Mirror Mirror: A Novel
by Gregory Maguire
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avg 3.15
Okay, well. Shana and I were at the Used Book Sale at St. Agnes yesterday and she chided me for buying this when I said I'd probably dislike it.
I said I would because I'm not sure anything Maguire does will compare with the freshness, the intrigue and the delight I found in Wicked. Or the quiet painterly tension in Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, which I liked almost as much.
The gimmick, of course, is getting old. In Mirror, he takes Snow White into the viper's nest of the Borgia fam...more
I said I would because I'm not sure anything Maguire does will compare with the freshness, the intrigue and the delight I found in Wicked. Or the quiet painterly tension in Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, which I liked almost as much.
The gimmick, of course, is getting old. In Mirror, he takes Snow White into the viper's nest of the Borgia fam...more
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recommends it for:
anyone who likes roman history
Erin Gort
Ms. Houseman
H World Lit
5 May 2008
Gregory Maguire
Mirror Mirror
New York: Harper Collins, 2004
280 pp. $16.00
978-0-06-098865-4
The novel “Mirror Mirror” was an immense letdown after reading “Wicked” and “Son of a Witch.” Gregory Maguire is noted for recreating or retelling previously created tales of fantasy. “Mirror Mirror” is the reinvented story of Snow White. Placed in the fantasy tale are Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia, the famous children of Pope. T...more
Ms. Houseman
H World Lit
5 May 2008
Gregory Maguire
Mirror Mirror
New York: Harper Collins, 2004
280 pp. $16.00
978-0-06-098865-4
The novel “Mirror Mirror” was an immense letdown after reading “Wicked” and “Son of a Witch.” Gregory Maguire is noted for recreating or retelling previously created tales of fantasy. “Mirror Mirror” is the reinvented story of Snow White. Placed in the fantasy tale are Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia, the famous children of Pope. T...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
Italian history freaks, people that enjoy nails on chalkboards
This book would have entertained me better if it had been on fire.
I rarely ever put a book down before I have finished it, no matter how bad it is... but I not only put this book down, I gave it away. The cafe I was reading it at had a collection bin of books to send to the needy in Africa. After forcing myself to read it for several days, I walked right over and tossed it in. Sorry to whoever receives the book, perhaps it will be better than reading nothing, though I doubt it.
Overall the...more
I rarely ever put a book down before I have finished it, no matter how bad it is... but I not only put this book down, I gave it away. The cafe I was reading it at had a collection bin of books to send to the needy in Africa. After forcing myself to read it for several days, I walked right over and tossed it in. Sorry to whoever receives the book, perhaps it will be better than reading nothing, though I doubt it.
Overall the...more
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Read in October, 2004
"The eye is always caught by light, but shadows have more to say."
"What child does not feel itself perched at the center of creation?... Small children know the truth that their own existense has caused the world to bloom into being."
"Speaking uses us up, speeds us up. Without prayer, that act of confession for merely existing, one might live forever and not know it."
"Faith is a floor. If you don't work at making it for yourself, you have nothing to...more
"What child does not feel itself perched at the center of creation?... Small children know the truth that their own existense has caused the world to bloom into being."
"Speaking uses us up, speeds us up. Without prayer, that act of confession for merely existing, one might live forever and not know it."
"Faith is a floor. If you don't work at making it for yourself, you have nothing to...more
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I'm a little surprised to see so many dismal/mediocre reviews of this story here. I found myself to be just as fixated by this story as I was by Wicked (I can't say that about another of his popular novels, The Ugly Stepsister).
I appreciated the position Gregory took in this re-telling of Snow White. I found the inclusion of an actual historical family (the Borgias) intriguing, although I'm not going to research them. I absolutely adored his description of the "dwarves" and I th...more
I appreciated the position Gregory took in this re-telling of Snow White. I found the inclusion of an actual historical family (the Borgias) intriguing, although I'm not going to research them. I absolutely adored his description of the "dwarves" and I th...more
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Read in January, 2004
recommends it for:
?
This is by far the least appealing and satisfying of the Maguire fairy tales I've read. I'm not really sure where to begin! I was all set to devour this retelling of Snow White, set within a beautiful Italian landscape and with the wicked "stepmother" cast as an untraditional outcast of royalty. (Maguire does possess a gift for understanding the prevalence of politics these stories imply.) However, the rest was slow going. Unfortunately, I will have to re-read it to give more speci...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
—
Read in October, 2008
recommended to Kaitrosebd by:
No Onerecommends it for: Anyone interested in a more direct arpoach to Snow White
This was less than incredible, I got so bored at points I would simply skim and skip over whole paragraphs of repeated descriptions of stoney dwarves. In the end much of this story is left hanging, the ending makes no sense and doesn't satisfy any romantic built up. It feels unfinished and disappointing, way to much time is spent developing characters that ultimately become useless while the main characters seem dull and lifeless. Many ideas and plot lines are brought up and then just never me...more
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Read in January, 2007
A quasi-historical fantasy novel attempting to tell, in some ways, a more realistic version of Snow White, Mirror, Mirror builds tension and suspense slowly but surely. The more realistic action is satisfying in some ways, but it also detracts from the more mythic elements of the original. But, the book is well worth reading for the very interesting portrayal of persons who are radically different from humans, namely, the dwarves. Although some of the descriptions of the ...more
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Read in January, 2007
I found this to be boring and I had trouble following the story. It was too different from the original fairy tale to be fun to read.
