The Wild Swans

Rating:
Summary: Very well-written, though not my usual fare
Review: Both stories were well-written but I would have enjoyed them better as separate stories. Having said that I would never have bothered to read Elias' story if that happened - and Elias' story is more sensitively written. You can see him growing and can truly experience his emotions. You don't feel the same for Eliza, though the male characters - William and Jonathan - are drawn much better.

I knew there would be two threads from the start, but expected them to converge rather than run parallel. There were tantalising echoes of one story in the other, in the choice of people's names and their attitudes, but those echoes did nothing to actually further either plot, and could have been omitted. The lamest part was the way the 11 brothers were woven into the AIDS story. They didn't impinge on Elias' life so it wouldn't have mattered if they hadn't been there.

Read this book on the assumption that there are 2 separate stories, and you will enjoy it. Be warned that Elias' story doesn't have a happy ending, though it has closure.

Nothing is ever said of what happens to the Countess, who should be justly punished, or for that matter what happens to Benjamin with his wing (does he get his arm back at night?). A sequel might be in order here.

Rating:
Summary: inextricable
Review: I picked up this novel on recommendation from a friend. I wasn't sure what to expect at all, but ultimately I'm so glad that I read it.
Like a number of other reviewers, I feel that the story concerning Elias is more engaging than Eliza's story. Don't get me wrong, Eliza's story was interesting and well-written, but I knew the fairy tale that this book is based upon and could figure out the ending. Ms. Kerr does a fabulous job of presenting the same sort of story in two different contexts with two different endings. The reader is sure that Eliza will get her happy ending. Today especially, readers know that Elias and his "brothers" cannot reach the same sort of resolution.
I liked the paralells between the two stories a great deal. There is a bit in the very last chapter that ties the two tales together in a very nice way...I won't reveal it, because I don't want to spoil the ending for anyone.
This book opened my eyes to thoughts and people that I hadn't considered before. The "modern" side of the story literally broke my heart. Again, I don't want to spoil the ending, but suffice to say that I was at my job when I finished reading this, and I cried enough that I had to close my shop for ten minutes while I got myself back together enough to face the public. I have read very few books that have moved me and changed my world as much as this one did. I have recommended it to most of my friends, and now I urge anybody who has stopped to read this review to pick up a copy of your own.

Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking, eye opening, surprising
Review: I picked up this novel on recommendation from a friend. I wasn't sure what to expect at all, but ultimately I'm so glad that I read it.
Like a number of other reviewers, I feel that the story concerning Elias is more engaging than Eliza's story. Don't get me wrong, Eliza's story was interesting and well-written, but I knew the fairy tale that this book is based upon and could figure out the ending. Ms. Kerr does a fabulous job of presenting the same sort of story in two different contexts with two different endings. The reader is sure that Eliza will get her happy ending. Today especially, readers know that Elias and his "brothers" cannot reach the same sort of resolution.
I liked the paralells between the two stories a great deal. There is a bit in the very last chapter that ties the two tales together in a very nice way...I won't reveal it, because I don't want to spoil the ending for anyone.
This book opened my eyes to thoughts and people that I hadn't considered before. The "modern" side of the story literally broke my heart. Again, I don't want to spoil the ending, but suffice to say that I was at my job when I finished reading this, and I cried enough that I had to close my shop for ten minutes while I got myself back together enough to face the public. I have read very few books that have moved me and changed my world as much as this one did. I have recommended it to most of my friends, and now I urge anybody who has stopped to read this review to pick up a copy of your own.

Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected, but magnificent still!
Review: I purchased this book solely because of the author. After having read Emerald House Rising, and finding it breath taking, I was willing to give anything by Peg Kerr a chance. I was not disappointed. I picked up the book one morning and finished the following evening, the whole time loathing each interval where I had to put it down, as it was completely captivating. The Wild Swans entails two parallel plots that do not seem entirely parallel until you reach the end. The two tales are so different that it is an astounding feat of the author to have tied them together so perfectly. Ultimately each left the imprint that family is precious, and must be fought for despite persecution, sought for despite apparent disappearance If not for the author, I never would have chosen to read this book, as it is in no way related to the normal choices of my reading. Yet I found it to be fascinating, as well as eye opening. The characters are well developed and presented, consistently conveying emotion in both action and speech. Both story lines are well thought out and flowing, each making you desire to keep turning pages. Altogether an enchanting, not to mention horizon broadening, read.

