Customer Reviews

Ariel

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book is described as "young adult" but this not-so-young-adult liked it very much. The author borrowed the story line of Shakespeare's Tempest and added years, events, and characters in and around the play. The author also borrows some of the ways Shakespeare developed his characters. A "witch" is presented as not evil. A "monster" in the eyes of some is revealed as a sympathetic character. Most important is Ariel, a spirit of imagination, who leads people to trouble to the extent that they opt for a world of imagination instead of the world as it is. While the book may be accessible to young adults, its sophisticated treatment of characters gives it layers of meaning best appreciated by those long gone from high school. Its ending, which I will not spoil by revealing, is stunning, and provides much food for thought for anyone concerned with America's history and direction. One warning: those who prefer their spirits to be cuddly Tinkerbell's over spirits capable of malevolence, and those who prefer Disney-sanitized fairy tales over the original Brothers Grimm, might find this book unsettling.

One of the great things about Shakespeare is that you can put one of his plays in any era and it will fit. One of the great things about Grace Tiffany's books is that she is true to Shakespeare while bringing him to life from a new perspective. As with all her other books, this one made me want to go back and reread the original, in this case The Tempest. Ariel is imaginative, creative, humorous and profound; it's a great read.

A retelling of the classic The Tempest with a twist! As the sailor Jasper finally finds an island to land after falling overboard he thinks in his dying breath of a beautiful woman of his dreams, she springs from his head and is made real. She waits on the island for another human to come and give her the power to explore the world around her.

http://dailylitmajor.blogspot.com/2008/09/review-ariel-by-grace-tiffany.html

The first thing you should know about Ariel is that she is a liar, because dreams lie, and she is both dream and maker of dreams. Take that as a warning.
In the Triangle, which is a place of magic, there is a spirit that can see your hopes, desires, and dreams; this spirit's name is Ariel. She was spawned long ago from Jasper, who was a sailor, in 48 A.D. Ariel had been waiting for her champion from the east, to save her from her carpenter ant torture, and help conquer the whole island. When people come to the Triangle though, they do not always listen to Ariel's commands.
I enjoyed this book a lot, and the way it talked about emotions. For example, Ariel illustrated how grief and sadness are not always just on the surface, it is something that is rooted deep within yourself. This book showed raw human feelings, at a level where I could understand them.
I did not like how there where few details about the surroundings in the book. I had to make up a lot of information, like what I thought the setting looked like. Something I think was a bad choice was that Ariel covered hundreds of years rather than just a few. This made reading the book a little more unreal for me, because it is very hard for me to comprehend hundreds of years at the same time.
I would recommend this book to both boys and girls, because Ariel has male and female characters. If you do not have much of an imagination though, this is probably not the right book for you.

One of the only good things to be said about Ariel is that it was a quick read. I'm sorry to report that I did not enjoy the experience. Though the basis was extremely interesting to me (while I have not read The Tempest, I greatly enjoy Shakespeare and tales concerning him and his plays), the execution was amateur.

In the end, I didn't understand the point. I wasn't left with that wonderful sense of awe one is supposed to have upon finishing a book. It all seemed aimless and hasty. The climax could hardly be described as such (so abrupt!). There were no clever plot twists (I wasn't even amused by the allusion at the end). The characters were too inhuman to relate to - I really ended up hating most of them.

On the bright side, I am much more interested in reading The Tempest itself now, for I'd like to see how it compares with this novel.