What do you think?
Rate this book
A prince's love for a swan queen overcomes an evil sorcerer's spell in this fairy tale adaptation of the classic ballet
84 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
About the author
Mark Helprin
43 books1,838 followersMark Helprin belongs to no literary school, movement, tendency, or trend. As many have observed and as Time Magazine has phrased it, “He lights his own way.” His three collections of short stories (A Dove of the East and Other Stories, Ellis Island and Other Stories, and The Pacific and Other Stories), six novels (Refiner's Fire, Winter's Tale, A Soldier of the Great War, Memoir From Antproof Case, Freddy and Fredericka and, In Sunlight and In Shadow), and three children's books (Swan Lake, A City in Winter, and The Veil of Snows, all illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg), speak eloquently for themselves and are remarkable throughout for the sustained beauty and power of their language.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 125 reviews
September 9, 2009
This version of Swan Lake (1989) is written by Mark Helprin with fabulous color illustrations by Chris Van Allsburg. The story, of course, is very similar to the famous ballet.
An old man lives on a mountain with a young girl who, as children of her type often do, wants to venture down from the safe seclusion of their mountain to find her parents. Seeing this, the old man tells the girl a story to show her what she will encounter below: A story about a prince and a princess named Odette. As the old man relates the story of these star-crossed lovers, it becomes apparent that their fate is intimately linked with the young girl.
While parts of the story are excellent and the illustrations are truly stunning, the book on a whole left me cold. Helprin's writing is odd. I have written at length in other areas about my strong dislike of modernizing fairy tale stories with references to things like newspapers in a story clearly meant to be set in an earlier time. It might have been funny in Shrek but in any attempt to relate a story as a true fairy tale it just fails miserably, creating a disconnect between the reader and the story.
You can find this review and more on my blog Miss Print
An old man lives on a mountain with a young girl who, as children of her type often do, wants to venture down from the safe seclusion of their mountain to find her parents. Seeing this, the old man tells the girl a story to show her what she will encounter below: A story about a prince and a princess named Odette. As the old man relates the story of these star-crossed lovers, it becomes apparent that their fate is intimately linked with the young girl.
While parts of the story are excellent and the illustrations are truly stunning, the book on a whole left me cold. Helprin's writing is odd. I have written at length in other areas about my strong dislike of modernizing fairy tale stories with references to things like newspapers in a story clearly meant to be set in an earlier time. It might have been funny in Shrek but in any attempt to relate a story as a true fairy tale it just fails miserably, creating a disconnect between the reader and the story.
You can find this review and more on my blog Miss Print
October 15, 2007
A lovely, lovely poem of a book, bittersweet and gentle. Swan Lake was a delight to read and I imagine the emotional impact will remain much the same upon a second go around.
Mr Helprin's prose is gorgeous and evocative; though his descriptions occasionally drag on a bit longer than necessary and though he does disgress quite a bit, each sentence is a work of beauty. Mr Van Allsburg's illustrations are equally pleasing, interspersed throughout the book to great effect.
I cannot adequately express how I felt when I finished this book. The story is neither complex nor particularly subtle, but it is heartbreaking and it is uplifting, and though the revelation of the ending is easily foreseen, it is no less powerful. Thinking on it, I felt much the same as I feel when I have read a particularly gentle poem: illuminated and aching. Lovely.
Mr Helprin's prose is gorgeous and evocative; though his descriptions occasionally drag on a bit longer than necessary and though he does disgress quite a bit, each sentence is a work of beauty. Mr Van Allsburg's illustrations are equally pleasing, interspersed throughout the book to great effect.
I cannot adequately express how I felt when I finished this book. The story is neither complex nor particularly subtle, but it is heartbreaking and it is uplifting, and though the revelation of the ending is easily foreseen, it is no less powerful. Thinking on it, I felt much the same as I feel when I have read a particularly gentle poem: illuminated and aching. Lovely.
Read
June 23, 2025“There are certain great and beautiful things that to all appearances find defeat in this world. All proof, all reason, show them to have fallen, and as often as not our hope is merely our punishment. But in this world there are as well wrenching and great surprises that take us beyond what we can reason and what we can prove.
I have merely my hope, but I have it still. I have not abandoned it, and will not.”
Hard to rate this because Helprin’s writing is excellent, but his plotting is weak; and van Allsburg’s illustrations are nice, but a bit of an odd fit for the story. I just saw that this was the first in a trilogy, though, so maybe I’ll try the sequel.
