Deerskin

Rating:
Summary: Powerful & Moving
Review: This is a book I've read many times. I agree with other reviewers, that it is NOT for everyone.

The fairy tale is more true to the origins of fairy tales than most modern day bowdlerized tales; therefore it deals with some very dark subjects. It was originally recommended to me by an adult survivor of child abuse -- although you need not have been abused yourself as a child to have this book grab you by the heart.

If you intend this for a young teen, please read the book first.



Rating:
Summary: I wish I had read the negative reviews
Review: Deerskin started out with such a bang, great prose, interesting premise. I love Fairytales retold, but done well...this one was horrible. I felt no connection with the main character,with whom I suppose we are to feel sympathy for. There is no journey of self discovery, she travels from her home lives in the woods, and finally in a shack,eating skinned mice of all things and sleeping in filth. Was this a metaphor I missed?? I had to skip so much that I didn't realize an important element of her time in the woods. I really wanted to like this book as I heard so many great things about it especially a reccomendation from Patricia Mckillip, one of my favorite authors. I felt so disappointed that it will be some time before I even attempt another Robin Mckinley book.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth reading
Review: I'm stunned at the people who claim to have read this book more than once.
It is a wisp of a fairy tale dragged out much too long. The writing is beautiful and lyrical, but absolutely nothing happens! After the rape, she doesn't know who she IS, or even who she WAS! Since, under these conditions, there can be no self-discovery, the townspeople finally TELL her who she is (one of their mythological beings) and she accepts that! Her transformation is obscure, at best: it is not at all clear how she accomplished this miraculous change.
The two main protagonists are EXACTLY alike, and the two villians (her father and mother) are not only alike, but paper-thin (they're very bad people:that's about it).
There really is no story here, and very simple characters.

Rating:
Summary: "Deerskin" -- lovely! Well written, lyrical and intelligent.
Review: "Deerskin" like Yolen's "Briar Rose" is not for small children. There seems to be a developing genre of fantasy literature that deliberately faces the harsher parts of life through the use of fairy-tale and archetypal imagery. "Deerskin" is one of these tales. As an aside, students of Carl Jung and Campbell's approach to myth will also find this tale especially interesting in its usage of archetypal imagery and fairy tale. Most of fantasy, regardless of popular myth, is not written with very small children in mind -- much like the original un-expurgated fairy tales themselves.

I would recommend this book for readers old enough to have a little bit of life experience and who -- at least -- are familiar with the facts of life. If a parent inadvertently finds this book in the hands of a very youthful reader, expect a lot of questions and discussion concerning the difficult subjects of grief, sexual abuse and insanity -- and, most importantly, healing. This -- academic approach -- is not to detract from how well written and lyrical McKinley's prose truly is. A good fire, a stormy night, and "Deerskin" will make for a really good read.

Young and older teens, and young women who are in the stages of healing from the kinds of hurts inflicted upon the protagonist will find this book engaging and valuable. Having said that, I often think that we shelter our young readers far too much from "reality" and the depth of emotional content reserved for "adults" in choosing literature. Elementary teachers, especially, trained in the "realism"- schools of children's literature, seem to bypass books like "Deerskin" all too readily for (pretty much) more of the same old thing. Literary imagination, (with the notable exception of "Harry Potter") it seems, is out of style in the classroom. I, while working in the public schools, have seen teachers and librarians go so far as to discourage young people from choosing to read such classics as "Earthsea" -- a trend that I find both disheartening and a little bit alarming.

Robin McKinley's book belongs in U.K. Le Guin's category of "psycho myth", a tale the enters a very dark place -- one that is present in fairy tales in their original un-expurgated forms -- and then finds it's way out again through the healing of the protagonist in a way most unexpected, magical and fulfilling.

Even as an adult reader of fantasy, I found this book filled with well-written lyrical prose that remains true to the fairy tale genre. The world building aspects are sharply defined and consistent without overwhelming the character development. The characters are supremely human, courageous and a little foolish, without becoming overwhelmingly depressing, sentimental or maudlin. The plot is intelligent, smoothly paced and could easily be set alongside the "classics" of the genre by Yolen, Lee, Gorodischer, Beagle, or Le Guin, herself.

A fine piece destined to be, I believe, a classic in the genre and well worth placing in one's permanent collection.



Rating:
Summary: Caution
Review: As an educator who reads books normally with the thought of sharing them with children (i.e., purchasing them for my classroom library), I found this book to be unsuitable for innocent consumption.
Morbidly fascinating, yes. Uplifting or enlightening, no.
It should at least come with a warning on the cover.

Rating:
Summary: Deerskin
Review: Vapid? did we read the same book? This is one of my favorite books, it is a tale for those whose deep wounds have been healed by the love and courage of a great dog. Who belive that beauty lies within, that laughter is greater force than tall, dark and handsome, and that goodness can overcome evil. It is a dark fairy tale, but happily ever after is really not necessary in real life, sometimes happy enough will suffice.

Rating:
Summary: What did I just read???
Review: The Blue Sword is one of my favorites. Because of this liking, I decided to take upon the task of reading Deerskin. The back cover gave a rather interesting description so I thought that nothing could go wrong. Oh, but I was wrong. This is definately not the type of story and protagonist that I enjoy reading. Why? Her [Lissar's] parents are psychos who are so entrenched in their own lives that they've neglected their one and only child and Lissar sits and basically waits for her "death" when she could've actually escaped it. I kept asking myself why she didn't run away sooner. Why did she have to wait until she was beaten and raped? Not the brighest crayon in the box are we? And the fact that she runs around scared of her own past. And besides all of this, there were so many things that made this story similar to The Blue Sword. Coudln't McKinely think of something different this time 'round? (the dogs in this book, the horses in The Blue Sword; the lover's have practically the same personailities; how the woman goes away from her lover but later reunites; etc) This book was okay reading, it doesn't leave a deep impression in me, and won't be staying on my bookshelf.