Endicott Mythic Fiction discussion

Christine reminded us that we haven't started discussing our Feb. book yet. Thanks Christine!

Would anyone like to start? (I don't have my copy with me at the moment).

Well, since I stirred this up....I guess I'll start...
Before I read the book, I looked at some reviews, most of which were not favorable. I hate when I do that! I worried about the book and story as in the past decade or so, I have avoided holocaust stories. I still have not watched Shindlers List!
I started the book, expecting not to like it, expecting to be critical. The story did grab me however. I also kept reminding myself that this is a young adult book, albeit a dark one.
I did understand Gemma's obsession with the Briar Rose story and her claim, but must admit at times to be a tad bit as impatient as "the sisters".



My own grandmothers were story tellers and I so wish I had written the stories they told down, or recorded them.

i really thought that gemma's sense of herself as briar rose really worked. i feel that in a way, she is briar rose. and that this belief is part of what keeps her alive and sane.
i think yolen portrays the way a "screen memory" can be a story/faery tale, and the way that we tell ourselves stories as ways to deal with the horrors in our lives. and the way that trauma is very associated with repetition in our minds.

i think too, that yolen found a pretty good balance in the book, as far as a book that incorporates the holocaust, balancing the present stories, and the sort of curiosity and friendship of exploring a new country focusing on aspects like the food as well as focusing on rebecca's work as a writer, and her falling in love (showing possibility of hope, of life continuing for the family, even with the painful knowledge, thus showing that there is a path that involves remembering and honoring pain and what was lost and honoring/recognising the people, like gemma, who lived through this, by truly seeing them, by listening to and feeling their stories, but not succumbing to the devastation, and so, giving us hope....) and all as a way to bring light into the book, and i think the light that is a possibility in listening to holocaust stories.

im wondering of others disagree that there can be any light? i think that a lot of survivors are terrified of and yet sort of at the same wish to be known, to have their stories and experiences known, to feel that we (we who have not experienced the tortures of the holocaust) can handle it, and will still love and accept them.

i think, too, that these kinds of dark themes fit perfectly into faery tale retellings, but am wondering why others do not? (this is not intended as criticism, i am honestly interested and think it would be interesting to see both sides of this, esp. in a group like endicott, which feels like the people are pretty respectful to each other.)

for me, they fit bc original faery tales themselves were very dark. they were ways to help explore the darkness, the dark themes in life, through allegory as a way to help us find a way through. the "cleaned up" versions didnt really come about until the victorians decided to make them them into nursery tales.
is the feeling that they belong in the nursery?

christine, you wrote that you sometimes felt impatient with gemma, and i was wondering what specifically made you feel impatient?
was it the way she kept telling the same story over and again?

i am wondering too, why do you stay away from holocaust stories, christine? is it bc you dont want to feel the overwhelming sadness? or bc you feel authors "use" the holocaust to invest weight and substance into otherwise empty stories? or some other reason?

christine, i too used to listen to my grandmother and her sister tell stories, beautiful tragic stories, and though i was very little when they died, i too wish that i had written them down.

The odd thing about this book for me is that I have read it twice in the last 10 years, and I still don't remember a thing about it.
I don't remember disliking it, and I was excited when Rora chose it for our February reading selection because I thought it would be interesting to discuss it. But when I flipped through it today, none of it seemed familiar - not the characters or plot or descriptions.

I know it isn't the subject matter, because I read a similar novel from the Endicott list (The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy)and one from outside the list (Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer) which made indelible impressions on me & still haunt me.

I guess I'll just have to read it a third time & maybe the discussion here will make a deeper impression than the last two readings of the novel.

(She said, perplexed.)

mmm...have to admit, i was once stuck, a few years ago, with nothing to read for several days and in the end, i read this book, over and again, sort of like the way gemma tells her tale.
i think this will always end, for me, in my loving or hating a book.

The impatience I felt came from the repetitiveness, yes, but I also understand why that was used in the story. I only felt it a couple of times...I do understand why this was used in the story and totally agree with your term "screen memory". For someone to have survived something so horrific and survived the story was what kept her sanity yet honored the memory of the truth of her life.

Why do I avoid holocaust stories....yes, overwhelming sadness...and a sort of gut reaction/memory? In my belief system, I would say it is past life trauma. No other reason...

I agree too that this story goes back to the origins of "faerytales" or folktales, which, yes helped not only pass on cultural information but helped understand difficult events and living situations.

This is one where I really liked the light/dark aspects. It has been a while since I read it. But Yolen adds a layer of unexpectedness I like in her stories

I read Briar Rose for the first time over 10 years ago and have reread it and recommended it ever since. To me the story is a perfect way to illustrate how history and stories blend into what feel like real memories.

I grew up with a father who told bedtime stories and I have a lot of sisters, so that mechanism in the book really resonated with me. I also have a WWII survivor as a MIL who is extremely reluctant to talk about her experiences. These two things, I think, made it easy for me to just fall into the story.