January 3, 2009
This is a retelling of the ballet, but with significant changes (like the fact that Odette hasn't been transformed into a swan...). Interesting read, but it took away the magic and enchantment of the story and replaced it with too much preaching about the dangers of politics and the failings of the bourgeoisie. I also got very distracted by the prose. It felt like one of those college essays where the student is trying too hard to use 25c words when a 5c word would do better.
Read
February 10, 2018The kids and I are immersing ourselves in Tchaikovsky's ballet. This is a bit above their comprehension level--maybe for age ten or so? But I enjoyed reading it for myself!
October 2, 2016
I grew up in a world that frequently revolved around ballet so Swan Lake was one of those whose occasional pictures would float out to my eyes and then the animated movie that also appeared in my early years just added upon it. With so much influence in my life you would have thought that I would have had a chance to see the actual ballet but I haven't.
This book was one that my sister and I had found at a library sale while she made mention that she has already read it several times to my youngest niece. As such she recommended that I read the book first before she squirrels it away in her ever-growing stacks of books.
The book to me is interesting and caught my attention upon the first page of reading as there is a beauty, elegance and grace in the writing that captured my mind along with the gorgeous artwork. And although the reading can be somewhat difficult at times or a bit on the dragging side I think it is more in tying with an old intellectual man bitter in life retelling his memories while forgetting that his audience is so young and uneducated in the mess of life thus it sets the tone for the reader. It is his memories and disbelief of magic that is conveyed although in the end he does imply in an indirect fashion that there is magic.
Since it is an old man who is lost in his thoughts and telling of the story the characters aren't truly made more for the reader. We are like the young girl in hearing this retelling and although we may know the characters from other sources unlike our fellow listener we are still listening to a storyteller who has forgotten that we were a part of his world, one who doesn't know much of the following up events after his time in the book and also to one who is just as much a side witness of the majority of events.
It is a beautiful telling of a story that has been presented in an interesting format so different from others. The glimmers of memories that show up strongest in his mind are the ones that make the background and the wisdom of his career, his acting to save a prince's life and his love provide the binding. Altogether a beautiful story to enjoy....
This book was one that my sister and I had found at a library sale while she made mention that she has already read it several times to my youngest niece. As such she recommended that I read the book first before she squirrels it away in her ever-growing stacks of books.
The book to me is interesting and caught my attention upon the first page of reading as there is a beauty, elegance and grace in the writing that captured my mind along with the gorgeous artwork. And although the reading can be somewhat difficult at times or a bit on the dragging side I think it is more in tying with an old intellectual man bitter in life retelling his memories while forgetting that his audience is so young and uneducated in the mess of life thus it sets the tone for the reader. It is his memories and disbelief of magic that is conveyed although in the end he does imply in an indirect fashion that there is magic.
Since it is an old man who is lost in his thoughts and telling of the story the characters aren't truly made more for the reader. We are like the young girl in hearing this retelling and although we may know the characters from other sources unlike our fellow listener we are still listening to a storyteller who has forgotten that we were a part of his world, one who doesn't know much of the following up events after his time in the book and also to one who is just as much a side witness of the majority of events.
It is a beautiful telling of a story that has been presented in an interesting format so different from others. The glimmers of memories that show up strongest in his mind are the ones that make the background and the wisdom of his career, his acting to save a prince's life and his love provide the binding. Altogether a beautiful story to enjoy....
December 2, 2016
I googled 'Swan Lake' before I sat down to write this review. I wanted to know more about the ballet, and I wondered if this were based on a folk tale. It sounds to me like there's a basic plot, which has been elaborated for different purposes. Maybe Helprin wrote his own version reflecting how he interpreted the ballet. Not having any prior expectations, I wasn't disappointed.
I would not read this to children. It's not inappropriate, but they'd find it boring. There's too much political discussion, politics in the form of intrigue, formalities, competition, jealousy, ... The sentence structure is often complex and the word choice intense, which meant it didn't read like a ballet to me. Here's an example of two sentences on the first page:
Here birds sought refuge from hunters on the plain, and found higher realms in tranquillity and perfection. And though empires and kingdoms below might nervously claim it, the forest was in its own way inviolable — a domain of hearth smoke in unwavering columns against a flawless blue sky, of mountains clad in wind-buffed ice, of the thinnest air, of rivers running white and bursting with oxygen. [Bursting with oxygen!]
