Otranto); Chick (Terra The Left-Hand Squire; Rosemary; Lame Devil; Three Tales by Three Sons of Three Merchants; The Dove Girl.
Table of contents
Hansel and Gretel The woman who focused on sex and good times while all her friends were getting married and settling down always dreamed of being a 'Mrs. Robinson'-style cougar in her later years. To her dismay, as she ages, she realized the boys just aren't interested. A bit unhinged, she decides to build a candy-and-gingerbread cottage. What eventually happens mirrors what happened to the witch in Hansel and Gretel a bit more closely than she expected.
But the kids who visit her are no innocents. Jack and the Beanstalk Here, the classic story is infused with plenty of authorial commentary on topics such as how very foolish it is to entrust your last cow to an 'imbecilic son' who'd trade it to a stranger for a handful of beans. It also comments on the very questionable morality of everything Jack does, although his burglaries and thefts certainly allow he and his mother to buy private planes, remote island, and limited edition Murakami Louis Vuitton handbags. Snow White After rescuing Snow White from her glass coffin, the prince develops a pervy obsession.
A Monkey's Paw Based on: Jacobs story, of course. What if they didn't use the third wish to send away the rotted corpse of their son? What if they invited him back anyways? The story becomes a disturbing digression on the erosion of happiness. Little Man Based on: Rumplestiltskin I've read other positive representations of the titular ugly 'little man' of the Rumplestiltskin story.
Snow White's Wishing Well
Here, he is consumed by the desire to have a child: His efforts to help a hapless girl spin straw into gold are motivated largely by kindness. But we all know what happens to a dream deferred Steadfast, Tin Based on: Hans Christian Andersen's Steadfast Tin Soldier A modern relationship is depicted here, which may mirror the tragic fairy tale in certain respects. At least, the woman in the relationship seems to think it does; and her daughter explicitly thinks that her mother used telling her the story as a way to try to explain her parents' relationship.
The story rather deftly questions the concept of destiny and true love, as it describes a troubled - but eventually 'steadfast' - marriage. Beauty and the Beast Ooh, this was a twist on the story that I hadn't ever actually seen before. And I've read a LOT of takes on this story. I thought it worked really well, too. I might even say it was Angela Carter-worthy. Here, many events proceed as expected, with the additional information that Beauty herself might've been less meek and selfless, and more hopeless and frustrated than we thought.
She professes her love for the Beast and breaks the spell Her Hair Based on Rapunzel Beginning where the story usually ends, this shows us a blind man at the fulfillment of his long and arduous quest to find his love. The short piece quickly becomes a metaphor about how we all sometimes hide certain things in relationships, to keep others happy.
The illustrations here, by Yuko Shimizu, are exquisite. Simple, stark black-and-white, like something from a less-perverse Aubrey Beardsley. I couldn't help feeling like they belonged to a less earthy, more transcendent collection of fairy tales, though. Dec 09, somuchreading rated it really liked it Shelves: Dec 25, Melki rated it really liked it Shelves: Cunningham presents some new spins on beloved classics with this short collection of retellings, updates and continuations of folk and fairy tales for adults. There's some fun and provocative stuff here - crazy cat ladies who build gingerbread houses, ne'er-do-wells and their beanstalks, closet necrophiliacs who wake sleeping princesses.
Most are worthy of three stars, with a few fivers scattered about. I truly love the last tale - an original offering about how we can make our own fairy tal Cunningham presents some new spins on beloved classics with this short collection of retellings, updates and continuations of folk and fairy tales for adults. I truly love the last tale - an original offering about how we can make our own fairy tales come true by noticing the magic in our every day lives. At least that's what I thought it was about.
The illustrations by Yuko Shimizu are truly lovely! Nov 19, Larry H rated it liked it. I'd rate this 3. The idea of putting twists on the fairy tales we know and love isn't a new one. Many books have given these familiar tales a modern spin, a more macabre tone, even made them more politically correct, as the originals were decidedly not! In A Wild Swan and Other Tales , Michael Cunningham, one of my favorite authors, tries to humanize the tales a bit, modernizing them, and imbuing many with more emotion and character development than the originals offered.
