Home :: Books :: Science Fiction & Fantasy  

Arts & Photography
Audio CDs
Audiocassettes
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Christianity
Comics & Graphic Novels
Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body
History
Home & Garden
Horror
Literature & Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers
Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy

Sports
Teens
Travel
Women's Fiction
The Armless Maiden: And Other Tales for Childhood's Survivors

The Armless Maiden: And Other Tales for Childhood's Survivors

List Price: $22.95
Your Price: $22.95
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 >>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Why is this book out of print?
Review: Here are a couple of fairy tales about the tangles and troubles of childhood and abuse. They were all very interesting: stories of an imaginary city that one can only be transported by the West Wind, the seventh little mermaid, a love story of a lion and a woman named Lark, etc. The most interesting story was by Jane Yolen, about a king so overcome with grief over his dead wife he refuses to let his daughter grow out of her mother's shadow. The only quibble I have about the anthology was that it felt so anti-male. Granted, the statistics show that males are the more common abusers, I would have liked to have some more depth in the women who abused (like why? instead of how?). The Snow White therapy session and the ghost dancers story, in my personal opinion, seemed to inadequately describe why some women would abuse their children, while "In The House of My Enemy" depict men as monsters without any true reason. Other than that, they are great stories. But none to be told to your kids in a Disney-esque manner.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Here are a couple of fairy tales about the tangles and troubles of childhood and abuse. They were all very interesting: stories of an imaginary city that one can only be transported by the West Wind, the seventh little mermaid, a love story of a lion and a woman named Lark, etc. The most interesting story was by Jane Yolen, about a king so overcome with grief over his dead wife he refuses to let his daughter grow out of her mother's shadow. The only quibble I have about the anthology was that it felt so anti-male. Granted, the statistics show that males are the more common abusers, I would have liked to have some more depth in the women who abused (like why? instead of how?). The Snow White therapy session and the ghost dancers story, in my personal opinion, seemed to inadequately describe why some women would abuse their children, while "In The House of My Enemy" depict men as monsters without any true reason. Other than that, they are great stories. But none to be told to your kids in a Disney-esque manner.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dead-serious fairy tales
Review: I love adult fairy tales, but it seems that all too often, writers pump up the sex and violence to render the tales "adult", rather than more deeply exploring the human emotional dramas in the stories. Maybe that's why I love _The Armless Maiden_. The tales and poems here do include sex and violence, yes, but at their heart is the triumph of the human spirit.

If we look carefully at fairy tales, many of them are actually about what we would now call child abuse. Cinderella was neglected. Handel and Gretel were abandoned. Donkeyskin suffered incest. And there are so many more. And in most of the stories, the protagonist rises above the situation somehow--in the old versions, usually by gaining fortune and position. In the stories in _The Armless Maiden_, the triumph is more often psychological. I read once--I think it was in a book by Marina Warner--that the essential theme of the fairy tale is transformation. In these stories, we see victims transformed into survivors.

These are serious fairy tales for our times, and I recommend the book both to abuse survivors and to those who did not suffer abuse (trust me, everyone knows someone who did). My personal favorite contributions are Emma Bull's poem about Cinderella's stepsister regretting the friendship they never had, and Ellen Kushner's "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep", the story of a young girl in the custody of a cold-hearted guardian, and haunted by the ghost of the woman's unhappy daughter.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dead-serious fairy tales
Review: I love adult fairy tales, but it seems that all too often, writers pump up the sex and violence to render the tales "adult", rather than more deeply exploring the human emotional dramas in the stories. Maybe that's why I love _The Armless Maiden_. The tales and poems here do include sex and violence, yes, but at their heart is the triumph of the human spirit.

If we look carefully at fairy tales, many of them are actually about what we would now call child abuse. Cinderella was neglected. Handel and Gretel were abandoned. Donkeyskin suffered incest. And there are so many more. And in most of the stories, the protagonist rises above the situation somehow--in the old versions, usually by gaining fortune and position. In the stories in _The Armless Maiden_, the triumph is more often psychological. I read once--I think it was in a book by Marina Warner--that the essential theme of the fairy tale is transformation. In these stories, we see victims transformed into survivors.

