Into the Forest discussion

This spoiler free thread is for Bound by Donna Jo Napoli starting May 15-July 14.

Napoli is one of the authors that I've always meant to read but have somehow never gotten around to. I'm looking forward to giving her a try!

Melanti wrote: "Napoli is one of the authors that I've always meant to read but have somehow never gotten around to. I'm looking forward to giving her a try!"

Me too! This looks good. I also noticed that Bound is on the YA Endicott list, so if anyone is participating in the 2015 challenge, this would count as #3.

I've read Beast, The Magic Circle and Zel (in that order) and so far I've enjoyed Napoli's work. Beast was my least favorite of the three I've read. What I love most about Napoli's books is how she treats the "villains"; she makes them real people with flaws (sometimes severe flaws) rather than merely archetypes. Like the Witch in Hansel and Gretel (The Magic Circle) and the Mother in Rapunzel (Zel).

I requested Bound and look forward to reading it along with the group.

I put this on hold at my library today, and I'm going to use it for #5, a book by a favorite author you have not yet read. Napoli really showed me the power of retellings with The Magic Circle, and then I went on to read Zel, Crazy Jack, Beast Audiobook Unabridged by Napoli, Donna Jo, Sirena, Song of the Magdalene, Three Days, and Daughter of Venice (the last two are not retellings). I haven't read her in years, as I think I kind of OD'd! But I'm ready to pick her up again, as Bound is one of the Napoli books I have NOT read. I also very much want to read her newest, Storm.

The only Napoli I've read was Zel, and I didn't happen to enjoy it, but Bound sounds intriguing. I don't think I can make it part of my challenge, though, since I've filled in the applicable fields.

Here's the wiki article on the particular Cinderella variant this retelling is based on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_Xian

There's a full text version linked to at the bottom, but it's actually not much more fleshed out than the wiki article!

Melanti wrote: "Here's the wiki article on the particular Cinderella variant this retelling is based on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_Xian

There's a full text version linked to at the bottom, but it's actuall..."

Lovely!

I wonder how the practice of foot-binding affected the hearing of the tale? When I got to the part about the "smallest foot," it made me think about how important that was in Chinese society specifically, even though the Western versions have the same fact. Bound might address this. I have it ordered from the library, but it hasn't come in yet.

I liked how the foot binding tied into it in Bound. It makes sense with the Cinderella slipper elements!

The Wiki article I linked to said it was Ye Xian was first recorded in the 9th century. The wiki article for foot binding says it possibly originated in the 10th or 11th century. So, if those dates are right, the tale probably predated foot binding by a century or so.

But obviously, people bound their feet because small feet were already considered desirable.

Melanti wrote: "I liked how the foot binding tied into it in Bound. It makes sense with the Cinderella slipper elements!

The Wiki article I linked to said it was Ye Xian was first recorded in the 9th century. T..."

Interesting!

I just realized how silly it was of me to wonder if Bound is about foot-binding. Of course it is--it's called Bound! :)