He looks at some I'd rate this 3. He looks at some familiar tales—Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin—and others I wasn't familiar with. All in all, it's an interesting exercise, one which I think had mixed results. As I've said many a time before, if a story hits me emotionally without making me feel manipulated, it definitely resonates.
The stories I liked best in this collection either moved or amused me, sometimes both. I love the way Michael Cunningham tells a story, and I've always found that characterization is among his many strengths, so those stories in which the characters were front and center worked best. A few of the stories were odd, and one was told in such a way that I wasn't exactly sure who was narrating it or what was happening. Overall, this was an intriguing and worthwhile read. See all of my reviews at http: View all 13 comments.
Gli occhi restano selvatici. La bocca sembra ancora adatta a squarciare la gola di un cervo. Dunque, per farla breve, oggi Dopo le dovute ritrattazioni con mia figlia che nel frattempo ha optato per la lettura saltuaria… leggo parallelamente dai tre ai cinque libri. La magia di una penna vendica la vostra sfacciata perfezione. Il lieto fine ha le ore contate… Da rileggere! Ogni tanto vi mandano su tutte le furie? View all 6 comments. Feb 11, Teresa rated it really liked it. I spotted this slim book while browsing the 'new' shelves of the library one evening. I feel drawn to retellings of fairy tales, though so many end up disappointing me.
Because I enjoy Cunningham's writing, I didn't think twice about checking out this book. I wasn't excited about any of the stories until I got to the seventh out of eleven , the story titled "Little Man" Rumpelstiltskin , easily my favorite, which has a perfect reason to use second-person narration. With it, Cunningham does one I spotted this slim book while browsing the 'new' shelves of the library one evening.
With it, Cunningham does one of the things I feel a retelling 'should' do: Its ending, one fairly long paragraph, was so exquisite, drawing our attention to how someone like him in 'real life' could turn into the person he has become, that I read it several times. The next story, "Steadfast; Tin", is another that used a twisting of the genre effectively, bringing the story into relevance to a modern-day couple, while cleverly filling in the reader who might not be familiar with the HC Andersen tale of The Steadfast Tin Soldier.
The story after that, "Beasts", frustrated me with its standard 'retelling' of "Beauty and the Beast", until I arrived at the ending and the reason for it all became clear: I had been as seduced as Beauty was. I should also mention "A Monkey's Paw", a very good story: I've just never been a fan of the original by W.
Jacobs whose title contains the definite article. The illustrations by Yuko Shimizu are ethereal and disturbing; and I guess because I'm not a visual person, I didn't realize, till I later looked at her website, that I've encountered her work before. Probably more of a 3.
View all 7 comments. Dec 02, Daphne rated it it was amazing Shelves: If anything, the characters here where written with more impact and depth. Carter is a master at ambiance, but Cunningham mastered character creation in short form here. The illustrations are absolutely haunting. I highly recommend this one! Narrators - Lili Taylor and Billy Hough: There is one where they were narrate together that was one of my favorites. There were a few stand-outs among the bunch Wild Swans, Poisoned, the one based on the one-legged soldier and the ballerina, Monkeys Paw but overall I wasn't super impressed with them.
Each story has its own charm A certain gave me chills even though I heard a different re-telling of some years ago still not exactly sure when and where and if I could purchase each story separately, that would be one of them I would choose. Despite the off-beatness of these stories, I was never completely pulled in for most of collection.
I'm still thinking over these though, they have that certain 'pull' to them, that 'something' you can't quite pinpoint. This was a good read for me while I wasn't feeling well, it was nice to just lay down, close my eyes, and let my mind drift along with the stories. Probably, it will most likely be one you will love or feel 'meh' about but still worth the try methinks. Sep 17, Anne rated it liked it Shelves: This was good, but just good. Each fairy tale came with a new twist, but the premise was so familiar that it sometimes felt as though you were just reading the same story you've read a thousand times before.
It's a fast read though and I enjoyed it. In fairy tale retellings I think I want something vastly different, rather than slightly different. For anyone who likes classic tales with tiny tweaks, this is the book for you. Jan 07, Elisa rated it did not like it. Utterly unimaginative and yet somehow oozing with smugness. Oct 29, Katerina rated it really liked it Shelves: Sometimes the tear is surprisingly small.
