The magnificent title story of this collection of fairy tales for adults describes the strange and uncanny relationship between its extravagantly i...
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Apr 24, 2009
Chris
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I fell in love with the work of A. S. Byatt after reading her story "The Story of the Eldest Princess". I love fairy tales, but I also am the eldest child in my family and always felt a little slighted because in most fairy tales the older children fail. Even after I learned why that was, it still got tiresome. It was refreshing to read a story that approached fairy tales from the viewpoint of an eldest child who knows she is caught in the tale and what that means. It's a wonderful
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Sep 21, 2009
Aimee
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...Because sometimes, a completely modern fairytale, so-called, just won't do.
I still have sitting on my bedside table Possession, by Byatt. It is sitting there all forlorn, halfway-read with a growth which stagnated a couple of months back, when I found I just couldn't read another page at that moment. And still I haven't reached the next moment that will make me pick up the book and continue reading it.
Possession is one of those books that's like very dark, incredibly r More...
I still have sitting on my bedside table Possession, by Byatt. It is sitting there all forlorn, halfway-read with a growth which stagnated a couple of months back, when I found I just couldn't read another page at that moment. And still I haven't reached the next moment that will make me pick up the book and continue reading it.
Possession is one of those books that's like very dark, incredibly r More...
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Oct 24, 2011
Sarah
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I've always loved Byatt's fairy tales, which often appear in her novels (see Possession and The Children's Book), so I was excited to find a whole book of them. And these are not only about fairly tales, they are all about the reasons we tell stories and what it means to be inside one. (Of course, that's what all Byatt's books are about on some level, but that's a theme too large for a small internet review.) There are five stories in this book, but it's more like four stories and one novella. I
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Mar 07, 2011
Kim
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This one got me emotionally, intellectually, and viscerally. Five enchanting fairytales for adults that successfully triggered the magical feelings of childhood while surviving the scrutiny of adult wisdom and modern sensibilities. Clever, very clever, as A.S. Byatt certainly is.
The jist of the djinn, the namesake story? A divorced, past-her-prime, upper middle-aged professor specializing in narratology finds herself in the possession of a genie trapped inside a beautiful “nightinga More...
The jist of the djinn, the namesake story? A divorced, past-her-prime, upper middle-aged professor specializing in narratology finds herself in the possession of a genie trapped inside a beautiful “nightinga More...
Aug 23, 2011
Erik
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This book was really fun to read. Something about the idea of reading fairy tales drew me in. "Fairy tales" have such a peculiar connotation in my world. They are simultaneously a goal and a condemnation. One is scoffed at for "living in a dream" and not "facing reality," while at the same time, men and women looking for a fairy-tale-esque love get a television show. However, when these confused connotations and the idea of "literary merit" (which usually
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Apr 04, 2010
Abeer
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I'm torn in writing this review. I adored first four of the five fairy stories in A. S. Byatt's "The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye": limpid lambent language and the twisting satisfaction of fairy plotlines, so familiar, yet surprising. True almost all of the four had elements which I could critique, like loose ends and jumpy plots (like in Dragons' Breath), or sometimes characters apparently there just as foils (like the woodsman in "The Glass Coffin" or the little thing i
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Jul 14, 2010
Samee
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I just encountered Byatt for the first time, and despite her jaundiced view of the Harry Potter books, I have to say she's really a great read. This book contains four retellings or reimaginings of traditional fairy tales and a more realistic novella about a middle-aged professor who encounters the titular djinn on a trip to Turkey. The literary snob in me really appreciates the fact that she's a master wordsmith who also treats fairy tales seriously, but what really won me over was "The St
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Jun 18, 2010
Leif
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Finding an immaculate copy of the first edition in a London used bookstore - reviewing slip hidden between the pages - I decided to indulge in reading more of Byatt's inventive and refreshing "fairy stories," tales with more than a nodding familiarity to conventions Propp would have argued for, but told with wonderful humour and sensitivity. My chance was amply rewarded: the stories in this little volume are a mix of short and long, serious and light-hearted. I particularly liked the
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Apr 25, 2009
Destiny
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I liked the self-awareness of the stories in this volume--how the characters were familiar with fairy tales, and that informed their actions and decisions in some way. In particular, I enjoyed "The Glass Coffin," "The Story of the Eldest Princess," and the title story for this reason. The emphasis on the act of storytelling gave me a lot to ponder. Also, I love that the title story uses the frame narrative structure--stories being told within the story--but without the necces
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Dec 12, 2011
I've finished all stories but the titular one. I have to say that Byatt did a remarkable job at making the stories read like fairy tales, which isn't much of a compliment if you've ever read any fairy tales. They tend to be sparse on description and characterization.
"The Glass Coffin" was a comfortably predictable fairy tale, with a slightly different ending. The "happy ending" takes a different tone that the usual "hero marries the princess" endings in More...
"The Glass Coffin" was a comfortably predictable fairy tale, with a slightly different ending. The "happy ending" takes a different tone that the usual "hero marries the princess" endings in More...
Jun 30, 2009
"The Glass Coffin"
Short and uninteresting, the first short story of the collection made me immediately doubt the person who recommended Byatt.
"The Miller's Daughter"
-A sad story that I had difficulty getting into initially. I don't feel as though I understood the underlying message of the story nor any of its allusions well enough to appreciate the story, but it was a decent read.
"The Story of the Eldest Princess"
An intere More...
Short and uninteresting, the first short story of the collection made me immediately doubt the person who recommended Byatt.
"The Miller's Daughter"
-A sad story that I had difficulty getting into initially. I don't feel as though I understood the underlying message of the story nor any of its allusions well enough to appreciate the story, but it was a decent read.
