Book Review: Enchantment

Author: Orson Scott Card. 

This is a fairy tale retelling of Sleeping Beauty and what happens after the spell is broken. A young boy stumbles upon an enchanted clearing where he finds a beautiful sleeping princess. However, he was chased away by a creature that guards her. The boy grows up to be a scholar of Old Russian languages and returns to the enchanted place. He kisses the princess awake and defeats the bear. What follows is an adventure of magic, true names, time travel, love, and sophisms of patriotism, love, history, and Russian literature.

This is a tale for grown-ups, not because of adult content, but because it has Russian and Jewish historical and political references. It merges the tale of Sleeping Beauty with the Russian fairy tale figure Baba Yaga in a way that you won't expect. A very enjoyable read, nonetheless.

Being well-versed in fairy tales from all over the world, I was delighted to see how the typical French or English story of Sleeping Beauty was given a Russian makeover. It was hilarious how the princess adjusted to modern America when she sought sanctuary there, and how a modern fit and athletic male miserably fails when compared to the prowess of the warriors of old. The story is imbued with magic and wisdom that you will want to go on reading until the last page.


Lesson Learned: Heroes rise out of the strife of adversity.

Book Review: The Night Circus

Author: Erin Morgenstern

Captivating. Enthralling. Whimsical. 

Set in late Victorian England, The Night Circus introduces readers to a wandering and wonderful circus, and its cast of unforgettable characters. From the clock-maker, Herr Friedrich Thiessen, to the mysterious tattooed contortionist, and the endearing, talented twins Poppet and Widget: the cast is as fantastical as the story itself. Most of all the the pair of starstruck lovers: Celia and Marco, who despite the adversarial circumstances, find love and redemption.

Narrated in descriptive, almost lyrical prose, the story unfolds much like a movie. Trained in magic by two father figures, the pair of protagonists try to outdo each other in their special blend of magic, against the chess board that is the circus, which continues to evolve as their skills and emotions do. It is a story of a struggle for power, of families formed and estranged, and of adventure. And in the heart of it all is a love story whose courtship takes place in the magic of the circus-- a story that continues to blossom amid the adversity of certain death and loss. Told in fragments and in various character perspectives, the author affords her readers the 360-degree view of the story, and leaves them satisfied to have all knots unravelled in the end.

This book was one that I found very hard to put down, and harder to see end. Yeah, I cried when it ended. 

Lesson learned: Love will find a way.