Dec 05, Maciek rated it it was ok Shelves: Dalloway which won him the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and was later adapted into a successful movie. I have never read the book nor seen the film, though I really enjoyed the musical score by Philip Glass, which might be his finest work for film you can listen to it here - I don't think you will be disappointed.
A Wild Swan is his first collection of short stories, and one which I approached with certain in Michael Cunningham is the author of The Hours , a book inspired by Virginia Woolf's Mrs. A Wild Swan is his first collection of short stories, and one which I approached with certain interest and curiosity - it is a collection of fairy tales told anew. A surprising subject for someone who has been writing mostly realistic fiction, I was very interested me how the author would approach hi subject - and in the end can't help but be disappointed This is a slim collection - less than pages long - and yet includes 11 stories, complete with black and white illustrations by Yuko Shimuzu.
Wonder Woman (Diana Prince)
Cunningham takes classic stories such as Snow White, Rapunzel, Beauty and the Beast and Jack and the Bean Stalk, and tells them again in his own way - in a different setting, or from another perspective. Fairytale retellings are nothing new, but they are something entirely new for this particular author - and it shows. Aside for two exceptions, I found none of these "new" stories to be either particularly impressive or memorable - they read more like exercises in writing, a way for the author to try himself out in something that he has not attempted before.
It is not a bad thing in itself, but the end result is not always ready to be presented to a wider audience.
Such exercises are often hidden in the proverbial drawer, where they await better times which often don't come. The real gem of the collection is Little Man , which is the retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, told in the second person from the perspective of the imp. In the original, as collected centuries ago by the Grimm brothers, a miller brags to the King of his realm that his daughter can spin straw into gold; the King throws the poor girl into a locked room full of straw and demands that she turn it all into gold before morning, or else she will be beheaded. Rumpelstiltskin is the mysterious figure who appears out of nowhere, offering her a deal: First, he takes her necklace; when the King sees a room full of gold and locks her in an even bigger room, demanding more gold, he takes her ring; when the next day the King says that he will marry her if she will turn another room of straw into gold, the imp demands their firstborn child.
In the original tale just appears out of nowhere, and not as a savior - he essentially blackmails the girl into giving him what he wants, knowing full well that these are offers that she can't refuse if she wants to live in some versions of the stories the imp begins to spin gold despite the girl protesting that she has nothing more to pay him at the last day, and tells her that he will take her first child, leaving her horrified. The original tale offers no information about the imp, his character or motivation - we can see him as unlikable, but we do not know why he is so, or why he does what he does.
This is why Cunningham's story works so well - it gives voice to someone who did not have one before, and unexpectedly flips the tables on morality of the characters. Rumpelstiltskin becomes a sympathetic character and very believably so, and his portrayal as of a being filled with deep sadness and loneliness, consumed by deep longing for a child is touching and memorable.
This is, to put it simply, a good story, and deserves praise as such. Still, two stories do not exactly cut it, and despite enjoying them I can't recommend the collection as a whole. If I was to describe A Wild Swan with one word, it would be "unnecessary" - one or two stories are not enough to save it. If you are interested in fairy tales adapted into contemporary prose, look no further than Philip Pullman's brilliant Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Versiont , which treats the source material with respect and courtesy. Sep 21, Leah rated it really liked it.
And Other Tales offered more hits than misses, which, for a collection of short stories, equals a successful reading experience for me. This was my first time reading anything by Michael Cunningham and I quite enjoyed how deep he took me inside the characters' minds, hearts and souls. I always say one thing I like retellings to do is add depth to the originals' characters -- Cunningham did exactly that! He also chose the somewhat darker path of the originals -- another favorite of m A Wild Swan: He also chose the somewhat darker path of the originals -- another favorite of mine.
The retellings were modernized but they weren't drastically different from their originals. So if you're someone who prefers the author make a lot of changes or add a lot of new stuff you may be better off with another collection; for example, The Witch And Other Tales Re-Told by Jean Thompson. Hmm, if I were threatened with a poisoned apple, I'd have to pick "A Wild Swan" as my favorite of the collection.