Rating:
Summary: Inferior to Daughter of the Forest
Review: I'll admit that I was biased when I first picked up this book. I was expecting a story similar to Daughter of the Forest. Unfortunately, this work wasn't nearly in the same class. There was no real depth or detail to any of the characters except for Elias. I really cared for his plight and that of his lover. It was easy to see where the story was going, but it was still enjoyable getting there. Elias' story was so much more engaging than that of Eliza and her brothers. The Wild Swans would have been a much better book if Eliza's whole storyline was removed and instead the book focused on Elias and the devestating effects of AIDs on the gay population. Eliza's section was also predictable from start to finish though not nearly as engaging. Her twelve brothers existed solely to further the plot (after all the tale requires the heroine's brothers to be turned into swans). The only attempt to show how her brothers feel about the curse they're under is clumsily handled in a few sentences (basically her youngest brother says "It's alright since I can't remember it being any other way, but it's probably hard on the others"). None of the other characters were much better: there was the handsome man who obviously must fall in love with her at first sight, the gay minister whose jealousy causes him to condemn Eliza, the kind-hearted woman who shelters her, etc. There's no real motivation for her to sacrifice herself for brothers she barely even knows, and miraculously her task of making twelve shirts out of stinging nettles by hand is easily accomplished in just a few paragraphs. I suggest reading Juliet Marillier's Daughter of the Forest for a much better and more in-depth retelling of the seven swans fairy tale. If however, you do decide to read The Wild Swans make sure you don't make the mistake of reading DotF first.

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully structured, subtle parallels, thought-provoking
Review: This book is one of the most beautifully structured books I've ever read. I found the parallels effective and subtle, and thought that they added a lot to the story, especially some of the less-obvious ones. However, neither of the stories felt "bent" to fit the other; each proceeded on its own, but the parallels were there. The characters were complex and interesting, and the description is especially striking. I found Elias's story as his friends fell to AIDS one by one to be absolutely chilling. I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: If this book had omitted the fairy tale half
Review: This is an excellent book with many layers. The weaving of the two different stories is well crafted and yet the connections between the two are complex rather than simplistic. This makes reading the book much more interesting and dream like - as though each story was a dream of the other.

Woven throughout is example after example of how rigid religious and social structures can damage and destroy good, ethical, value driven individuals when those structures lack compassion and understanding.

I would recommend this book to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Peg Kerr's The Wild Swan's is very moving and thoughtful.
Review: This novel is actually two stories woven together by images and thematic inferences rather than plot. Both stories are told in very spare, simple prose (though one feels distinctly more "modern") and I was intellectually engaged and certainly emotionally provoked throughout. I read the last hundred pages in one sitting, unable to tear myself from what felt like twice the attraction. It has been a long time since I have cried at the end of a book and although this alone cannot recommend your time, it is indicative of how much I grew to care about the characters and the troubling patterns of hate and intolerance throughout our history. I can see where critics would fault the not always subtle symbolism that connects each story, but the traditional purpose of stories like this Hans Christian Andersen's retelling was to warn, teach and ultimately transcend evil and danger. I think that Kerr captures and holds many universal and heartbreaking struggles within her fairy tale "net." More importantly, she will reach many people who might never have read one or the other story alone but when juxiposed with the more familiar, will open their heart in a whole new way. I was swept away and truly apreaciated the ride.

Rating:
Summary: The Wild Swans
Review: Two alternating narratives, one retelling the folktale The Wild Swans as if in the 17th century, and one about a young gay man in the early 1980's; one has a happy ending, and one is tragic.

It seems possible to me that the characters in the 20th century plotline are meant to be reincarnations of those in the earlier one -- based on name similarities and a statement made by one minor character. But if that's the case, some events are certainly left unexplained.

The sentence-level writing is painfully clunky at times, and overall the 20th century plot is better developed and more believable than the 17th, which doesn't seem to me to capture the necessary magic. Kerr skillfully portrays the tragedy of the early days of the AIDS epidemic. In general her characterization is competent.

In the first part of the book I was thinking "this would be great for teaching young adults about tolerance, but the universe is so benevolent it's not even believable." Obviously, it doesn't stay that way. In fact, the end of the 20th century plotline is so tragic that it has stayed with me in haunting fashion. It seems clear that Elias hasn't done anything wrong, but nevertheless he's doomed, and worst of all, the swans fly away from him in his dream: he is not only physically but thematically cursed. I'm not sure I understood what the author was trying to convey, but I certainly found the conclusion emotionally effective.

Rating:
Summary: An old tale gets new wings
Review: _The Wild Swans_ consists of two interweaving storylines. In one, a fairly straightforward retelling of the fairy tale "The Wild Swans", a young woman must weave coats of stinging nettles for her brothers to save them from an enchantment, all the while remaining silent until she has finished. In the other, a young gay man is kicked out of his house and is taken in by a charismatic musician. His new friend becomes his lover and introduces him to all his friends; they become his new family. Then they all start dying of AIDS. The two stories, on the surface, are nothing alike, but Kerr weaves them together in subtle and surprising ways, showing the common theme between them: that love may or may not conquer all, but it can keep hope and beauty alive even in tragedy. This book broke my heart and then fused it back together. Passionately recommended.