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99th out of 921 books
—
5,231 voters
Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins
by
Emma Donoghue (Goodreads Author)
Thirteen tales are unspun from the deeply familiar, and woven anew into a collection of fairy tales that wind back through time. Acclaimed Irish author Emma Donoghue reveals heroines young and old in unexpected alliances--sometimes treacherous, sometimes erotic, but always courageous. Told with luminous voices that shimmer with sensuality and truth, these age-old character...more
Paperback, 240 pages
Published
February 27th 1999
by HarperTeen
(first published 1997)
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I absolutely love this book! I read it at a time where I was reading all these re-told fairy tales, but none of them were told quite like this. After I read it I couldn't get enough of Emma Donoghue, and she's become one of my favorite authors.
Jun 10, 2008
Jackikellum
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Mature Young Adult Readers
Recommended to Jackikellum by:
YA Course Rutgers Grad School
At first glance, Kissing the Witch appears to be a simple anthology of fairy-like tales. Upon deeper reading, it becomes clear that the separate stories are fragments—or different points of viewing one continuous thread. The way that the fragments are woven together is brilliant.
Early, the reader is aware that there are continual suggestions of tales that he/she has heard since childhood. Hints are dropped here and there; and they glimmer beneath the surface of the text. The images are repeatedl...more
Early, the reader is aware that there are continual suggestions of tales that he/she has heard since childhood. Hints are dropped here and there; and they glimmer beneath the surface of the text. The images are repeatedl...more
"Climbing to the witch's cave one day, / I called out, / Who were you / before you came to live here?/ And she said, / Will I tell you my own story? / It is a tale of a kiss."
Do you ever find a book and just know it's going to be everything you love in the world? Only you can't read it right away because it's not the right time, or you're not in the right mood, and you want everything to be perfect. What if you're wrong about it and it doesn't live up to your expectations? How will you find anot...more
Do you ever find a book and just know it's going to be everything you love in the world? Only you can't read it right away because it's not the right time, or you're not in the right mood, and you want everything to be perfect. What if you're wrong about it and it doesn't live up to your expectations? How will you find anot...more
I first discovered this collection of short stories in my high school library when I was 14, and they've lingered with me ever since. The concept of weaving fairy tales together isn't exactly unique...the "Fables" comic series, Sondheim's "Into the Woods," and now ABC's "Once Upon a Time" have all taken a stab at that idea, just to name a few. But I think this book puts an interesting spin on it by focusing solely on female characters and deviating from the "get married" ending so many of these...more
So I picked up this YA retelling of fairytales at the book swap, and it's been definitely interesting.
First off, I liked the feminist undertones--these stories seem to challenge the traditional passive roles of women and perpetual quest to find a husband by presenting women as allied in a sisterhood against a world dominated by men. I liked the language- Donoghue manages to keep her prose emotional, mystical, and gripping, full of ornate figurative language as befitting a traditional fairytale....more
First off, I liked the feminist undertones--these stories seem to challenge the traditional passive roles of women and perpetual quest to find a husband by presenting women as allied in a sisterhood against a world dominated by men. I liked the language- Donoghue manages to keep her prose emotional, mystical, and gripping, full of ornate figurative language as befitting a traditional fairytale....more
I really liked this book. I am a sucker for fairy tales and I love the good retelling of classic fairy tales. The more complex and interesting point of views, the better.
There are 13 retelling stories in it, based on 13 classic stories such as Sleeping Beauty, The Beauty and the Beast, Rapunzel, Snow White, The Little Mermaid... you get the picture. The structure is pretty simplistic and perfect because of it. Each story begins with the question from the previous story main protagonist "how did...more
There are 13 retelling stories in it, based on 13 classic stories such as Sleeping Beauty, The Beauty and the Beast, Rapunzel, Snow White, The Little Mermaid... you get the picture. The structure is pretty simplistic and perfect because of it. Each story begins with the question from the previous story main protagonist "how did...more
Frustratingly simplistic. These are easy reversals of fairy tales, and stand or fall based entirely on the reader's agreement with the reversal, rather than as stories on their own. I like the idea of lesbian friendly fairy tales - I, for one, am someone who always wanted to kiss the witch, as the title proclaims - but there must be a way of telling those stories without leeching all the power of the original. Threat is powerful - the danger and ugliness of fairy tales are why they have stayed w...more
A collection of 13 short stories, Kissing the Witch takes fairy tales (many of them easily recognizable) and revises them: poetic and magical, they take a fresh look at their stories and protagonists, instilling feminine independence, wisdom, and romance missing in the original tales. The narrative that ties the stories together is stretched thin, but everything else about the book is wonderful: it's a strong, uniform collection which is beautiful, liberating, and quietlyyet stronglyrevolution...more
Jul 17, 2009
Wealhtheow
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of the Orphan's Tales, Patricia McKillip
Shelves:
fantasy,
queer-characters
The book begins with "The Tale of the Shoe," told by Cinderella. Her fairy godmother gives her everything she needs to dance with a prince--but in the end, she realizes she'd rather have the fairy godmother. At Cinderella's urging, the godmother tells her own story, which prompts the next story, and so on. Each short tale is inspired by a fairy tale; each is told by a woman (although some have become birds and horses and witches since then). Some are more revolutionary than ohers: Hansel and Gre...more
3 likes · like · see review
This one almost gets 4 stars, but not quite. Basically it is 13 European fairy tale retellings all with female narrators that are loosely strung together with a minor character from one story taking on the main role in the next. It kind of reminded me of the story-in-a-story format of some of the Arabian Nights tales and I almost expected it to come full circle, but it didn't.
