Briar Rose

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Summary: A Fantastic Beauty
Review: Its been a very long time since I thought about the fairy-tale Sleeping Beauty, and an even longer time since I have read about it. However, in the space of 5 pages I was immediately absorbed with Yolen's retelling. This novel, centered around one woman's Holocaust experience and intermixed with the classic fairy-tale, is deeply moving. Yolen's uses classic fairy-tale elements like a prince and the curse of a long sleep to connect us to the horrors of the death camp Chelmno. The result is a story that is fresh and shocking as it tares away any of the numbness we may feel for another account of a Holocaust survivor. Suddenly the fairy-tale ideas of rescue and evil are invested with modern connotations.
The novel begins with the story of Becca and her granmother Gemma, who is dying of old age. Becca's grandmother has constantly told Becca and her sisters the story of Briar Rose, and when she passes away it is discovered that Briar Rose may in fact have been Gemma. Becca traces Gemma's history back to Poland and a castle in that area, and proceeds to discover that her Grandmother was one of the few to escape from the Nazi death camp Chelmno. The resulting account we hear tells the story of Gemma's escape and the 'prince'that rescues her.
Overall, I thought this novel was fantastic. Upon doing research for the novel I came across many protestations for its homosexual content and portrayal of Chelmno. However, I think Yolen does an admirable job of complicating our notion of the fairy-tale and our numbness to the horrors of the Holocaust. She creates an environment that is both chilling and hopeful, and her use of Sleeping Beauty creates a connection between Gemma's history and our own.

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Summary: One of the most powerful books I've ever read
Review: I didn't know what to expect when I started to read this book -- I respect Jane Yolen's work a great deal, and love some of it dearly, but I have differing reactions to the different things she's written. At first I thought it was a fairly standard story about a girl tracking down her grandmother's past, and though the symbolism was beautiful (though I was annoyed at first that she _changed the story_!!!), intertwining very well with the present-day events and the WWII events, I wasn't prepared for what I got. But as I got sucked in by the beauty of the language and the contrasting starkness of the past events, I realized that she wasn't taking me on the same journey I'd been before -- she was taking me into the darkness of a place where the human mind itself cannot go without bending and breaking. It was brilliantly done -- and a very, very hard thing to read. I'm very glad I read it -- once.

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Summary: A Critique of Briar Rose
Review: The book Briar Rose by Jane Yolan is excellent reading. I recommend it to all readers, and for those who cannot read, I suggest they have someone read it to them. The book keeps the readers' interest as it transfers from fairy tale to the reality of the present day. I was surprised of how well the author intertwines the great fairy tale of "Sleeping Beauty" and the Holocaust into a great book. I gained a great love for the book because of this flow from reality to fairy tale and back to reality. I was very intrigued by the main character, Becca. Becca loves her grandmother very much, and would do anything that her grandmother asked of her. I find that a noble trait. The book begins with the fairy tale being told by her grandmother. Becca is fascinated to have it retold to her time and again as a child. Gemma, the grandmother, believes she herself is the princess from the fairy tale. After her grandmother dies, Becca is determined to learn the truth about her grandmother and the connection to the princess from the fairy tale. Becca's passions leads her to Poland where she meets Josef Potocki. As Josef Potocki tells Becca the tragic story of his past and her grandmother's past, I became glued to the pages. As Josef goes on about the concentration camps and prisons that he and Gemma were in, the heartbreaking words pop out of the pages at me. The pain that Josef feels as he tells Becca about the suffering that he and her grandmother went through; I felt that same pain and suffering as I read. The ending is not happily ever after as I expected it to be. Becca did find out the truth about her grandmother, but she also had to learn the horror that her grandmother went through. Becca had to hear about the near death experiences and the anguish that her grandmother had seen and felt in Poland. Briar Rose is a capitvating book that ties the great fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty" and the horror of the Holocaust. All over sixteen years of age should read it or have it read to them.

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Summary: An ineteresting twist on Sleeping Beauty
Review: "Briar Rose" is and interesting book based upon the fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty." The two major characters of the book are Becca and Gemma. Becca is Gemmas granddaughter. Gemma used to tell Becca and her two sisters a fairy tale almost every night. The same fairy tale over and over, but there was something special about this fairy tale. The way Gemma told it seemed so real to Becca. Unfortunately, Gemma dies early on in the book. On her deathbed she tells Becca that the fairy tale is true. Becca is not sure whether to believe her or not, thinking that maybe she is delirious. Becca decides to find out who her grandmother really was. She didn't know much about her and has to dig deep to find little bits and pieces. The book takes you through everything Becca finds out. The rest of the book deals with the holocaust and the awful things that happened there. Through the help of people she talks to, Becca finally finds out who her grandmother was. Gemma was sleeping beauty. I highly recommend this book!

