Kathleen's review
East
by Edith Pattou
Kathleen's review
East by Edith Pattou
Kathleen's review
rating:
bookshelves:
adults,
young_adult_lit
recommended for: Fans of Pullman, Tolkien and fairy tale retellings
I got this book at the Bank Street Bookstore because, having been newly "promoted" to middle school lang arts, i felt that i'd been missing a lot and reading much further down the developmental scale for a long while. This was a wonderful addition to my brain. Apparently there's a Scandinavian tale called East of the Sun, West of the Moon, which i didn't know--i only knew the song. This retelling employs voices of all the different characters, from the beautiful young traveling woman to the hard-skinned goblin queen. And the bear, the great white, scary bear. It doesn't matter that, as a traditional tale, you know how it will end, how it MUST end. The ancient themes of fidelity and obedience, trust and ambition are there along with many more that i'm to tired to think about right now, and lots and lots of cool descriptions of traveling beyond...well, everything. The description of being wrapped in seal skin was particularly vivid for me, and i still cringe. Sorry for t...more
