Maggie on Elm

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Mirror, Mirror...What is the best read of all?

Just finished reading the novel Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire.

He also wrote Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West which is now on the stage. This book was a faster read and just as engaging.

He sets the tale of Snow White in the early 1500s with Lucrezia Borgia as the hag who tries to do in beautiful Bianca de Nevada. One of the best parts for me was Maguire's treatment of the seven dwarves...or stone men who come to individuate and grow stronger as Bianca "imagines" them. No Walt Disney here. No Grumpy, Sneezy, Dopey or Doc. No Bashful or Happy or, what's that last dwarf's name? There is also an element of the quest that brings you home again. The TS Elliot elements of our beginnings and our endings and knowing before and beyond knowing are here. The prose in the novel is often mystical and poetical. And, best of all, always fresh.

When I checked out at the Emmaus library, the volunteer told me I'd really like the book.
I started reading the book the next day during a late lunch at the Cafe 29 and had a lengthy conversation with one of the staff whose is a Maguire fan.

So - anyone else reading Gregory Maguire?
What are you all reading?

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