Briar Rose

Rating:
Summary: Tedious, Boring, Brilliant?
Review: As I read this book for a college class on fairy tales, I began to realize what Coover was doing: throwing out narrative for an exploration of destiny, fairy tales, dreams, story, and relationship to the reader. By the end of the short book, I totally hated it. So what do I do? I read it again. That's right, I'm drawn back to this meticulous piece of boredom. I guess that means the book is either brilliant or such a beautiful car wreck I have to make a U-turn to take a second look.

Rating:
Summary: Not his best
Review: I think this would have worked better as a short story. It's a bold and poetic take on Sleeping Beauty - the book is divided into numerous brief sections that continuously, circularly revisit and revise different portions of the story. It has things to say about not just Sleeping Beauty, but act of storytelling and the nature of narrative. However, the repetition does start getting tiresome after a while; it would be a more tolerable yet equally effective read if it were significantly shorter.

Overall, it's one Coover's weaker works, but as he's one of the most unsung, underrated masters of postmodernism around, it's still pretty good. To see him in top form, read A Night at the Movies, one of my personal favorites of his. For more of his revisions of fairy tales, see his novel Pinocchio in Venice and the stories "The Door" and "The Gingerbread House" in his collection Pricksongs and Descants.

Rating:
Summary: What a Waste of Time!
Review: Well, sorry but this story [is disappointing]. Espescially for anyone who enjoyed the story and idea of Sleeping Beauty. And its not even that the story is that bad. The writing [is no good]. The reader is constantly confused, and even when you've finished the book, you might go "huh?" I hated it. I do not suggest that anyone buy this book.