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Summary: The Use of Symbolism In the Novel Briar Rose
Review: Symbolism appears in many forms, but the concept is always the same: to create a more vivid picture of what is conveyed to the reader. In the novel Briar Rose, Jane Yolen uses symbols such as, the mist that falls upon the kingdom, the sleeping kingdom, and the prince's kiss, to depict Gemma's unconscious memories of the Holocaust.
In the novel, Gemma often tells the girls the tale of Briar Rose, the princess with a crown of red hair. While she is still on her deathbed, Gemma reveals that she is Briar Rose, and she wants Becca to solve her mystery. The mystery surrounding Becca's grandmother has its only clues in the story she has told so often. So, when Becca pursues the answer to her grandmother's mystery, she is surprised to learn that the story is true and is only distorted into what her grandmother chose to, and how to, remember it.
Maybe the most signifigant example of the symbolism used is the mist that put the kingdom to sleep. In the story, Gemma explained that the mist puts everyone to sleep for a hundred years, except for Briar Rose, who later was kissed by the prince who awakens her. This mist symbolizes the gassing vans in which the Nazi's used to kill thousands of Jews. The Jews represent the sleeping kingdom, which never woke in Gemma's story. These people are not put to sleep, but put to death by the mist of the gas.
Symbolism is once again used when the prince kisses the princess to awake her from her sleep. In the story, the princess is the only woken up from the prince's kiss. This is different from the traditional story because, in Sleeping Beauty, everybody is awakened from the prince's kiss to the princess. This version of Gemma's story symbolizes Joe's resuscitation of Gemma from the gas. He was not kissing her; he was trying to give her mouth-to-mouth. Because of his aristocratic background, he was nicknamed the prince.
Symbolism is not only a key tool in many fictional writings; it is an important aspect in the novel, Briar Rose. Without the symbolism used in this book, the emphasize and importance around Gemma's death would not be as interesting and the comparison of the fairy tale and Gemma's life would be lost on us.

Rating:
Summary: Briar Rose
Review: Briar Rose is a story that intertwines the fairytale sleeping beauty and the unforgettable horrifying holocaust. The story begins with Becca Berlin and her sisters listening to her grandmother Gemma tell the fairytale sleeping beauty. As she enchants Becca with a story of castles, mist, and thorns, Becca soon realizes that there is more behind this story than Gemma actually told. Becca and her family realize this when Gemma insists that she is the princess. On Gemma's deathbed she extracts a promise from Becca that her past will be uncovered and the story will come true. Even though her sisters dismissed what Gemma said thinking she was senile, Becca was still compelled to find out exactly what her grandmother was talking about. A few pictures, newspaper clippings and entry forms, along with a man's ring are the only clues that Becca has to begin her journey. This journey will lead her to Poland were she will learn about the horrors of the holocaust.

Rating:
Summary: Dislike
Review: I thought that Briar Rose was a semi-fair book. What made the book interesting to me was, the book was very similar to the children's story Sleeping Beauty. I also liked how every odd chapter would reminisce to when Becca and her sisters were little girls and their grnadmother would tell them the story of Briar Rose. In my opinion, the book began to drag in the middle. I lost interest in the book from chapters 18-22. When I first began the book, I would have recommended it to others. Since I have now finished the book, i don't think I would recommend it. The tone was very dull, sad, and dreary. It remained that way throughout the rest of the book. This caused the book to ge very boring.

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Summary: Briar Rose: Even and Odd
Review: Briar Rose is a novel that intertwines the fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty" with a story about the Holocaust. Jane Yolen takes an interesting tactic with the story. The odd chapters consist specifically of Gemma, the grandmother, telling her version of "Sleeping Beauty" to her grandchildren, mostly Becca. The even chapters, however, tell of Becca's search, after her grandmother's death, to find out her grandmother's real identity and origin. Becca's only clues to begin with were in a box that her grandmother left behind. So, Becca, along with the help of her collegue, set out to what seems to be a hopeless search to Ft. Oswego. While there, Becca talked to a man who knew her grandmother in the refugee camp. He confirmed that Gemma was also known as Ksiezniczka, which means princess. After their meeting, Becca decided to go to Poland to retrace her Grandmother's steps. In Poland, Becca is accompanied by a translator and through sheer luck and coincindence they encounter a priest who leads them to a man who is able to tell Gemma's story along with the story of the Holocaust. During the last half of the book, we learn alot of the terrible and graphic truths about the Holocaust. The last half is also when both the even and odd chapters seem to come together. This is when we notice how Gemma's "Sleeping Beauty" story seems to symbolically coincide with the Holocaust story. For example, in "Sleeping Beauty", the curse that is bestowed upon the princess and her family and friends symbolizes the curse of the Nazis and Gustapo and the doom they unleashed upon everyone. The mist that covers that castle and puts everyone to sleep symbolizes the gassing deaths of millions of people. The castle surrounded with roses that were covered with barbs that were impenetrable symbolized the barbed wire that held the condemned inside the prison camps. By the end of the novel, there is so much symbolism to notice it almost wonderfully overwhelming. It is as if the symbolism clicks together for the reader at the same time Becca pieces it together for herself.

Rating:
Summary: Heart-wrenching and soul-rending; lyrical, magical.
Review: Even better upon a second reading, there is a decided dearth of words to say about this book: lovingly sensate, yet flawless, jewel-like intertwining of a devastatingly beautiful Holocaust tale with a finely wrought retelling of a much beloved fairy tale; beautiful prose that could only have come from the enchanted pen of the entirely awesome Jane Yolen. A truly blessed reading pleasure.

Rating:
Summary: Briar Rose
Review: Do you like the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty? If you enjoy Sleeping Beauty, then you will like the book 'Briar Rose'. Jane Yolen not only connects Gemma, a young women who, was involved in the holocaust, to the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, but also tells the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty in the book. The story starts out when Rebecca Gemma's grandchild, begins the search about her grandmothers past. Rebecca finds out that her grandmother a Jewish woman was involved in the holocaust. Rebecca learns how her grandmother survived the holocaust, with help of two very different men and their relationship with her grandmother Gemma. Jane Yolen gives a very detailed look on how people where treated in concentration camps. 'Briar Rose' tells about deaths and survivors of the concentration camps, in a very detailed manner. I found this book very exciting with some twist, and I enjoyed how Jane Yolen related the story of Sleeping Beauty to that of 'Briar Rose'