Eleven of the twelve full-page color prints will stay with me, especially the two with swans. (I did not like the second from the last image.)
I would not read this to children. It's not inappropriate, but they'd find it boring. There's too much political discussion, politics in the form of intrigue, formalities, competition, jealousy, ... The sentence structure is often complex and the word choice intense, which meant it didn't read like a ballet to me. Here's an example of two sentences on the first page:
Here birds sought refuge from hunters on the plain, and found higher realms in tranquillity and perfection. And though empires and kingdoms below might nervously claim it, the forest was in its own way inviolable — a domain of hearth smoke in unwavering columns against a flawless blue sky, of mountains clad in wind-buffed ice, of the thinnest air, of rivers running white and bursting with oxygen. [Bursting with oxygen!]
Eleven of the twelve full-page color prints will stay with me, especially the two with swans. (I did not like the second from the last image.)
March 24, 2024
There is great wisdom in fairy tales, and this was a beautiful telling of the classic story.
November 10, 2022
Story: 3 stars
Illustrations: 5 stars
Illustrations: 5 stars
July 30, 2025
Lektuve buvo audioknyga , su Tchaikovskio muzika! Labai trumpa pasaka, gražiai susiklausė. Buvo įdomu sužinoti baleto istoriją 😅 labai naivi , bet juk pasaka..
March 19, 2015
Это, кажется, один из самых странных сказочных пересказов на моей памяти.
Во-первых, конечно, Хелприн книжку писал для очень интеллектуальных младенцев - поди пойми все его отсылки и витиеватые обороты.
Во-вторых, сказкой этот мрачненький реализм можно назвать с большой натяжкой, в романе «Freddy and Fredericka» и то сказочности больше.
Плотная бумага, потрясающее оформление и стильные иллюстрации несколько сбивают с толку - вот вроде бы все атрибуты сказочки, а на деле почему-то зло побеждает добро.
Ну и вот это все.
Я понимаю, почему мне книжки с BWB достались в таком отличном качестве - это издания, пожалуй, для фанатов автора.
Во-первых, конечно, Хелприн книжку писал для очень интеллектуальных младенцев - поди пойми все его отсылки и витиеватые обороты.
Во-вторых, сказкой этот мрачненький реализм можно назвать с большой натяжкой, в романе «Freddy and Fredericka» и то сказочности больше.
Плотная бумага, потрясающее оформление и стильные иллюстрации несколько сбивают с толку - вот вроде бы все атрибуты сказочки, а на деле почему-то зло побеждает добро.
Ну и вот это все.
Я понимаю, почему мне книжки с BWB достались в таком отличном качестве - это издания, пожалуй, для фанатов автора.
December 12, 2008
One of the most treasured books of my childhood and adolescence. I discovered this just at the peak of my obsession with all things even vaguely Russian, and the combination of Helprin's elegant re-telling of the story with van Allsburg's sumptuous color plates made a book that I regularly checked out of the public library and pored over hour after hour. Disappointingly out of print by the time I thought to obtain it, I was just this past year able to secure a copy of my own. A rich and beautiful storybook with appeal for kids and adults.
February 3, 2009
You should own this book and read it often. Be sure to get your hands on an out of print hard copy - the illustrations will live inside of you. I sob every time I finish this book so I have to be sure I'm not around anyone who would think I'm a weirdo (like my kids! - yeah that's right it's a "kids book" - but don't read it to your kid unless you want to blubber all over them)
December 26, 2017
Favorite book of all time. The essential example of how words can be magic. So good that it makes me lose my words in attempting to describe it.
As an aside, I have no idea what the original ballet story of Swan Lake is like, but I'm certain this isn't it. So, if you're going into the book expecting a straight adaptation, expect disappointment.
As an aside, I have no idea what the original ballet story of Swan Lake is like, but I'm certain this isn't it. So, if you're going into the book expecting a straight adaptation, expect disappointment.
August 1, 2011
Sweet story that can be enjoyed by everyone, provided they read the book first.
September 5, 2017
The writing was lovely and the story felt more unique than an original short version would've. The illustrations were nice as well. But as with most fairy tales (?) it was a little messed up here or there. And maybe because it was such a short book, but I didn't feel too sad about all the tragedy.
October 5, 2015
An un-enchanting retelling of Swan Lake. Terrible writing style, disenchanting plot, and poor character values.
1. The writing style is very stiff and overly wordy. His descriptions of scenes and characters come across as drawn-out, unimportant to the rest of the plot, and more like a tortured death than a poet end. Readers will lose interest frequently.
