Turandot [Hardcover]

Marianna Mayer (Author), Winslow Pels (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 27, 1995 | Age Level: 9 and up

In this classic love story, based on Puccini's famous opera, Princess Turandot is known as the most beautiful maiden in Peking--and the most cold-hearted. Suitors flock from all over to win her hand, but none can answer the three riddles she sets--and all are put to death. Then young Prince Calaf appears and transforms Turandot's life forever. Full color.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Mayer (The Unicorn and the Lake) again demonstrates her talent for spinning elegant fairy tales in understated, dramatic prose. The story of Turandot, the cold-hearted princess who challenges her suitors with a life-or-death game of three riddles, unfolds as both a mystery and a love story. Readers will be perplexed and then compelled by the power of her beauty, asking, as Prince Calaf does, "What sort of creature is this Princess Turandot that suitors gladly go to their death for her?" Pels's (Beauty and the Beast) moody, oil-and-pencil illustrations have a still, posed quality; certain images seem composed as if for the stage, echoing the famous opera. Her ice-gray palette slowly gives way to warm reds and oranges as Turandot falls in love with Calaf; the final scene shows a triumphant wedding procession. An author's note references the many versions of Turandot, including the original Persian as well as a variation from the Brothers Grimm. All ages.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7?The beautiful but coldhearted Princess Turandot decrees that in order to win her, suitors must answer three riddles or be executed. A Persian prince, Calaf, smitten after one look at the young woman, determines to try his luck. Though he answers her riddles correctly, she still refuses to marry him. Because he adores her, he offers her a way out. If she can guess his name, he will leave Peking. This story was introduced by the Venetian playwright Carlo Gozzi (1720-1806), whose dramatized fairy tales were enormously popular during his lifetime. His version, said to be drawn from a tale he found in The Arabian Nights, widely impressed European romantics. Several composers have based operas on the story, notably Giacomo Puccini. Mayer's retelling follows the general outlines of his version. She softens Puccini's tragic libretto by leaving out his most notable addition to the tale: the cruel death of Calaf's loyal slave girl. A source note outlines the story's history. The illustrations, suffused with 1920s decadence, are also informed by Puccini's conception. Still tableaux, featuring many closeups of Turandot as a vamp draped in pearls and cuddling a tiger, stage the story on an icebound landscape. Since the text is not faithful to Puccini's problematic libretto, it will not be much help to those wishing to introduce his opera. Readers are left with a sentimental, improbable love story, slickly illustrated, that reflects the popular image of China at the turn of the century?a distant, exotic place populated by barbarous people.?Margaret A. Chang, North Adams State College,
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 1 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st ed edition (September 27, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688090737
• ISBN-13: 978-0688090739
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,189,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #52 in Books > Children's Books > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > Asian

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The original answer the riddle to marry the princess story, March 4, 2004

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Turandot (Hardcover)

"Turandot" is an interesting opera in millions have heard an aria from it, "Nessun Dorma" (a.k.a. Lucianno Pavarotti's encore piece of choice), than have ever seen the opera performed. As for what the story of "Turandot" is about, I know I have heard it from time to time, but all I really ever remember is that it is the opera that is rarely performed but has the aria that Pavarotti loves to do in concert. Fortunately, Marianna Mayer and illustrator Winslow Pels have rectified that deficiency in my knowledge of opera by adapting Puccini's opera into this oversized volume.

It turns out that the princess Turandot is not only the most beautiful maiden in Peking but the most coldhearted. The popular theory is that the Moon Goddess put a spell on Turdanot that has frozen her heart. When Turdandot's father insists that she marry, she agrees but on one condition: any suitor must answer three riddles. Failure to do so (you know what is coming) means the suitor will lose his life. Of course, this does not stop a series of young men from risking everything for the change to win the hand of the princess. But then a young prince named Calaf presents himself as a suitor and Turandot asks him the three riddles.

I did not really like not getting to hear the riddles until Turandot asks them of Calaf, because I wanted to mull them over and see if I could have kept the princess from having her executioner lop my head off, and that is rather hard to do when the answer is in the next paragraph and appears in italics, fairly leaping off the page at you. However, since Calaf is the one suitor who gets mentioned by name you know he is going to get them right, but that only sets up the really great little twist in the tale as Calaf refuses to marry the princess against her will and asks her a riddle that she must solved to be released from her obligation to marry the him.

This telling of "Turandot" has some subtle elements that might not appeal to all readers, but those who like stories with riddles will find this one quite interesting. It turns that the story of Turandot is probably the best-known and oldest of those where a proud princess tests her suitors with riddles, being traced back to the original "Thousand and One Nights." You can also find a variation of the tale by the Brothers Grimm called "The Sea-Hare." The Author's Note in the back of the book also points out that there were lots of other operas written based on the story before Puccini's, which was actually finished after his death in 1924 by Franco Alfano. The illustrations by Pels are done in oil and oil pencil soluble.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun!, October 3, 2011

By 

BDav - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Turandot (Hardcover)

Definitely better for older readers, say 4th/5th grade. However, I used it in my 2nd grade music class to teach them more about opera. Each character was an instrument, and the students were assigned characters. They really got into it! The adaptation is great--good vocabulary usage--and the pictures are well done.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a beautiful story, February 9, 2000

By 

quin (california, usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Turandot (Hardcover)

this book caught my eye first due to its gorgeous illustrations. winslow pels depictions of the beautiful yet cruel turnadot and the brave prince are lovely. of course, there is also the dramatic and moving story, which while in a version easy for children to grasp, still communicates the emotions and feelings of the characters. i bought a copy for myself and am now buying one for a friend's baby.