I really like fairy tale retellings which is the main reason I read this book, but the thing I like about them is that t...more
I really like fairy tale retellings which is the main reason I read this book, but the thing I like about them is that t...more
This was a uniquely written book. The author takes classic fantasy tales and adds a unique twist to them in order to shed new light on them for the reader. She also connects one story to another so you have all these classic short tales working together to form one larger story. She uses such stories as beauty and the beast, Cinderella, little mermaid, Hansel and Gretel, etc. Some of the stories are better than others and I was surprised that she barely changed some of them. An example of what s...more
Donoghue combines self-righteous messages with blatantly didactic interior monologues which can only appeal to those already believing everything she says. She spurs no thought which was not already there, and in writing a book which never aspired to art, has done what your average writer does: increase the general volume of words in print, and nothing more. A string of random monkey-typed characters would have aided mankind as well.
This is a really good book. All of the writing is just like a classic fairy tale, but we finally see something other than a damsel in distress. It took me almost three chapters to realize what the little notes between stories were. One of my favorite parts of all of the stories is that there are no names. There is I (the main character) the queen, king, father, prince...whatever. I was able to recognize six of the fairy tales; the rest were all new to me. It was just a really great book. Also, s...more
The idea behind redoing traditional fairy tales with a more realistic sensibility is a good one, and the emphasis on the female characters was interesting. "Feminist" literature doesn't really do it for me, though, and maybe this ultimately failed for me because it felt so much like it was trying so hard to be this type of work. The writing was on average just okay--quite good in parts but overly metaphoric in most others--the framing of the pieces felt forced, and the character development was...more
There was nothing wrong with this book. I blame my recent Francesca Lia Block immersion for my lack of staying power with this one. From the three tales I read, this struck me as Francesca Lia Block with a lesbian feminist bent, i.e. beautifully written, but a lot more style than substance. Which is all very well, and I realize that these are fairytale retellings, and fairytales deal more in types than characters, et cetera. Again, had I not glutted myself on FLB (and Angela Carter) this summer,...more
3 likes · like · see review
The first book I ever read by Emma Donoghue, and the one that sealed my addiction. Kissing the Witch is a collection of fairy tales that have been rewritten to center around women. Thirteen tales, first-person narrators, fairy tale heroines given their own voices, their own thoughts. In a mileau where women are so often treated as possessions, property, prizes, Donoghue gives them back their stories and their strength. These stories are about women, as friends, as lovers, as mentors and students...more
Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins is a collection of interwoven short stories based on recognisable fairytales.
I enjoyed Donoghue's style of prose and heavy metaphor but what gripped me the most about this book was that these specific re-imaginings of classic fairytales gave the women of the tales voices. In this book are angry women, ruthless women, scared women, loving women, ambitious women and this narrative fascinated me. However, I wasn't into the way each tale was linked to the n...more
I enjoyed Donoghue's style of prose and heavy metaphor but what gripped me the most about this book was that these specific re-imaginings of classic fairytales gave the women of the tales voices. In this book are angry women, ruthless women, scared women, loving women, ambitious women and this narrative fascinated me. However, I wasn't into the way each tale was linked to the n...more
Aug 03, 2011
Britt Doughty-godchaux
added it
I rarely re-read books. This book I have read at least four or five times. Donoghue's writing is mesmerizing and magical. And because her politics are so good, this can be a true suspension of belief for even the most conscious reader. She weaves the nuances of her characters and plots together so that they surprise and fascinate, creating truly new skins for tales that may have been told or read to us in the past as limiting or frightening, but now can be uplifting, rich experiences. But these...more
Nice series of interconnected stories that put a bit more emphasis on the fairy tale's protagonists. Interestingly, these stories worked best when Donoghue was clear with her version of the moral, as in "The Tale of the Voice." That one was my favorite. I think she deliberately added in elements of The Little Mermaid movie and that made it very playful. Also, the ending to that one is pretty awesome.
I feel mixed about some of the transitions between the stories: sometimes they worked for me and...more
I feel mixed about some of the transitions between the stories: sometimes they worked for me and...more
I fell in love with this book primarily because of its prose. Or should I call it poetry? The book read like butter, and it was such a pleasing and relaxing experience. There is something so simplistic, yet so raw and true, about the writing that I couldn't not stop to read a few paragraphs over and over again.
I was not expecting what I got. And that is a good thing.
The stories themselves take an interesting spin on the originals. I'm not just talking about the spin on love interests by replacin...more
I was not expecting what I got. And that is a good thing.
The stories themselves take an interesting spin on the originals. I'm not just talking about the spin on love interests by replacin...more
Quite possibly my favorite book ever.