These are serious fairy tales for our times, and I recommend the book both to abuse survivors and to those who did not suffer abuse (trust me, everyone knows someone who did). My personal favorite contributions are Emma Bull's poem about Cinderella's stepsister regretting the friendship they never had, and Ellen Kushner's "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep", the story of a young girl in the custody of a cold-hearted guardian, and haunted by the ghost of the woman's unhappy daughter.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fascinating, chilling, disturbing, uplifting, lifechanging.
Review: I'm an enthusiastic reader. I read a lot, and I enjoy a lot of books - but not many actually leave me short of breath. This collection (of fiction, poetry, memoir and essays) looks at childhood and growing up through the lens of myth and especially fairy tale. PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT THIS IS NOT A BOOK FOR CHILDREN, HOWEVER. (It probably isn't a book for most adults.) It emcompasses a wide range of styles and subject matter; some of the pieces turn a bright, unwav- ering light on child abuse, violence, rape and death. What left me breathless wasn't the ugliness of the subject matter though; it was the thrill of really great writing. Fearless, enobling creativity. Windling even includes statements from the authors about the process of writing some of the pieces; they're interesting, and also provide a respite from the pieces themselves, sort of a "tension and release" mechanism. Standouts are Yolen and de Lindt, neither of whose work was familiar to me before this anthology. I'm thrilled that this book is coming out in paperback, and that it has another chance to find the audience it deserves. (Also that I'll be able to afford more copies for gifts.)

Rating: 0 stars
Summary: More information on THE ARMLESS MAIDEN:
Review: Readers may be interested to know that a portion of the royalties for this book are donated to shelters for abused, runaway, and homeless children. The collection was a finalist for the James Tiptree Award in 1996. For more information on The Armless Maiden and other "mythic arts" titles, please visit the Endicott Studio web site.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fairy tales are not just for children
Review: This anthology is one of the most emotionally wrenching and satisfying collections of stories that I've read-not just from fantasy authors, but from anyone. Dealing with the darker aspects of childhood, including abuse and alienation, the stories and poetry are full of depth and transformation; magic, despair, and ultimately hope. Some exceptional stories are "The Armless Maiden" by Midori Snyder, "The Juniper Tree" by Peter Straub, "The Lion and the Lark" by Patricia McKillip, "The Lily and the Weaver's Heart" by Nancy Etchemendy, "In the House of My Enemy" by Charles De Lint, and "In the Night Country" by Ellen Steiber. The poems are all beautiful. This book is definitely on my desert island list.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fairy tales are not just for children
Review: This anthology is one of the most emotionally wrenching and satisfying collections of stories that I've read-not just from fantasy authors, but from anyone. Dealing with the darker aspects of childhood, including abuse and alienation, the stories and poetry are full of depth and transformation; magic, despair, and ultimately hope. Some exceptional stories are "The Armless Maiden" by Midori Snyder, "The Juniper Tree" by Peter Straub, "The Lion and the Lark" by Patricia McKillip, "The Lily and the Weaver's Heart" by Nancy Etchemendy, "In the House of My Enemy" by Charles De Lint, and "In the Night Country" by Ellen Steiber. The poems are all beautiful. This book is definitely on my desert island list.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Stunning, Terrible, and Wonderful
Review: This book changed my life. I had always enjoyed books edited by Terri Windling, so when I saw her name, it was an automatic purchase. All the stories were excellent, though somewhat harrowing. But it was Ms. Windling's afterward at the end that reduced me to tears. The idea of her going through all that and surviving, even thriving, truly stunned me with her courage. And that is the theme to this book, surviving. When I was done, I sat back and took a long hard look at my own life. And I knew that if she could survive and live, I could too. I won't go into what happened in my childhood, but I had never dealt with it, and it was killing me inside. But after I read this, I got help. Thanks to a kind counsellor, I am happier now than I have ever been. And I have the courage to say yes to life. Read this book. Even if you have never been abused, the insights are invaluable. Also I would recommend 'Deerskin' by Robin McKinley.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Essential for everyone, but especially survivors of abuse.
Review: This book has a myriad of short stories, poems, & essays about survivors of child abuse. They are all worked around fairy-tale themes but not Disneyified: no handsome prince comes to rescue a child; instead, these children escape through their own courage & perseverance. An AMAZING book. A shame it is out of print--but I've seen copies used & in remainder bins at bookstores so do yourself a favor & keep looking! This book will make you shudder, weep, cringe, but ultimately leaves you w/a feeling of hope. All the pieces are good, but standouts include Terri Windling's, Charles De Lint's, Ellen Steiber's, & Munro Sickafoose's. Another wonderful aspect is that Windling ignores genre boundaries & hence you see authors such as Sharon Olds & Anne Sexton represented as well. Highly recommended!


<< 1 2 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates