Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Happily Ever After

This week, my mind is on fairy tales.

























That might seem a little bit random, but here's how it happened:
There's a new film version of Little Red Riding Hood that came out recently, which I have not seen (we'll call it a renter for now). It certainly LOOKS great from the previews, but the dialogue sounds atrocious.

That's not really the point though.

So watching the previews for Red Riding Hood reminded me of Angela Carter's story, "The Company of Wolves," which you can read here.  It's one of my all-time favorite fairy tales (or version of a fairy tale).  I actually wrote a paper on it in my Fairy Tales and Folklore class at Berkeley (gotta love that anthropology major) and got an A+ on it, thank you very much.
Turns out there was a film version of it in the 1980s that looks awesome in a totally pre-CGI way (and somehow more creepy for it, if you ask me).
And then, completely randomly (or was it? Maybe my friend Kim is actually psychic...), I got a birthday present in the mail: a book I've never heard of consisting of fairy tales from some of my favorite authors, including Neil Gaiman and John Updike.  The book is called My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me, and I can't wait to read it! Thank you Kim!!
Did I mention the book is dedicated to Angela Carter? Crazy, huh?

This also gave me some great ideas for the book I'm working on now, so I'm very inspired to write today.  Too bad today is also the day Jack decided to cut his nap short by oh, 90 minutes.  He's currently telling me I need to pay attention to him (in Jackanese - you wouldn't understand) so I'm off.

And remember to keep your fingers and toes crossed for John!

2 comments:

Mer! said...

Ohhh I can't see the movie, i'd be freaked out!! But what a COOL book!!! Have fun reading!!

All appendages are crossed here for John tomorrow!! How is he doing??

Jackanese..you kill me....LOVE IT!

Mara Rae said...

John is doing well I guess, although we're both sleeping like crap (I wonder if he's keeping me awake or if I'm just so nervous on his behalf!). Whatever happens I'll be glad when it's over! I got him a massage this afternoon so hopefully that will help with his nerves a little :)
I won't find out anything till tomorrow night (it takes an entire day). eek!