Kissing the Witch isn't just a collection of retold fairy tales. It isn't even just a collection of extremely good retold fairy tales. The beautiful intertwined stories in this book are a conscious exploration of how stories, passed from generation to generation among women and girls, have shaped our understandings of life. Even better, it pushes the envelope, showing how the diverse and changing lives of women are transforming how we view these traditional...more
Kissing the Witch isn't just a collection of retold fairy tales. It isn't even just a collection of extremely good retold fairy tales. The beautiful intertwined stories in this book are a conscious exploration of how stories, passed from generation to generation among women and girls, have shaped our understandings of life. Even better, it pushes the envelope, showing how the diverse and changing lives of women are transforming how we view these traditional...more
Feb 13, 2010
Miriam
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
feminists
Shelves:
short-stories,
fairy-tale
Donoghue's feminist retellings of fairy tales is not as original as it would have been when first published, but the beauty and power of her prose is undiminished. The short first-person accounts flow fluidly (sometimes more fluidly than logically) from one to the next, connected by overlapping characters, a technique that elides the traditional good/evil dichotomy of fairy tales. However, readers should resist the tidal pull of the transitions and take a couple of breaks rather than reading str...more
2 likes · like · see review
I have mixed feelings about Kissing the Witch. For one thing, although it was a good thing to find another book (oriented towards young adults to boot!) that could be classified as lesbian literature, I am not sure how accurate that classification is. Moreover, a large part of me feels that the book would be better without the few off-handed mention/implication of of girl/girl romance.
To me, the strength of Kissing the Witch was in its impressive ability to suck the reader into the feelings, oft...more
To me, the strength of Kissing the Witch was in its impressive ability to suck the reader into the feelings, oft...more
This is really a beautiful gem of a book. I love how all the stories are woven together, how they were reworked to be different yet you can still within a few pages generally know which story it's based on. It was one of those books that had sat on my Amazon wishlist forever (because that's where I list books I want to read at some point), then by chance happened to find that the local library had a copy and thought I'd give it a go. Sometimes the best books find you, rather than the other way a...more
I quite like fairy tales and I especially like inversions or new tellings. Yet here, the inversions felt a little formulaic and the language was over-pefumed with yearning. With the stories being so short, I hadn't enough time to take in the emotions for my own. And with their being so similarly structured, I had trouble taking each of them as part of a broader arc. Still, there were some lovely moments, and I'd recommend the book highly as something to read aloud to a loved one, sick in bed.
This is another one of my all-time favourites - how many are you allowed to have before it gets silly! If it's any indication, I've read it at least four times - when there are so many books out there and so little time, I think a book which makes you want to go back and read it again must be really inviting and give total pleasure. It would spoil the surprise to describe it. It's simply a must read - especially if you a) like margaret Atwood or b) are interested in fairytales c) write for child...more
This book is a series of short stories, though they are all interwoven in such a way that allows us to see that we are all connected, and we all have an impact on eachothers lives. Though some people may be put off as this book is often listed with lesbian novels, it is hardly a theme that is mentioned, and the stories are much, much more than that.
All stories feature women empowering themselves, and doing what they want, and though the results are not always positive ones, the characters learn...more
All stories feature women empowering themselves, and doing what they want, and though the results are not always positive ones, the characters learn...more
This is a rather strange book. It's a collection of fairytale-style stories re-told with a feminist twist, in theory. It's a strange collection and I find myself at a bit of a loss as to what to think about it. It's fun and easy to read. None of the interpretations are so outlandish you can't relate them back to the original, indeed a few suffer from being too close to the original. It's nothing spectacular but it's fun and it's quick.
This book contains thirteen different retellings of well known fairy tales. I found the book to be very well written, although at times I felt that some stories were left unfinished. Donoghue links one tale to the next in a unique way but at times it took away from the story and does not always make sense. The characters in her stories, however, had much more depth than those in the originals.
This is just the sort of book that I SHOULD like. It's the sort of book I'd imagine that a lot of people would read and say, even if they didn't like it, "This would be right up Emily's alley!" But lordy be, it just didn't do much for me. The "new skins" for the old tales tended to take the bite out of the old tales, while trying to be bite-ier somehow. I don't know. I can't really figure it. The language is evocative. The structure could be seen as inventive. There are some nice images. Just al...more
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| Thoughts on this book. | 10 | 18 | Dec 12, 2012 04:54pm |
Emma is the youngest of eight children of Frances and Denis Donoghue. She attended Catholic convent schools in Dublin, apart from one year in New York at the age of ten. In 1990 she earned a first-class honours BA in English and French from University College Dublin, and in 1997 a PhD (on the concept of friendship between men and women in eighteenth-century English fiction) from the University of...more
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“The sound of the pages turning was the sound of magic. The dry liquid feel of paper under fingertips was what magic felt like.”
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11 people liked it
“And as the years flowed by, some villagers told travelers of a beast and a beauty who lived in the castle and could be seen walking on the battlements, and others told of two beauties, and others, of two beasts.”
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6 people liked it
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Oct 18, 2012 09:05am