Customer Reviews

Zel

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I wavered on the prospect of buying this book for at least a month before finally purchasing it, simply because I wasn't sure if I would be getting a "kid's book" that would interest me or a more mature novel. Because Donna Jo Napoli's books are mostly listed as "young adult," and because some of her other titles, such as "Soccer Shock" and "Shark Shock" looked like "kids' books," I kept putting this recommendation aside.

I wanted to read fairy tales, but not Disney-style, written for children with children's themes. I was (and am) interested in the adult side to these tales, but every time I would search Amazon.com for fairy tales, this was one of the first recommendations. Eventually, I succumbed, and I am unbelievably grateful.

"Zel" is one of the finest novels I have read, period. Napoli's fierce command over language, tone, content, setting and narrative prose shines so brightly in this book that I re-read it every day for three weeks just to absorb it all.

Zel, of course, is the story of Rapunzel, but as with most of Napoli's work, the details have been rearranged. Zel's love of life is corraled by her mother, who loves her daughter so much that she can't bear the thought of losing her to anyone or anything. And besides, Mother is a witch.

The character of Mother is a careful, powerful description of a woman in torment, as well as the crushing ability of love. Her internal struggles take root in the very fundamental question of evil: why do bad things happen? In Mother's case, the "bad thing" is her inability to have children. The desire is so intense that her barreness drives her away from God (at one point, she asks how He could make her want one so badly and yet not let her have one). She is unconcerned with selling her soul for the powers that allow her to acquire a child.

Mother has a need to both justify her actions and suffer for them. The increasing amount of control she imposes over her daughter - to the point that Zel is locked in a tower - drives both Mother and Zel to madness, but while Zel's madness is born from loneliness and isolation, Mother's is driven from guilt and fear. Mother works to bring her daughter wonderful gifts -- which Napoli describes in a way I've yet to see another author master, through patient mentions of foods, receipes, and other basic goods -- yet knows as she delivers them that Zel doesn't want them.

Konrad is the impetus for placing Zel in the tower. Zel's chance meeting with the 15 year-old count arouses all the fear Mother has of her child growing up and leaving her - as well as loving anyone besides her. But Mother can't control Konrad, who seeks Zel out everyday.

The alternating views -- between Mother, Zel and Konrad -- keep the book balanced with everyone's viewpoint. Mother is kept from being a black-hat villain because she can tell her story and therefore allow the reader to understand. Of course, you have to cheer for the young lovers, but despite the ending, I could sympathize with Mother's position.

Napoli doesn't shy away from adult situations -- including sex -- but she handles them tastefully and powerfully. "Zel" has themes that I don't think younger children or even younger teenagers can entirely grasp. It certainly isn't a novel to keep kids away from, in my opinion, but it is strong in nature.

The final paragraph is perhaps the most powerful of the entire novel, and it's probably why I keep rereading. Those are always the best kinds of books, I think; the ones that _make_ you read them again. I would recommend Zel to everyone except the very young. This book has caused me to gobble up nearly every book by Donna Jo Napoli, and for that, I will always be grateful to Amazon.com, who continued to recommend it no matter how many times I ignored it.

Zel is a retelling of the Rapunzel story. It shows the story from three alternating perspectives, a spoiled young prince, an enthusiastic peasant girl - Zel, and her aging foster-mother. Unlike the original story, we are brought to understand why the foster-mother keeps her captive in the tower - it is to keep her ever a child, and to save her from men. It is all mother's impulses taken to an extreme. Zel's ensuing madness acquired in captivity is disturbing, yet realistic for this fairytale situation. The mother-daughter relationship is something most women will be able to relate to, particularly the struggles for independence of young womanhood. In particular, I could recall my own desire for a boyfriend, my mother's protective urges that forbade me from dating.

While the book is written for a teen audience, I found some of the subject matter rather mature.

Firstly, I want to ask why people seem to make such a huge deal about Zel sleeping with the prince. They exchange marriage vows, and nothing is actually said. It was implied, and the only part the story tells is when Konrad wakes up, the next morning. From the way people seem to carry on, you would think it was graphically detailed. I didn't even realize they'd slept together until I skipped back and put two and two together.

While I still wouldn't recommend this book to anyone under twelve, that's only because of the descriptions of Zel's madness in the tower. It was very disturbing, and I cried when I read it. People younger than me might have found it more traumatic, but I think teenagers and preteens could handle it, because it makes the story more emotional and realistic. Overall, it was a great book, disturbing and very romantic toward the end.