2. The author takes away the magic but adds nonsensical fluff. In an attempt to make the story seem more real, the author dismisses magic completely from the book; however, he adds nonsensical rabbit trails about building a bridge out of balloons, men standing on horses and reading newspapers, a palace with 10,000 rooms, and laws about having to sleep with a lexicon on your stomach. He spends several pages trying to make these side items funny and whimsical. The author is asking the reader to dismiss magic because it's not real, and in its place, he asks them the to accept meaningless nonsense.
3. The author praises immorality. For a children's book, this point is the most disappointing. The old man cusses(He says "damn" several times), and the little girl finds it funny. (Spoiler)The prince sleeps with Odette when he first meets her, and she has a child. The prince marries Odile and two years later he leaves her. The prince and Odette commit suicide which is highly praised by the author. None of these are character-building or life-lessons that you would your child to value.
With these issues, the reader feels like they have sooner read a 40 year old man's mid-life identity crisis than a story for children.
1. The writing style is very stiff and overly wordy. His descriptions of scenes and characters come across as drawn-out, unimportant to the rest of the plot, and more like a tortured death than a poet end. Readers will lose interest frequently.
2. The author takes away the magic but adds nonsensical fluff. In an attempt to make the story seem more real, the author dismisses magic completely from the book; however, he adds nonsensical rabbit trails about building a bridge out of balloons, men standing on horses and reading newspapers, a palace with 10,000 rooms, and laws about having to sleep with a lexicon on your stomach. He spends several pages trying to make these side items funny and whimsical. The author is asking the reader to dismiss magic because it's not real, and in its place, he asks them the to accept meaningless nonsense.
3. The author praises immorality. For a children's book, this point is the most disappointing. The old man cusses(He says "damn" several times), and the little girl finds it funny. (Spoiler)The prince sleeps with Odette when he first meets her, and she has a child. The prince marries Odile and two years later he leaves her. The prince and Odette commit suicide which is highly praised by the author. None of these are character-building or life-lessons that you would your child to value.
With these issues, the reader feels like they have sooner read a 40 year old man's mid-life identity crisis than a story for children.
June 20, 2022
If you are a fan of Hans Christian Anderson, I think you'll like Helprin's old fashioned retelling.
Personally, I'm pretty mixed about it. I'm generally not a fan of Anderson's overly wrought, pedantic style, which Helprin imitated. I also didn't like the Helprin's strictly rational approach, stripping away all magic but the wonder of Nature; nor did I enjoy Helprin's shift from fairy tale narrative to parodying, satirizing, and hyperbolizing the aristocracy (which is particularly odd since there aren't any royals to lampoon anymore. So who exactly is this parody for?).
What did I like? I liked the themes, and the thematic weight Helprin gave to the characters: Odette became an allegory for simple, homespun, wholesome peasant life; a wild girl, though one far more in keeping with Rousseau's vision than Miyazaki's. The court--I suppose represented by Odile, though she's hardly in it?--representing excess, gluttony, vanity, and political backstabbing. And the prince, caught between the two, who loses his way but finds both redemption and tragedy. Van Allsburg's paintings are quite good, though squandered on such minor parts of the story.
It's really not a bad story, nor is Helprin a bad writer; it just wasn't at all what I expected. I like Helprin's attempt at filling out the backstory, I just think he got too focused on that and lost the narrative thread.
Personally, I'm pretty mixed about it. I'm generally not a fan of Anderson's overly wrought, pedantic style, which Helprin imitated. I also didn't like the Helprin's strictly rational approach, stripping away all magic but the wonder of Nature; nor did I enjoy Helprin's shift from fairy tale narrative to parodying, satirizing, and hyperbolizing the aristocracy (which is particularly odd since there aren't any royals to lampoon anymore. So who exactly is this parody for?).
What did I like? I liked the themes, and the thematic weight Helprin gave to the characters: Odette became an allegory for simple, homespun, wholesome peasant life; a wild girl, though one far more in keeping with Rousseau's vision than Miyazaki's. The court--I suppose represented by Odile, though she's hardly in it?--representing excess, gluttony, vanity, and political backstabbing. And the prince, caught between the two, who loses his way but finds both redemption and tragedy. Van Allsburg's paintings are quite good, though squandered on such minor parts of the story.
It's really not a bad story, nor is Helprin a bad writer; it just wasn't at all what I expected. I like Helprin's attempt at filling out the backstory, I just think he got too focused on that and lost the narrative thread.
