Snow White

Rating:
Summary: Huh?
Review: After slogging through this book, I just have to say, HUH? I mean, I get it, but I guess I just don't think it's nearly as good as everyone else seems to think. I found the writing choppy, and the references weak, at best.

I was expecting something that would surprise me, and I was disappointed to find this mess of a book.

Rating:
Summary: A painfully good read.
Review: David Barthelme's Snow White, unlike some other specimens of avant-garde fiction, never loses its grip on the plot or the emotions of its characters in favor of retaining its experimental rhythms. One is able to feel sympathy for the many long-suffering dwarves, hope for the romantic leads, and an appropriate sense of the apalling regarding the villains, and still appreciate the puns and absurdities Barthelme was so adept at creating. At first glance, readers of more mainstream fiction might be put off by the seemingly random leaps between viewpoints and styles. However, on closer inspection, one finds a distinct pattern and a remarkable fullness to the prose. Not to mention the often tremendously funny, yes laugh-out-loud funny, episodes sprinkled throughout the book. By the time one reaches the last, very short, chapter, one sees that every line has been carefully crafted to reach this conclusion. It has become inevitable. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in adult faerie tales, experimental fiction, or anyone seeking a diverting, off the beaten path, change of pace from the cookie cutter junk so many authors now pass off as great literature.

Rating:
Summary: Clueless
Review: Donald Barthelme was a genius. This delicious book is inventive and playful yet feeling. I was dabbling in fiction writing myself until I discovered that Barthelme was already publishing books in the style I was writing in. I felt like this book was about me.

Rating:
Summary: Post Modernism at its best
Review: EM Forster asked in his famous Aspects of the Novel why can't the novel invent a form less rigid and more suitable to its genius. I agree. So much of what is served up these days to the public is a waste of time and obviously exists simply for commercial purposes. Not Snow White. Here we have real literature with a capital L and here we have real imagination too. Based on the original tale, alert readers will love how a master writer converts the simple to the complex, the silly to the profound, and yet keeps us entertained as he goes. Oh, I know in this democratic era questions of elitism are de trop. But so what? Go ahead and read an elitist book. It won't hurt and you will have a lot of fun in the process.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Waste Your Time
Review: From the reviews I had read about this book, it was supposed to be an intellectual, highly appealing and enchanting updated version of a classic children's story in which the dwarves are not really dwarves but rather sexually charged men who each take their turns having sex with Snow White in the shower (and only the shower, never in a bed). Snow White is seeking her Prince Charming, whose name is Paul. The wicked stepmother, whose name is Jane, is out to get Snow White. And one of the "dwarves", Bill, doesn't like to be touched...by anyone. Other than that, there wasn't much else I understood about this book. It was a very disjointed book. The writing was stilted and had the feel of a foreigner speaking in a second language. The conversations were completely unrealistic and the voices in my head, while reading, kept on speaking in a mechanical drone; no expression or hint of emotions. Really, really, really, wasn't worth the three evenings I spent reading it. I would be interested in knowing if anyone else has read and understood this book, but I certainly would not recommend purchasing it!

Rating:
Summary: Definitely not Walt Disney
Review: I have to admit that it took me quite some time to get into this version of _Snow White_. Batheleme's writing seemed too clever, too facile, too concerned with word play, too designed for the intellectual reader (not to be confused with the intelligent reader). I started to connect, but not entirely, with the far from fairy tale-like characters, who were more like people out of a Dashiell Hammett crime novel. Snow White, a sexy, femme fatale, with long black hair and a body that does not quit. Paul, hardly anyone's idea of a Prince Charming. He seemed incapable of rescuing her. The seven men with whom Snow White lived--who were they? No one could possibly believe that Snow White was merely their housekeeper. Jane, sort of, but not quite a wicked stepmother type, who could mix a mean cocktail.

Batrthelme's cynical, fractured fairy tale is kind of fun, inventively written and diverting, but loveable and warmhearted? Absolutely not!

Rating:
Summary: grimm, this isn't!
Review: my introduction to donald barthelme was his short stories. i learned of this book and dove right in. this was quite a romp! i feel for the other reviewers that may have felt that this was a faithful rendition of grimm classic. it certainly is not!! it is twisted and thought provoking. my favorite passages are the quiz and the end of part one, and the letter that jane (the evil stepmother) writes to a stranger in the phone book, mr. quistgaard. that truly makes you stop and think about the way things are today and how we insulate ourselves in our own plenum. in a rather strange way, it made me want to do the same thing!

i know absolutely nothing about post-modernist literature. i don't even know what it means. what i do know is that barthelme creates and recreates his own personal universe with each story and book. each one unique and provocative. i have read that barthelme is the master. i can believe it.

Rating:
Summary: Crazy man, crazy!
Review: This is one of those books that it's easy to get a lot from, and leaves you with endless questions as well. It's one that makes you laugh out loud and makes you say "Huh?" an awful lot.

One of the many things I enjoyed about this book is the interweaving of elements from the original tale and the Disney version (Heigh-ho!) The rhythmn of the narrative almost made me snap my fingers along to the beat. And the originality within a retold story put me in mind of Anne Sexton's work with fairy tales, but with a decidedly comic view.

With layer upon layer (which I can't seem to get enough of) that extends from the solidarity of modern relationships to the questions of "How unique is the American culture? Can it be preserved?" I saw many examples where exploration is encouraged.

But many many many questions linger. First and foremost: Who is the narrator? More like: Which is the narrator? All of the "seven dwarfs", or just one? Are the all facets of one person? I could really go on all day.

This is truly a book worthy of a second, third, and fourth read. There is just too much for my little mind to grasp at once, but definately a novel that entertains as well as, (and I hate this phrase but...) "makes you think."

Rating:
Summary: Crazy man, crazy!
Review: This is one of those books that it's easy to get a lot from, and leaves you with endless questions as well. It's one that makes you laugh out loud and makes you say "Huh?" an awful lot.

One of the many things I enjoyed about this book is the interweaving of elements from the original tale and the Disney version (Heigh-ho!) The rhythmn of the narrative almost made me snap my fingers along to the beat. And the originality within a retold story put me in mind of Anne Sexton's work with fairy tales, but with a decidedly comic view.

With layer upon layer (which I can't seem to get enough of) that extends from the solidarity of modern relationships to the questions of "How unique is the American culture? Can it be preserved?" I saw many examples where exploration is encouraged.

But many many many questions linger. First and foremost: Who is the narrator? More like: Which is the narrator? All of the "seven dwarfs", or just one? Are the all facets of one person? I could really go on all day.

This is truly a book worthy of a second, third, and fourth read. There is just too much for my little mind to grasp at once, but definately a novel that entertains as well as, (and I hate this phrase but...) "makes you think."

Rating:
Summary: Unsure but interesting nonetheless
Review: This tale, aside from retelling the Snow White fable, is chalk full of references to the Frog Prince, Robin Hood, and Tarzan. This, along with depicting the reaction to late '60's mentalities and theories (structuralism, socialism--hippy communalism, deconstructionism, and so forth), makes for a disjointed narrative. Of course, that is the point. Midway through the novel I realized that, as one reviewer wrote, Burroughs's cut-up method might have been used, for one cannot be sure when the events in the novel take place--in what order. Yet with Burroughs one is sure of this, with Barthelme, framing the society in which he wrote, it is intentional that one is not quite sure when, or even what, is happening. And with all of Barthelme's works, this is full of satire and black humor.