Zel is a book loosely based on the story of Rapunzel. It's set in the Swiss Alps, about a mother so desperate for a child that she sells her soul to Satan for a child. Now, Zel (named after her favorite type of lettuce) is thirteen. She meets a prince (or duke...haven't read the book in a couple months) named Konrad. They are both quite attracted to each other. The mother, noticing her daughter's developments, is terrified of losing her. After Zel meets Konrad again, the mother goes a little -ahem- crazy, and locks Zel away in a tower, desperate to keep her daughter forever. The story was written from three points of view-Zel, Konrad, and the Mother, and it is incredible in the way that it delves headfirst into the psychological aspects. Zel eventually goes insane after being in that small stone circle for so long. Zel introduces puberty, and Zel's longing for a male companion. Her hair begins to weigh her down so much that she begins to walk around naked. Zel also mentions menstrual cycles, etc. Parents don't go burning these books in public groups now...I'm thirteen, and I could take it just fine. Besides, Donna Jo Napoli words things wonderfully and incredibly lyrical. When I reached the part where Konrad and Zel have sex, I went back and reread the chapter twice before realizing they had. The ambigous format saves Zel from becoming exceedingly crude.

READ THIS!
NOW!!!!

Many classic fairytales have been done and re-done, worked and re-worked Cinderella for example. Off the top of my head I could list five different ways I have seen or read Cinderella. But thought it's immense popularity is still strong, Rapunzel has never gotten the same recognition by authors looking to "redo" a classic fairy tale. And perhaps for the better. "Zel" is a wonderful tale, telling not a new version, but a more indepth version of the story of Rapunzel. The story is told from three different pointso of view, Zel's, her mothers and Konrad's. Napoli gracefully ages Zel and makes the smooth transition from being a child, to a young woman. This book has a touching and innocent love scene, nothing compared to what people see in the movies today. So with that in mind I would recomend it to people ages 12 and over, or maybe 10 and older, depending on what their parents allow. I loved this book when I read it two years ago, and it didn't "take away" my innocence, in any way shape or form. Happy reading.

Wow! It's been so long since I have read this book, but I probably think about it every day. This book is romantic, lustful, at times, even dark. It is the well-known tale of Rapunzel, retold from three points of view; Zel, the prince, and the witch-mother. The love that the mother had for Zel, the lust of the prince, the horror of Zel's days in the tower, the power of the words, all left me speechless. This book makes me cry. It makes me think. Even certain lines stay with me still. Zel is so innocent, pure, changed by the desire of the prince, the ruthlessness of her mother's yearn to keep her for herself. Her days in the tower, when she is depressed, hurt, confused, alone, alone, alone....
I guess all of you have proabably heard the tale of Rapunzel, so there is no need for me to explain the plot, only to say, this is truly a magnificent book, a book that stays with me still, and such a beautiful retelling.

For readers who simply glance over the words and do no reading between the lines, this book will simply read as a fleshed-out fairytale, in which the characters, settings and storylines are given more background and details. For those who take the time to read more luxeriously and deeply, they will find layer upon layer of meaning, symbolism, motivations and psychological breakdown that is simply intoxicating to discover. Underlying all of this is the concept of deep and powerful love, and its conflicting abilities to both nourish and destroy.

Set in the mountains of Switzerland in the mid-1500s, Rapunzel "Zel" lives an isolated and innocent existence with her mother in their small farm, finding joy in such simple pleasures as visits into town and her birthday celebrations. But when her mother leaves her at the smithy, Zel comes into contact with her first male influence - the Prince Konrad who is immediatly captivated by her golden hair and pretty face. But if there is one thing that her mother will never allow it is for her most beloved daughter to be taken away from her. As Konrad anguishes away in a hopeless search for his heart's desire, Zel is whisked away from all contact from the human world - to a stone tower deep in the forest, with no way of escape.