"The Story of the Eldest Princess"
An intere More...
Oct 28, 2007
lynne
rated it: 
Another author introduced during my class exploring fairy tales. In this case, A. S. Byatt has modern original fairy tales (as opposed to Angela Carter's modern retelling/resetting of "classic" tales) for us to enjoy.
1. The Glass Coffin: Very similar to the idea of Sleeping Beauty. Nothing too outstanding.
2. Gode's Story: kinda weird story involving a dancer with wanderlust who asks a girl to wait for him, and this girl seems to pine and wither while waitin More...
1. The Glass Coffin: Very similar to the idea of Sleeping Beauty. Nothing too outstanding.
2. Gode's Story: kinda weird story involving a dancer with wanderlust who asks a girl to wait for him, and this girl seems to pine and wither while waitin More...
Oct 09, 2007
hadashi
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It’s a collection of 5 “fairy stories,” although that being said, this is the author who got the award of Number One Partypooper when she snubbed adults who like Harry Potter because it’s so simplistic and the motifs so obvious and the magic so un-numinous. Fair enough, but please. Antonia, we know you’re rivals with your author-sister, and you don’t need to do any literary name-dropping to impress us. But that’s what she does in the titular tale, as it is about a fifty-something stout Englis
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Nov 01, 2011
Leigh
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I read this as part of a reading challenge. The subtitle to this is “A Collection of Five Fairy Stories”. This is not something I would have chosen without the challenge since I prefer novels to short stories. However, the stories are not all the same length. The last one, from which the collection gets its title, is what I would consider to be more of a novella rather than a short story.
The first four stories were just o.k. for me. They were interesting, but I didn’t think they w More...
The first four stories were just o.k. for me. They were interesting, but I didn’t think they w More...
Apr 25, 2011
Bihter
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strong storytelling. but I was drawn to this book the more because it was written after byatt's visit to turkey for a literary conference (organized by my beloved Istanbul University). those conferences are always a stage for drama, tears and blood. people mate, break up, teachers fall in love with their students and vice versa.
Dec 24, 2009
Andrea
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I wasn't at all sure if I liked this when I started, I read on, poised along the edge of yes and no. And fell to the side of yes, and then I got to the last story, a novella really, The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye. And rang like a bell. It's beautiful and deep and writing I shall return to over the years...
Apr 09, 2010
Constanze
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I quite enjoyed this collection of four short stories and a novella. All five stories touched on gender and sexuality, which was unexpected but welcome. They were also all very self-aware, subverting fairy tale tropes left and right. Beautifully written, if occasionally a little rambling. (Granted, the author hangs a lampshade on this in the titular story ...)
Jan 30, 2011
Virania
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I read this in late junior high/early high school. It's a wonderful introduction (more like: MY wonderful introduction) to the exhilarating world of Magical Realism. I absolutely love the inherent poetic flair of A.S Byatt and the rich cultural link in each stories.
Definitely one of my favourites!
Definitely one of my favourites!
Mar 14, 2010
Linda Hali
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My favorite AS Byatt. Considered short stories and a novella- it includes works from within some of her novels and all stand alone as femenist retell of classic fairytale archetypes. And the novella is funny and satisfying.
Aug 28, 2009
Eric
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This book is really unique in its colorful writing. It is comprised of adult fairy tales. I couldn't get into the title-story though - it was a little too convoluted for me. Otherwise, this is a very fun and excitign read.
Apr 04, 2011
Beth
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Doesn't everyone want a genie to appear and grant them three wishes? Especially if you're middle-aged and the genie will make you look thirty-five again? This book has stories within stories, all of them interesting.
Aug 28, 2008
Anika
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I love this book. Filled with strange, modern fairy tales (either modern because of their new telling of more traditional style tales, or because they are fairy tales in a modern setting). And true to Byatt, each is meticulously detailed, with exquisite language and fully drawn characters. My favorite is the title story, which is one of the most unusual and yet affecting love stories I know.
It's also interesting to note that reading these stories informs your reading of Byatt's opus, P More...
It's also interesting to note that reading these stories informs your reading of Byatt's opus, P More...
Jul 21, 2009
Susan
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A. S. Byatt is plain and simple, just a great writer. She can make fairytales come to life and even the ones I didn't care for were interesting enough to keep me reading.
Dec 26, 2009
Melanie
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Loved the story in which the middle-aged woman loses it at the hair salon, when she thinks the stylist has given her an old lady's hairdo. Magnificent mayhem experienced vicariously. Her husband's reaction is great.
Nov 20, 2009
Andrea
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I have a soft spot for fairy tales anyway, but I really enjoyed the female characters in these stories--their sense of who they are and who they would like to be.
Dec 25, 2009
Catherine
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Collection of short fairytales, blended with one contemporary fantasy story, a sort of a meta tale about storytelling and fairytales. Beautifully written.
May 14, 2009
Erin
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My favorites were the title story and "The Eldest Princess." The others were probably three star, but those two made up for it. I liked her explorations of the roles of women in fairy tales, and also the role of the storyteller. Also how characters either accept or try to change their destiny.
Mar 04, 2009
Nina
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Anything by Byatt is a hit. Great stories for young women, particularly those in their 20s. There's lots to learn from these stories.
Mar 28, 2009
Kat
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Thick, wonderfully thick sentences and overarching fantasia- like tapioca and spun sugar, but the substance is there. These stories are so beautifully delineated and fleshed out that I have had a hard time putting this book down. I have become an A.S. Byatt addict. They are an acquired taste in this world of say it short and sweet, but like any great tale, the circumambulation around the core is worth the windings hither and yon. I love her descriptions and her cataloging of the flotsam of human
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