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I read this book because when I went to buy "Wicked" it wasn't in stock and I thought that the "real life story" of Snow White sounded interesting. My first taste of Gregory Maguire was surprising, and not in a good way! I liked how he used the Borgia's in the story, real life historical people, but I didn't like his portrayal of the dwarfs or Bianca (Snow White) and overall I did not like this book.
This is part of a review, that I completely agree with, taken from Erin...more
This is part of a review, that I completely agree with, taken from Erin...more
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Read in May, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in January, 2005
Don Vicente de Nevada and his daughter Bianca live on a farm at Montefiore, a high hill perched above the valleys of Tuscany and Umbria. The year is 1502. They are happy there, with the old cook Primavera Vecchia and the priest, Fra Ludovico tending to their immediate needs. Little do they know, they are being watched by a small stone figure, a dwarf, when de Nevada pulls an oval mirror from the muck of the nearby lake, and are later followed by the same character…
When the noble Cesare Bor...more
When the noble Cesare Bor...more
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Read in January, 2007
Yikes... I read this aloud with my boyfriend after piling on compliments about how much I love McGuire's other novels. A few bedtimes and two long plane rides later and we both hated this book...
Part of the problem was in the fact that I did make this a read aloud. McGuire interspersed his text with a lot of Italian words and when you add that to his sometimes eclectic vocabulary, I was tripping over sentences left and right. Stumbling over the pronunciation of half of the words was sure...more
Part of the problem was in the fact that I did make this a read aloud. McGuire interspersed his text with a lot of Italian words and when you add that to his sometimes eclectic vocabulary, I was tripping over sentences left and right. Stumbling over the pronunciation of half of the words was sure...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
Do you like Wicked?
Incestuous relationships abound in this revision of Snow White by the famed author of "Wicked." Set in Italy in the 1500s, the heroine is Bianca de Nevada, a motherless girl whose father is asked to set off on a quest to find the Tree of Knowledge from the Garden of Eden by none other than the heir to the poison-loving Borgia family,
The wicked witch in McGuire's revision is Catherine Borgia who sleeps with her father, her brother and her own son/nephew by the end of the book, as ...more
The wicked witch in McGuire's revision is Catherine Borgia who sleeps with her father, her brother and her own son/nephew by the end of the book, as ...more
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Great story of Snow White. While All of Maguire's novels are great and offer an unique perspective of our childhood classics, this one was very similar to the original story line. It was of course sprinkled with Maguire's sense of irony, satire and historical references, though Snow White still ran away into the woods, still lived with dwarfs and ate a poisoned apple. It was not as in depth and unique as the "Wicked" storyline.
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I had high hopes for Mirror Mirror after reading Maguire’s book Wicked. Sadly, these hopes were dashed into little pieces. In Mirror Mirror, Maguire retells the classic tale of Snow White in the context of the Borgia family of Italy. The requisite fairytale ingredients are present - magic mirror, dwarves, beautiful girl, evil authority figure, random unicorn… But even with these, I was disappointed by the fact that Ma...more
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Read in January, 2004
A fascinating retelling of Snow White. It's always interesting to have fairy tales re-cast in a specific time and place; it seems to dampen, but deepen, the fantastical elements. My only complaint is that I didn't really quite feel I'd engaged with any of the characters; some would offer brief moments where I would be totally engaged, but then the author would shift viewpoint, or the character would disappear from the story for a couple hundred pages (as in the case of the woodsman). While Magui...more
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Read in September, 2008
This book is worth it for its pages 139-143, which describe the coming into consciousness of the most fabled of dwarves:
Seven was less than we were used to being. We had once been the number one more than seven, we clots in the earth's arteries. But the noisy one left and maybe for need of him we were stricken with attention. When we were only seven, there was something wrong
It was a matter of balance. There is a smug assurance among pairs, a possibility of completion that other creatures lack. We knew enough of the world of beasts and men to see how males burrow and women furrow, but the comfort in pairing isn't critically dependent on that exercise....more
Seven was less than we were used to being. We had once been the number one more than seven, we clots in the earth's arteries. But the noisy one left and maybe for need of him we were stricken with attention. When we were only seven, there was something wrong
It was a matter of balance. There is a smug assurance among pairs, a possibility of completion that other creatures lack. We knew enough of the world of beasts and men to see how males burrow and women furrow, but the comfort in pairing isn't critically dependent on that exercise....more
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Read in October, 2007
A retelling of Snow White, in the same vein as Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, only not nearly as good. Confessions' strength was in its characterization and the twists it put on the Cinderella story, the new understanding we got of Cinderella's wicked stepsisters and stepmother. Mirror Mirror was just... not that exciting and I didn't really care about anyone in it. Also, way too much blather about Italian middle...more
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This book was very hard for me to really get into. I have read Wicked and Son of a Witch and was excited to pick this book up. I just felt as if the storyline was weak and on top of it all the story did not follow the story of Snow White. At least with Wicked you could easily pick up on the Oz references... but this was a disappointment for me.
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