Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Once Upon a Time II

I love folklore. Discovering old stories and traditions that managed to reach us today from so long ago. There is something magical about the past, something over-romanticised, sure, but still magical. Same goes for mythology - so much about a culture becomes clear when you look at its myths and legends.

I also love fairy tales. I started re-discovering them quite recently, I had to get over the 'you're too old for this' block in my head. It's a real privilege to have the ability to completely lose oneself in a fairy tale. If there are actual fairies in it, so much the better!
For these two reasons and many more, I am thrilled to be taking part in Carl's Once Upon a Time II challenge. I like the idea of reading one book from each of the four categories (Fantasy, Mythology, Folklore, Fairy Tales) so I'll try for Quest the Second, with an option to switch to Quest the First if I don't manage and an option to switch to Quest the Third if I manage to fit in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, which I'm sure I have lying around somewhere. For details, check out Carl's original post.

Here are my possibilities - I'm having trouble locating other possibilities for the folklore section, so any recommendations would be welcome!

Fantasy:
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Mythology:
The Stolen Child by Keith Donahue
The Wood Wife by Terri Windling

Folklore:
Folk Tales of the North American Indian
Cajun Tales of the Louisiana Bayous by Ray Robinson

Fairy Tales:
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

2 comments:

Carl V. Anderson said...

I'm so glad you are joining in! I love your list of possibilities. I am in the midst of reading The Wood Wife right now and am LOVING it! Thank you so much for coming on board.

joanna said...

Thanks Carl! I just heard of The Wood Wife recently and it sounded so good that I want to read it soon! Thanks for the excuse to make another great reading list!