The story is told through three viewpoints, that of Rapunzel and the Prince (told in third-person narrative) and of Zel's mother, made more intimate through her speaking directly to the reader. The three stories intertwine in a braid as tight as Rapunzel's hair as they struggle against their own personal desires and the conflicting emotions of those closet to them, and Donna Jo Napoli lays bare the original tale remarkably loyally, while delving deeper into the depths of what makes the three protagonists tick: Konrad's helpless obession with Zel, Zel's desire to please her mother yet follow her own path, and (most fascinating and frightening of all) Zel's mother's terror of loosing that which she loved most, and indeed gave up her very soul for. All the questions that you had when you first heard the 'Rapunzel' fairytale are answered: (how did Rapunzel's hair get so long? Why did the witch lock Rapunzel away? What were the witch's real motivations?), and at the same time we get a deeper look at the tale that we do not expect. I was not entirely fond of the fact that the book was written in present tense (ie - "she goes to the well" instead of "she went to the well"), but I concede it is necessary to pull one right up close to the characters and the decisions/actions they make.

Donna Jo Napoli is a remarkable author, enriching and illuminating this particular fairytale, making each fantasy element seem not quite as impossible as one might think. The glimpses into the nature of love, the abuse of children, the gift of free spirit and the reality of faith are thought-provoking and set off all kinds of discussions. I would also recommend Paul Zelinsky's picture book of "Rapunzel" as a wonderful accomplice to this book - although his is set in Italy, it too creates a deep and beautiful retelling of "Rapunzel" that we have not heard before.

I didnt really like Zel. I thought that it had a very slow start, and didnt start to get interesting till about 3/4 in. I would recomend this book to girls that enjoy fairy tales, although Zel is quite different then one. And probably ages 11 and over.

The book has 3 main points of view, as well as 3 main characters: Count Konrad, Zel, Mother.

Count konrad is a prince that meets zel at the market, gets her a goose egg, and then spends 2 years trying to find where she lives.

Mother is Zels well... Step Mother. She traded some rapunzel lettuce to Zels real mother in offer for Zel when she was born. Mother is very protected, kind of crazy, and does whatever she can to keep Zel close to her. Including only bringing her to town twice a year, and locking her up in a tower becuase Zel told her about a boy she met: Count Konrad.

Zel "Rapunzel" was named after a lettuce that her birth mother loved. After she meets Konrad in town, she cant think about anything else but him. She tells her mother about him, gets locked up in a tower all alone, and the only company she gets for 2 years is Mothers daily visit of 1 hour.

The book talks about Zel growing up, going through puberty, and having sex with Count Konrad. I would advise younger children not to read it, because they would not understand the moral and idea of the story. This book is full of romance, evil and many talks between Zel and Mother about Heaven and Hell.

I personaly did not care for it, I thought it was a very good book, and very well written, but I just didnt have an interest with it. It is a very short read "it took me about 3 sessions of reading to finish it. I would advise you to read many reviws before you buy it or check it out, cause this book is not for everyone. I also have complaints about the ending, it goes way to fast and you do not get a clear idea on what actually happened. Overall I thought it was very intersting, but slightly dull. There could have been more to it.

This is a sad little story about obsession in the name of "love." A lovely, beloved, and magically talented woman refuses to be happy because she does not have a child. She makes a bargain with devils and obtains a daughter, Zel. Mother, as she calls herself, raises Zel on a lonely mountain so that Zel will love Mother exclusively. When she is thirteen, Zel becomes interested in a young man, a prince, and Mother shuts her up in a tower where only Mother can visit. Lonely and bored, Zel goes almost mad. There is a harrowing chapter where Zel mutilates herself and kills or mutilates the small creatures that live in the tower with her. The prince eventually finds her and sets in motion the events that rescue Zel. He is blinded in the process.

The book is written in the first person present, so the reader learns all the nuances of Mother's selfish and self-justifying thoughts. Unfortunately, the book does not have the touches of humor and humanity that are found in, for example, Robin McKinley's novel of parental obsession in the name of "love," Deerskin. I enjoy retold fairy tales but would not recommend this one.

Unlike Robin McKinley, who usually doesn't add much to the tale except length, Donna Jo Napoli retells fairy tales and legends perfectly: she doesn't stray too far from the original, and most importantly, she ADDS something to it. These characters have depth and you really sympathise with them. Who else could make the wicked witch so likable? The writing is exquisite and you won't be able to put this book down. Read it. One more thing: it's not for younger readers. There are possibly disturbing descriptions of what Zel does after she goes crazy from being locked up in the tower. I am 15 years old, and I would recommend this book to anyone from age 14 up. Also, make sure you don't miss Song of the Magdalene and The Magic Circle, by the same author. I haven't read Sirena yet, but I'm sure it's good too. I hope Donna Jo Napoli writes more books as wonderful as these.