Customer Reviews

The Goose Girl

5 star:		(153)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Debut author Shannon Hale succeeds wonderfully with her first novel, "The Goose Girl." A retelling of the moderately well-known tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, she reinvents the story for a modern audience.

Ani, a crown princess, learns at an early age that her special gifts are not those valued by her queen mother and her future subjects. She is eventually sent to marry a prince in a different kingdom, but along the way is overthrown by her lady-in-waiting. Ani becomes a servant, tending geese, while she searches for a way to return to the marriage and throne that is rightfully her own.

Hale has reimagined the story in such a way as to give us a strong, if flawed, heroine with a conscience. In this book, the reader isn't left wondering how a princess could allow herself to be displaced so easily from her birthright. We are also given a magical reason for Ani's successful sojourn with geese. Ultimately, Hale's prose is the book's greatest asset. Ani and her world are vivid creations, ready to be shared during a long, quiet read.

If you enjoy fairy tale novelizations, such as those by Robin McKinley and Donna Jo Napoli, this book will make a great addition to your bookshelf. If you simply like historical fantasy, forget the fairy tale, this novel will also please. Royalty, deception, intrigue, treason, and redemption make up a story that doesn't obviously derive from a fairy tale.

One of my very fave fairy tales as a very young Mir was "The Goose Girl". I especially loved reading aloud the rhymes--'Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it/Sadly, sadly, would she rue it," and "Blow, wind, blow." I was horrified in that particular, sensitive way of children that someone would decapitate a lovely horse such as Falada, the beloved, talking horse of the princess protagonist. Clearly, evil was afoot if such a dastardly deed was conscionable. I imagined Curdken's chase for his cap. (In my chikdhood's version of the tale, that was his name. In other versions--and in this retelling--it's Conrad's hat that goes rolling over hill and dale, sparking his pursuit. And I delighted in the horrible, terrible justice that befell the villainess. Just thinking about it makes me feel 6 all over again, feeling the magic of the story--all the stories--and how to a child, all this was so plausible: that a horse should talk, that the lock of hair should speak (some versions have drops of blook on a hanky), that a princess should command the wind, that justice would prevail.

Shannon Hale has taken that brief, bloody, magical tale that may be familiar to you and fleshed it out in a story written for a YA audience, but sufficiently skilled, lyrical, and well-plotted in the telling that an adult like me was engrossed and loath to put it down even to have supper.

In this retelling, the Princess Anidora-Kiladra (Anifor short) is a misfit in her own family. Even as a newborn she evidenced a strangeness: She didn't open her eyes for three days, not until her aunt (gifted with a special "speech") spoke her into wide-eyedness. This hint of a special power of speaking is hinted at from the opening, but develops beautifully. We see the not-well-loved child, Princess Ani, grow close to her aunt, who can speak to animals. She learns the language of swans, she learns some of the bird dialects, and she senses something latent in herself, something she cannot fully enunciate.

It turns out that out of political considerations (fear of war), the Queen--who has the gift of people speech, ie persuasive to humans) betroths Ani to the prince of the neighboring acquisitive, hawkish kingdom. En route (as in the fairy tale) Ani's lady in waiting, Selah, who is deceitful and potent in people speech, gains many of the guards to her side, and they mutiny. Ani must hide in the forest of this foreign land, where she is befriended by a forest widow and her son.

Ani ends up, as the Princess in the original tale, working as a goose girl for the king whose son she had been fated to marry. Without a persuasive gift of speech of her own, she is at the mercy of the powers around her. From privilege to the lowest echelon of society. A drastic change of status.

What will she do?

She ponders how to fix what has been damaged (and it's more than just her status). And, in the process, she begins to develop her gift. She learns goose speech, which is (surprisingly) not like swan speech. It's a gift that will serve her well. The start of a new journey of acquisitions--of insight, of power, of perspective, of friends, of confidence.

Through the treacheries and friendships and tests and hardships, she begins to understand what her privileged and curtailed palace life had kept her from learning. And she learns one very important thing: She can speak to the wind. The fairy tale glosses over this great gift. Hale develops it as part of the evolving plot and part of the evolving, maturing Ani.

We know, from the fairy story, that she will get her prince, and their romance develops believably and sweetly in Hale's tale, somewhat reminiscent of EVER AFTER, the film retelling of Cinderella. We sense that her trials will only make her a better future ruler, one who has walked in the shoes of the poor and oppressed and outcast and unjustly accused.

Because it is a fairy tale retold, we know the ending though not all the details of how to get there. The special pleasure here is in the details.

A marvelous, magical story. RECOMMENDED for young and middle-aged and old.

Mir of Mirathon blog

Shannon Hale just won a Newbery Honor for her latest book, The Princess Academy, and my wife raves about Hale's The Goose Girl - for good reason. An extrapolation of the Grimm brothers' tale of the same name, Goose Girl chronicles a princess' fall from power and long climb back up from where she lands - tending the royal geese in the far-off land where she was supposed to marry the prince.

Goose Girl matches the tone and magic of fairy tales, while delving more deeply into character and consequence. I fell into the no-nonsense prose and moved swiftly through the tale, happy that the story's slower, more poignant moments didn't necessarily read that way. Unfortunately, Hale's even style also dulled some of the more exciting moments; there were at least two occasions where I felt serious action in the book demanded more electric, exciting prose. It almost felt as if surviving a rather vicious coup carried the exact same weight as playing chase with a goose.

