This month we are talking fairy tales, folklore, and the fantasy of it all.
I love fairy tales. They’re dark, weird, and only occasionally romantic. Sure, many of us have been raised on the Disneyfied versions of these stories, where princes save princesses, villains meet a justified comeuppance (though rarely at the hands of the heroes), and there are a lot of happily-ever-afters. But the tales Disney borrowed from existed long before the House of Mouse, and their enduring popularity suggests they will continue long after in some form or another.
Fairy tales are folklore, long remembered, oft repeated, and easily molded to the location, time, and sensibilities of the people retelling them. Disney was just rewriting what had already been rewritten. And modern literature is here to rewrite those stories all over again.
This month we will be examining how these stories are viewed through the eyes of modern readers and writers. Sometimes, like in the case of Cinderella, we are going to be mapping how these stories migrated, changed, and grew into stories that can exist in any place or time and still retain most of their essence.
And, of course, I’ll have plenty of book recommendations.
Beyond books, can we discuss how the last few years have kinda sucked? I concede that there is something very comforting in getting lost in the fantasy of wish fulfillment and happy endings, and this month we will be sharing a few of our own adventures in search of magic and wonder in this otherwise bleak world. Will we get our happily ever afters or will this all end like a bad D&D campaign? Read on to find out!
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