6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"WHY?", May 2, 2002
This review is from: Straw Into Gold (Hardcover)
Many fantasy stories are based on "what ifs", but this particular one is based on "whys". Specifically, the "whys" of the old fairy tale "Rumplestiltskin," and why he wanted to steal away the infant prince. In a book market where just about every retelling or fairy tale sequel idea has been exhausted, Gary Schmidt crafts an intriguing tale which gives us the answers to our "whys."
Tousle and his small, odd-looking father (called only "Da") are travelling to the city of Wolverham, where a rebellion against one of the king's lords has just been stopped. Tousle notices the queen, a sweet but very sad woman who lost her infant son years ago; also a blind young boy his own age, who was arrested as one of the rebels. When the king asks the crowd if there is anyone who will ask for mercy for the rebels, both the queen and Tousle speak up.
The result is that the queen is sent back to the abbey where she lives, and Tousle is given seven days to unravel a riddle: What fills a hand fuller than a skein of gold? Tousle, unsurprisingly, has no idea. So he sets off with the blind rebel boy, Innes, to ask first Da and then the queen the answer to the riddle. But they are pursued both by the sinister King's Grip, the stirrings of a very different rebellion, and the question of what happened to the baby prince all those years ago. Where is he? Who is he? And could the queen recognize him now?
Schmidt does an exceptional job bringing a new spin and new explanation to the "whys" of Rumplestiltskin. It's pretty clear from the beginning who "Da" is, but not his motives; those don't become clear until the end. Instead the focus is on characters that are not always what they seem, such as Da and the King. Even the bad guys have layers.
His writing is very good, expressing the grittiness of medieval life without making it icky. Some passages are almost poetry; others are horrifying in their concept. My only beef (pun intended) is that he spends a great deal of time focusing on the food that people are eating. I don't mind this in moderation, but he was making me very hungry.
Tousle and Innes are a great couple of heroes. Tousle is a very honest, humble, good-natured young man who ends up in over his head. Innes is more of a mystery boy, in that you often don't know things about his past is or what he's thinking. We also have good supporting characters like the prince's nurse and her husband, and the kind, sad queen who is banished away from the castle because of the disappearance of her son.
This is a great story for those of you who enjoy Donna Jo Napoli, Robin McKinley and Gail Carson Levine (or Vivian Vande Velde's satirical "Rumplestiltskin Problem" book). Excellent sequel, and one for any fan of fairy tales or retellings.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
'What fills a hand fuller than a skein of gold?', June 14, 2002
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Straw Into Gold (Hardcover)
*I checked this book out of a library, thinking it was good to read for this summer. And it was.
*It starts out retelling the story of the miller's daughter, except this time Rumpelstiltskin takes the child. Then the story zooms to about eleven years later to start the story of Tousle, who lives with his Da in cottage in the woods.
*In the beginning, Tousle is traveling to see the King's procession, but later finds that it's purpose is to hang those who rebelled against Lord Beryn(the bad guy). Tousle selflessly gives himself up to plea for the rebels lives. The King then takes Tousle aside and gives him the riddle that will save both the rebels lives and his own, 'What fills a hand fuller than a skein of gold?' Thus the adventure begins.
*Along with Innes, a blind Rebel, Tousle has seven days to find the answer to the riddle. But when they answer one, they'll answer another...
*This is a very marvelous book. It puts the reader on the edge of their seat and is funny enough to lighten it's dark demeanor. With it's twist at the end, the reader will learn more than the answer to the King's riddle.
* means beginnig of a paragraph.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rumpelstiltskin Revisited, March 31, 2003
This review is from: Straw Into Gold (Hardcover)
In this 2001 retelling of the fairytale Rumpelstiltskin by Gary Schmidt, two orphan boys named Tousle and Innes must find the answer to the king's riddle - What fills a hand fuller than a skein of gold? - within seven days or they and a group of "rebel" prisoners face execution.
The book begins with the traditional story of the miller's claim that his daughter can spin straw into gold, her weeping which brings the little man who does just that, and the little man carrying off her first-born son as payment. In this version, however, he does this before the queen, so overcome with grief that she cannot speak, can make her final guess concerning his name.
The narrative then moves ahead twelve years to Tousle and Innes and the riddle given to them by the king and his council of Great Lords. The boys decide to visit the queen, whom the king keeps sequestered in a convent. They soon find, however, that there are a number of people concerned with their safety - or the lack there of, as the case may be - and must find ways of avoiding all kinds of dangers, mostly soldiers with large, scary weapons but also those who easily succumb to the temptation of money in return for information on the whereabouts of two young boys.
As Tousle and Innes near the convent, rumors of a young prince who was carried off as a baby by a little man reach them. The reader, who has perhaps begun to wonder how this story-thread ties into the original tale of Rumpelstiltskin, begins to surmise that one of the boys is possibly the prince himself. After all, both are orphans; Tousle was raised by a little man named Da; it is unclear how or why Innes has been blinded by what appears to be a sword slash to his eyes; and at least one of the people with whom they seek refuge on their way to the queen mutters about strange likenesses to the king, although it is not obvious who is being described.
Needless to say, as this is a fairytale, all turns out well in the end, although this specific version of the familiar tale keeps the reader guessing until the very last page.
Retellings of fairytales are always intriguing because of what they reveal about a culture and its values but they are perhaps most interesting in this day and age of feminist critiques of gender roles in the original stories. This particular retelling does not, perhaps, make the strongest break from traditional gender roles as is possible. It might appear that the real reasons Tousle and Innes are on this "quest" is to rescue other female characters - Tousle: the queen from the grief which is clearly evident in her features when he catches a glimpse of her at the beginning of the story; and Innes: the two girls who have been so kind to him and are a part of the "rebels" who face death if the boys do not return with the answer to the king's riddle. The queen is, however, despite being controlled by the men in her life, a fairly strong character and when given an opportunity to significantly change her life, does not hesitate to take it despite the risks involved.
Minor points of contention with the book are: one, pronunciation of either of the main character's names is uncertain, a rather annoying feature were one to read this story aloud, and two, it is a bit confusing why, if the only life that Tousle remembers is that which he has had with Da, he knows to refer to himself in the first person, since the only voice Da ever uses is the third.
More information about the kingdom in which the story is set might also have been nice. One infers that the king is controlled by the members of his council, the Great Lords, but why? Why is the miller's house - the father of the queen - so ramshackle? What exactly has transpired between the queen and the king? One might argue that not having this information adds mystery to the story but there are times when not being in possession of such details may keep the reader from fully understanding the dynamics of the story and relationships between characters.
That being said, reading this book is an incredibly enjoyable process. The story is suspenseful and unpredictable, pulling one in so that, for all intents and purposes, one is within the story with Tousle and Innes. In fact, one may so enjoy spending time with these characters that one will find it necessary to delay reading the final chapter in order to prolong one's time within this story world.
This book should appeal to almost any age, although it addresses issues that are perhaps most relevant to the age for which it is intended: junior high. It explores relationships between human beings, both good and bad. It addresses the idea of "bad" occurrences later revealed to be the best and most necessary ones at the time. And perhaps most applicable of all, it speaks of feelings of not belonging anywhere in particular, of the envy of not knowing one's own gift (or gifts) when others know theirs, and the aloneness and insecurity which nearly everyone has known, or will know, at one time in their lives or another.
In all, this is a very good book, well-written and captivating, addressing a number of important issues pertinent to the age-group for which it is intended.
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