That one was a tearjerker. Trotzdem hat mir das Buch im Gesamten - bis auf die erste und die letzte Geschichte - wirklich richtig gut gefallen. Ich habe es auch fast in einem Rutsch durchgelesen, weil man, wenn man mal dabei ist, wirklich schwer davon lassen kann. Es liest sich unglaublich gut weg, ist bespickt mit tollen Ideen und interessanten Seiten der Figuren. Dennoch ein Buch, welches ich gerne in meinem Regal behalten werde. Eventuell kann man in einigen Jahren noch mal etwas anderes aus den Geschichten ziehen.
Wenn man will, kann man sich den aber durchaus rausfiltern. Jede Geschichte hat immer noch seine eigene Moral. Das kann man dem Autor nicht absprechen. Dec 12, Margaret rated it really liked it Shelves: Wow, what a fast read! I read this in a single sitting. And Other Tales modernizes eleven fairy tales. These retellings circle around love and relationships--what it means to have someone that's always by your side, that 'happily ever after,' for better and for worse.
But these are not romanticized versions. Enchant"--gives a clue as to how Cunningham approaches fairy tales--he disenchants the romanticized notion of happily ever after. In "A Wild Swan," he show Wow, what a fast read! The witch in this one is a woman denying her age, who wants to remain the fun-loving sex maven she once was. I also liked "Beasts," a "Beauty and the Beast" retelling, that thoroughly disenchants the transformation scene at the end.
It shows that Happily Ever Afters can, after all, work. That you can have the weirdness and annoyance of long-term relationships and still be happy. Overall, I enjoyed the collection. As someone thoroughly familiar with all of the tales, the beginnings were somewhat annoying because Cunningham often summarizes the tale before moving into his new take. However, the endings are fantastic.
And he draws beautiful insights from some of the tales. The illustrations by Yuko Shimizu are gorgeous. Here's one of the illustrations, though I think my favorite is of Rapunzel nested inside her hair. Fairy tale lovers will enjoy this collection, but also people only vaguely familiar with fairy tales but enjoy modern short stories.
This is my first Michael Cunningham, and I'm willing to try out more by him. Dec 07, Sara rated it really liked it Shelves: Quite a lot to like in this somewhat uneven but still captivating collection of fractured faerie stories. Cunningham has an abrasive but oddly refreshing writing style that works with the traditional flow of most faerie tales and gives the odd and usually deeply personal knife twist he inserts with each one that much more impact.
Italian Folktales - Wikipedia
If he strays a bit too far into the depressing and dire for my personal taste with the tale of a washed up, one winged prince in the titular "Wild Swans" and a hard livi Quite a lot to like in this somewhat uneven but still captivating collection of fractured faerie stories. If he strays a bit too far into the depressing and dire for my personal taste with the tale of a washed up, one winged prince in the titular "Wild Swans" and a hard living, hard loving "witch" who builds a gingerbread house to lure someone to love her in "Crazy Old Lady" he still maintains a wistful bit of magic in his retelling of old favorites like "Beauty and the Best" and "The Steadfast Tin Soldier.
He also doesn't stick completely to faerie tales. There's a particularly eerie retelling of the already eerie on its own "Monkey's Paw" that Cunningham manages to make icky in entirely new ways with only one minor plot change. The same can be said for "Beast" a retelling that might seem like its going down a road other authors have traveled before only to yank the rug out at the last moment in a deliciously terrifying way. Cunningham outright says what a lot of us probably think when we read stories like this. Do we want daddy to bring us back a rose because we're sweet and innocent or do we just to make sure everyone else thinks we are?
Soon after, Wonder Woman enters and is shocked to see her younger self "killed". Regardless, Diana as a child Wonder Girl was never completely rejected. Reprints of Wonder Girl stories were occasionally included in the comic book. In issue , Wonder Woman, in her Diana Prince identity, is shown walking past children at play whereon she flashes back to when she was a fourteen-year-old Wonder Girl with a crush on Mer-Boy.
Wonder Girl and the other Teen Titans were next featured in Showcase 59 December before being spun off into their own series with Teen Titans vol. With the character called only Wonder Girl, or "Wonder Chick" by her teammates, her status as either the younger Wonder Woman displaced in the timeline or another character altogether is not explained until Teen Titans vol.
Unable to find any parents or family, Wonder Woman brings the child to Paradise Island, where she is eventually given Amazon powers by the Purple Ray. The story ends with Wonder Girl wearing a new costume and hairstyle, adopting the secret identity Donna Troy. As special event comics like the Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis miniseries have rewritten character histories, the origin of Donna Troy has been revised several times.