But the narration always reminds us that what we are reading is a fairy tale, and like most fairy tales, this one has its pleasingly predictable ups and downs, and its happily ever after. I did think the end game was a bit messy though. I accept those "I have you now, Mr. Bond - but I'm not going to kill you until you've had a chance to escape/be saved" moments in some fiction (see for example, um, well, almost every James Bond movie) but in books like this I am a bit disappointed when the protagonist puts herself in a bad position, and then lives to tell the tale only because the bad guys didn't run her through when they had the chance.

And too, like any ripping yarn worth its salt, there are plenty of opportunities in Goose Girl for the good guys to square off against their particular nemeses, but I found myself rolling my eyes a bit as one of the villains moved from hero to hero, distracted from dealing a death blow only by someone else daring him or challenging him to come fight. After the book was over, I compared said moments to that classic scene in The Princess Bride where Inigo Montoya finally gets his revenge on the six-fingered man. Why, I asked myself, did I cheer for Montoya and the perfectly obvious resolution to his storyline, but roll my eyes at the parade of such scenes in Goose Girl?

I put the question to my wife, and, as usual, she had the answer. Princess Bride tells its fairy tale with tongue firmly planted in cheek, playing with storybook conventions even as it exploits them. Goose Girl thrives on its fairy tale past, but is a much more serious novel. I suppose that's why I needed a bit more from the ending than what it delivered.

Based on one of Grimm's less well known tales about a princess who becomes a goose girl before harnessing her unique talents and ascending the throne. All the elements work together to create a beautifully told story that is difficult to put down. There's the brave and resourceful heroine, the court intrigue that causes her to lose her crown, the dark forest brimming with imminent danger, and the love interest who is not what he seems. Plus, this princess/goose girl knows the language of the animals. The words weave a magical spell, beginning with the first sentence, "She was born Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, and she did not open her eyes for three days." It's like hearing a long-lost, totally entrancing fairy tale for the first time; the images are familiar but the story itself is brand new.

I just discovered Shannon Hale's "The Goose Girl" and am amazed. Her story, based on the fairy tale, is both magical and real, with characters who seem so alive they breathe right out of the pages. "The Goose Girl" is a book you can read for the joy of the story, and for the amazing things Hale does with it. She takes the elements of Grimms' fairy tale and weaves something entirely new.

But there is more than just the tale. Hale is a truly gifted writer! I hung on every word, reading for the sheer wonder and substance of her writing. Shannon Hale's is a true story-teller. Her imagery is beautiful and original, and yet her writing has a simplicity and innocence that brought back my childhood. She can write of the good (and bad) in human nature and bring you out feeling like words were just created, and you just spoke your first.

If you can get a hardcover, DO. This is a book you'll want to read over and over just to "live" it. When you step into the covers of the book, into the kingdoms of Kildenree and Bayern, you are there. When you begin the journey, there's no turning back. I couldn't, and didn't, put the book down.

This book is my current favorite book. I love Ani and Enna and Finn and Conrad. I love how you see this not so common fairy tale told and expanded in such a way that you like the princess (Ani) and you want her to succeed. She is such a powerful character.

Shannon Hale is an amazing author with an ability to show the reader a world unlike any other. A world full of possibilities so much like our own, yet different enough to be full of magic.

I love this book and I hope that you read it and enjoy it as much as I have.

This has made its way onto my top 10 list of favorite books.

(First - for book constructions snobs, this book is beautiful. The binding, the cover, the size, the type face, it's all wonderful. A must have in hard cover.)

When I started reading I was quickly absorbed and fascinated by Hale's writing style. It is rich and lush - like reading poetry - only very easy to read and full of clear meaning. Hale's ability to put timeless ideas into words that completely connect with you as a reader is her gift. After my initial love affair with the writing style - it quickly became texture and I was completely swept into the story.

This book is brilliant on many fronts. I hate to be cliché, but once I got into it, the story was so engaging I couldn't put the book down. I laughed, I cheered, I fumed, I even (*cough*) got a little misty eyed in parts, and after the satisfying conclusion I can't wait for more from Hale.

It is a terrific, uplifting story that holds appeal for all ages and genders. It is one of those stories that creeps into your thoughts and dreams when you aren't reading it. Hale understands and captures those essential elements that make a story stick with you and matter. The story is strong with timeless themes like societal equality, compassion, romance, redemption, overcoming difficult odds, justice, war and peace, personal strength and power, shame and honor, integrity and betrayal.

It isn't your standard "fantasy" story with magic and the like. It has some mild elements of that (it is based on a Grimm Brother's fairy tale) and would appeal to any fan of that, but it's also very accessible to those unfamiliar with or uninterested in the fantasy genre.

Bottom line: it is a wonderful story, told extremely well.

I had this book read aloud to me as I nursed my new baby. Although it's prose, it reads beautifully, like poetry. I was captivated by the multi-sensory descriptions, which drew us right into Ani's world. Towards the end, our reading sessions lengthened because we just couldn't wait to find out what was going to become of the heroine! While the story is intended for young adults, any grown up would enjoy this beatiful novel.

I bought this book after I heard the author speak at a book store. I was so impressed with her that I took the plunge and bought the book. I have to say that I stayed up all that night reading it, I could NOT put it down. Shannon Hale writes with amazing imagery, and I felt that I was actually in the story. I highly recommend this book to anyone.

"The Goose Girl" is so enchanting. It is the kind of book that you can't stop reading. "The Goose Girl" contained suspense, fairy tales, romance, changing emotions, vivid descriptions, friends, and enemies. This is the best book I have ever read. I usually don't like to read, but my mom made me read it. I am so glad I did. After reading this book, I recommend "The Princess Academy," it is just as imaginative and exciting.