February 16, 2020
4.75 🦢
“At the next ball he would be surveying princesses, to choose one for eternity”
This was impressively good! I have to admit that somethings I found difficult to grasp, meaning the structure of sentences, english not being my first language and all.
All in all the writing and imagery was brilliant! The descriptions were stunning, and detailed to the point of magic.
“I do not know, except that memory is the greatest poet”
One of the most impactful images was of a heavy rainy day, and the sound of an orchestra behind closed doors practicing music. Gosh, the writing was spectacular! And the one with the dawn and the wedge of swans getting airborne... utterly breathtaking!
“I fear much more and suffer greatly on behalf of others”
(P.S.: both authors are married to a woman named Lisa, and for some reason I found that fact very very funny when reading the author descriptions)
“At the next ball he would be surveying princesses, to choose one for eternity”
This was impressively good! I have to admit that somethings I found difficult to grasp, meaning the structure of sentences, english not being my first language and all.
All in all the writing and imagery was brilliant! The descriptions were stunning, and detailed to the point of magic.
“I do not know, except that memory is the greatest poet”
One of the most impactful images was of a heavy rainy day, and the sound of an orchestra behind closed doors practicing music. Gosh, the writing was spectacular! And the one with the dawn and the wedge of swans getting airborne... utterly breathtaking!
“I fear much more and suffer greatly on behalf of others”
(P.S.: both authors are married to a woman named Lisa, and for some reason I found that fact very very funny when reading the author descriptions)
December 29, 2017
What makes this book, which is a retelling of the ballet, are the luminous illustrations by Chris van Allsburg. If you liked his Polar Express, you’ll love these. The story is compelling. The problem for me, as the reader-aloud, is the stilted style of Helprin’s prose. I appreciate that he’s trying to recreate Ye Olde Faerie Tale style, but he’s trying way too hard. It makes the story cold and distant.
Logan liked like the story line enough that we are moving on to the sequel, but the style was not very engaging for him, and that is coming from a kid who devoured and loved dusty old classics such as the Swallows and Amazons series, the E. Nesbit books, and Treasure Island.
5 stars for illustration, 2 stars for text.
Logan liked like the story line enough that we are moving on to the sequel, but the style was not very engaging for him, and that is coming from a kid who devoured and loved dusty old classics such as the Swallows and Amazons series, the E. Nesbit books, and Treasure Island.
5 stars for illustration, 2 stars for text.
September 16, 2017
The usual magic from this writer who isn't talked about enough, in my view. Van Allsburg's illustrations really bring it to life, not that Helprin's gorgeous prose needs the help. Helprin expands from the famous story to make it his own, yet images from from Balanchine's version of the ballet came to me as I read it. Complex as it is, this should easily appeal to readers of all ages.
November 17, 2008
A beautiful but very sad version of the Swan Lake story.
January 31, 2011
Although Chris Van Allsburg's illustrations are beautiful and dramatic, Mark Helprin's telling of this haunting tale is over-written and drags when it needs to soar.
April 21, 2020
I picked this up with a number of other books, not recognizing the author, but knowing the illustrator. I thought I was getting the story of the ballet in narrative form with Chris Von Allsburg's illustrations. Well, sort of.
We start with a Spyri's Heidi-like situation, with a young girl and her apparent grandfather, living in isolation in the lovely mountains, but able to view the city below their forest-bound home. After asking her grandfather if she can visit the city, she is told a lengthy story, which ultimately becomes the familiar tale of the young prince and the enchanted Odette. Of course the prince meets and swears eternal love to Odette, but there is much before and after, and Odile makes an appearance to darken his heart and the story before we have a glimmer of hope at the conclusion.
The illustrations are lovely (critics might prefer those in the prize-winning "The Polar Express" or "Jumanji" but these are in suitable tone and complexity to the story), with only one drawing depicting any sort of villainy. The story itself is rather complicated compared to Tchaikovsky's libretto - almost CS Lewis or Philip Pullman like - but I understand this is the first volume in a series of three, so perhaps that explains it.
We do roam a bit far from the ballet, but clearly that was the author's intent. Maybe I didn't get what I was looking for but the book is lovely just the same.