In brief, those origins are as follows:. Drusilla, was an Amazon messenger, who came to Wonder Woman depowered at the time with terrible news. In the dimension now hosting Paradise Island , Ares invaded the island and was attempting to force Hippolyta to give him the secret of transdimensional travel. As a last resort, Hippolyta gave Drusilla a magic amulet with the power to allow her to travel between Themyscira and Earth, and sent her to bring Diana to Themyscira and help them against Ares.
Drusilla was recreated as Wonder Woman's younger sister when she was featured on the Wonder Woman tv series played by Debra Winger in , and became Wonder Girl instead of Donna Troy. Cassie Sandsmark is the daughter of Dr. Helena Sandsmark, an archaeologist , and Zeus. She has been a member of both Young Justice and the Teen Titans. Initially, her powers were derived from ancient Greek magical artifacts. Later, Zeus granted her the boon of actual powers. Her powers are similar to Wonder Woman's, though she carries a lasso that expels Zeus's lightning , which was given to her by her half-brother, Ares , the Greek god of war.
When the Greek gods left the mortal plane during Infinite Crisis , Zeus stripped Cassie of her powers. However, she was granted powers by Ares in exchange for becoming his champion. After Superboy 's death, she quit the Titans for a time to be an independent vigilante. She was mourning the loss of her lover, Superboy, and bitter from the abandonment by Robin and Wonder Woman over the following year.
She later rejoined the group after a battle with the Brotherhood of Evil and the return of Cyborg. She is close friends with fellow hero Supergirl. Generations 2, Wonder Girl first appears in as a "mystic projection" to take Wonder Woman's place while Diana gives birth. She finds a wounded Steve Trevor and takes him back to Paradise Island, but despite being subjected to the Purple Power Ray, he dies of his wounds, leaving Diana to raise their daughter, Stephanie, alone. In , Stephanie or "Stevie" decides to go out on her own as Wonder Girl.
She shares a link with Supergirl Kara Kent , as they were born at the same time. Years later, she becomes the new Wonder Woman. Her outfit is pretty much the same as her mother's, except that she does not possess either the tiara or the Magic Lasso of Aphrodite , instead possessing the winged sandals of Hermes.
She also wears a mask. When she becomes the new Wonder Woman, she adds a cape to the ensemble. Generations 3, she is killed by Darkseid. In the DC Comics Bombshells universe, Wonder Girl is not a single person, but rather a team of young Asian-American girls who are empowered by the mystical artifacts formerly used by Wonder Woman.
In , a version of Wonder Girl appeared in the Wonder Woman television series and was played by Debra Winger , in one of her first mass-media roles. The actress Charlene Tilton , best known for playing Lucy Ewing in the television series Dallas , auditioned for the part of Wonder Girl but lost it to Winger. The pilot episode revealed that Wonder Woman's alter-ego, Princess Diana of Paradise Island, was Queen Hippolyta 's daughter, but later episodes featured Diana's younger sibling, Drusilla.
Drusilla first appeared in the two-part episode The Feminum Mystique. Queen Hippolyta is never referred to by name in any of the televised specials in which she appeared. Drusilla gets tangled up in a Nazi plot to discover the secret of Wonder Woman's bracelets, which can deflect bullets, and in the process Drusilla masters the spinning transformation used by her older sister. Although Drusilla creates the persona of Wonder Girl, the distinction is lost on the Nazis, who believe her to be Wonder Woman and abduct her.
In the second part of this episode, Drusilla returns to Paradise Island to help free her fellow Amazons from a Nazi overtaking. Drusilla appeared again in another episode, the final episode of the first season, entitled Wonder Woman in Hollywood. Letterman showed the audience a short clip of Winger as Wonder Girl and asked several questions about the show and co-star Lynda Carter. Winger briefly feigned embarrassment, but then claimed she was late for something she had to do, then surprisingly tore off her dress to reveal a Wonder Girl costume underneath.
Winger ran through the audience to exit the theater, while the Wonder Woman theme song's bass line played. In the comics, Drusilla was a regular amazon who appeared in Wonder Woman , who was an ally to Wonder Woman.