Mique Reads

  http://shonnaslayton.com/grimm-read-2019-challenge/ Briar-Rose (aka Sleeping Beauty) was the highlight of this week's stories. I read this version years ago, but there is a lot that I don't remember about it, so it was kind of like reading it for the first time. This tale is definitely recognizable in the Disney version, but there are some notable differences. Unlucky #13: There are 13 fairies/godmothers (the translation I have calls them wise women, but fairies is shorter to write). The 13th fairy wasn't invited to the feast, not because she is the "Mistress of all Evil", but simply because the King and Queen only had 12 gold plates for the fairies. After she curses Briar-Rose, the last of the good fairies, softens the curse to sleep for a hundred years instead of death. There is nothing in the terms of this curse about "true love's kiss". First come briars: a hedge of thorns grows around the castle even covering the flag at the highest ...

Format: eBook Category: 19th Century Classic- Back to the Classics Reading Challenge 2019 ( Books and Chocolate) "It was foolish indeed—thus to run farther and farther from all who could help her, as if she had been seeking a fit spot for the goblin creature to eat her in his leisure; but that is the way fear serves us: it always sides with the thing we are afraid of." The Princess and the Goblin is a classic children's fairy-tale. Princess Irene makes friends with a Miner boy named Curdie, when he protects her and her nurse from being attacked by goblins. Curdie discovers the Goblin's plot to kidnap Princess Irene and force her to marry the Goblin Prince. Soon afterwards, he is in need of rescuing, and he and Irene's friendship is put to the test. I could have done without the narrator's interruptions, and the poetry sections were sub-par, especially when we are to believe that poetry is a weapon against the Goblins. Other than that, I think it...

Format: Audiobook Categories: Classic Tragic Novel- Back to the Classics Reading Challenge 2019 ( Books and Chocolate) Three books by the same author- #mmdchallenge ( Modern Mrs Darcy) Contains Spoilers "It seemed to her a mystery that she could not comprehend, but she was certain that God had held her firmly in a pact which had been made for her, without her knowing it, from a love that had been poured over her — and in spite of her willfulness, in spite of her melancholy, earthbound heart, some of that love had stayed inside her, had worked on her like sun on the earth, had driven forth a crop that neither the fiercest fire of passion nor its stormiest anger could completely destroy." There is plenty of tragedy in this final book of the trilogy. Kristin loses several family members to death, even before the black plague comes to Norway. She and Erland still have a tumultuous relationship. He continues to be lackadaisical about protecting his sons' inheri...

                                 http://shonnaslayton.com/grimm-read-2019-challenge/ Well, we are back to murder, mayhem, and gore in this week's stories, along with strange forms of resurrection. "Old Sultan" is my favorite story this week, and it offered up some of that wonderful animal comedy, which was comforting after reading the more gruesome tales. Thumbling as Journeyman- basically a slightly altered version of Thumbling, which is very similar to Tom Thumb. Fitcher's Bird- A horrifying tale that is very similar to Bluebeard. An old wizard roams around kidnapping young women, in particular, three sisters (one at a time). He charges each with protecting an egg, which I assume symbolizes purity and fidelity, and gives her permission to enter any room except one. The first two enter the forbidden room, which is a ...

                                 http://shonnaslayton.com/grimm-read-2019-challenge/ Devils, death, and wickedness abound in this week's stories. These stories are all warnings against evil. Herr Korbes- Very similar to The Pack of Ragamuffins. Some animals and animated objects take a joy ride to the house of Herr Korbes, and torment him, and he dies because he "must have been a very wicked man!" The narrator just tacks on that statement at the end of the story. We don't really know how or why Herr Korbes is evil. The Godfather- A man has so many children that he has already asked everyone in the world to be godfather (Okay, so he couldn't ask twice for some unknown reason). He asks the first man he sees at the gate because he dreamt about it. The godfather bestows a gift of healing water to him. He can see death at patien...

Format: Audiobook Categories: Classic in Translation- Back to the Classics Reading Challenge 2019 ( Books and Chocolate) Three books by the same author- #mmdchallenge ( Modern Mrs Darcy) Contains Spoilers "Are you so arrogant that you think yourself capable of sinning so badly that God’s mercy is not great enough?"      Book 2 deals with Kristin's marriage, and as I suspected, there is trouble in paradise. Kristin is haunted by her sins, and this guilt consumes her. Even when the priests, including her brother-in-law, Gunnulf, advise her not to focus on her sins so much, but to live her life doing good. Still, Kristin struggles with trusting in God's mercy. It's heartbreaking because I'd like to see her experience the peace that the Catholic Church is offering her, but she just can't get over her guilt. She makes a pilgrimage and gives her bridal wreath as penance, and after this she is able to move on for a time. She and ...

http://shonnaslayton.com/grimm-read-2019-challenge/     This week's stories are "Thumbling", "The Wedding of Mrs. Fox", "The Elves and the Shoemaker", and "The Robber Bridegroom". The one that really piques my interest is "The Robber Bridegroom". It's a haunting and gruesome tale, and what I find most intriguing about it is the theme of women's intuition. Everytime the girl follows her intuition, it leads her to safety, but when she ignores her intuition, even reluctantly, she is drawn into danger. By all appearances, the girl's fiance seems to be a decent man, but from the beginning, she senses something is wrong with him. He sends chills down her spine. She avoids him as much as possible, but she is pressured by him and her family to ignore her intuition, and she reluctantly goes to visit her fiance's house in the forest. This should send off some red flags even with the parents because what kind of man would h...

                              http://shonnaslayton.com/grimm-read-2019-challenge/ The Three Languages- It's a Diamond in the Rough story. A boy is sent off to learn from mentors three times. Each time he comes back having only learned the language of an animal: dogs, frogs, and doves. His father is angry over this, and considers him a complete waste of space, so he disowns him. The boy then travels, and along the way he saves a town from cursed dogs, and he he even becomes pope. This is all due to his talent with animal languages. The moral of this one is to not judge people as stupid or worthless just because they have unorthodox talents, or appear to have no talents. Also, the father should have had more faith in and love for his own son. Clever Elsie- Just like Hans, Elsie is not Clever. This story is also very repetitious until the part where she gets married, and ends up falling asleep in a cornfield,...