We start with a Spyri's Heidi-like situation, with a young girl and her apparent grandfather, living in isolation in the lovely mountains, but able to view the city below their forest-bound home. After asking her grandfather if she can visit the city, she is told a lengthy story, which ultimately becomes the familiar tale of the young prince and the enchanted Odette. Of course the prince meets and swears eternal love to Odette, but there is much before and after, and Odile makes an appearance to darken his heart and the story before we have a glimmer of hope at the conclusion.
The illustrations are lovely (critics might prefer those in the prize-winning "The Polar Express" or "Jumanji" but these are in suitable tone and complexity to the story), with only one drawing depicting any sort of villainy. The story itself is rather complicated compared to Tchaikovsky's libretto - almost CS Lewis or Philip Pullman like - but I understand this is the first volume in a series of three, so perhaps that explains it.
We do roam a bit far from the ballet, but clearly that was the author's intent. Maybe I didn't get what I was looking for but the book is lovely just the same.
April 18, 2021
When I was about 10 I bought a book at the Toadstool because I was fascinated by the illustrations. I had never seen a chapter book that contained pictures, let alone one so large (8.5 x 11?). My mom laughed at me for wanting it because the writing was so verbose; too advanced for my age. But of course she bought it for me and helped me read it (because she’s the best). I didn’t find out until this year that it’s book 2 of a trilogy. Here enters this book, which is book one.
Very interesting version of swan lake. Told for the perspective of the prince’s tutor/father figure. Down played the magical component. The story is a mise en abyme where the tutor is telling the story of the prince and Odette to a little girl who turns out to be their daughter.
Very interesting version of swan lake. Told for the perspective of the prince’s tutor/father figure. Down played the magical component. The story is a mise en abyme where the tutor is telling the story of the prince and Odette to a little girl who turns out to be their daughter.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2023
Randomly picked this up at Goodwill today and just finished. This is a little gem of a book, although it strips Swan Lake almost entirely of magic (and even romance). The real magic in this version is the prose and the ideas and the Chris Van Allsburg illustrations. I enjoyed it quite a bit considering the changes. It's chock full of beautiful descriptions and ideas - palaces so large they have rooftop horseback courier systems, swirling columns of swans, jade-green meadows in the high mountains. It's heady and maybe even a little Too much, but still, I appreciated it. I understand there are two books after this, which is a welcome surprise. I hope the narrator is switched out though. Even wise men, if they're too aware of their wisdom, stop sounding so wise after a while.
August 30, 2023
This is not the story I grew up with, but an adaptation of that magical fairytale. I forged through the mature vocabulary intended for readers 10 yrs and up, finding it somewhat difficult to follow at my typical reading speed; I had to slow myself down and re-read a couple of scenes to truly imagine the scenarios taking place.
Kevin Kline (yes, the actor) invaded my thoughts as the narrator -- which was my favorite part -- as Prince Siegfried's and Princess Odette's story unfolded. It's an in-depth tale of death, deceit, revenge, and love in its truest form. Although I appreciate this carefully weaved story, I missed the suspension of disbelief that took flight with the original magical swans.
Kevin Kline (yes, the actor) invaded my thoughts as the narrator -- which was my favorite part -- as Prince Siegfried's and Princess Odette's story unfolded. It's an in-depth tale of death, deceit, revenge, and love in its truest form. Although I appreciate this carefully weaved story, I missed the suspension of disbelief that took flight with the original magical swans.
July 15, 2017
An amazing retelling of the Swan Lake story with wonderful illustrations. This is not a children's book, as the vocabulary seemed above a high school level. The story itself is a fantastic fairy tale told from the point of view of a servant to a young girl. The twist at the end was worth the read. Helprin's poetic words provides the illusion of the fairy tale and Van Allsburg's illustration brings it to life. And then I realize this is the first story of a trilogy.
September 11, 2020
A lovely book, hardcover, from my bookshelves. Helprin re-imagines the German fairy tale that most of us know from the 1877 Tchaikovsky ballet, retold to a young orphan girl, that offers a different spin. The original hardcover edition is printed on a substantial weight paper with repeating banners in soft color on the top and bottom of every page other than the illustrations. Chris Van Allsburg's illustrations are beautiful color images with a frame, with each on their own page.
December 15, 2022
I grabbed this book from my mom’s house yesterday because, as I told my mother, “I’m curious how it will read now that I’m an adult.” It’s a beautiful but heartbreaking story about choices, corruption, and what kind of legacy you carry on after those you love are gone. I also find it amusing that I read this as a child and didn’t have more questions (like, why did the Prince love Odette and then leave her).
Displaying 1 - 30 of 125 reviews