White as Snow

Book arrived infested with bugs, possibly book lice. Both ends were covered in bugs, which means it went into the packaging that way. I was grossed out and didn't want it in my house, so I tossed it in the trash. I don't really care about the $6, since I didn't take a photo as proof, but you may want to reconsider using the source of this book in the future.

I blow hot and cold on Tanith Lee. Sometimes she dazzles me; sometimes she makes a mild impression; and sometimes she leaves me untouched. So I picked up "White as Snow" with some trepidation, both interested to see what she'd do and fearing that I just wouldn't really care about it. Well, I care. Lee has not simply reworked the story of Snow White. She has dismantled it, stripped it of all our modern perceptions of it, and produced what I can only call a literary miracle - she has made it at once achingly familiar and utterly new. There are dozens of influences on the book, but the most obvious - and brilliant - is the meshing of Snow White with the myth of Persephone. Throughout the book, Lee finds surprising ways to make the two stories one. The mother/daughter relationship, in particular, is illuminated so unflinchingly that you can barely look at it. (Greek mythology in general is also seamlessly integrated into the book, so that it's now hard for me to separate one from the other.) It has been said that the characters are unappealing. I'm not the best judge of that, because Lee effortlessly sent me into each character's mind in a matter of moments, but I do think that might count for something. The characters are not Good and Evil, not one thing or another. They are the underside of humanity. Theirs are the not-so-fine impulses that we all do our best to pretend don't exist. They lust, they hate, they ruin - and it's those very same dark impulses that drew me so completely into their characters and their world. Again, this is not a fairy tale. This is what fairy tales wish they could be. This is also THE darkest fantasy - maybe the darkest book, period - that I have ever read. Do NOT pick this up with Disney in mind. My sister once said that "White as Snow" isn't fantasy, it's psychology, and that's a very apt description. These characters are not without motivation - they just have no pretensions to having noble motivations. Arpazia, the queen, mentally fragile and brutally abused, gains oblivion only to realize too late that perhaps she wanted something more. Coira, the princess, is pensive and selfish, and pays the price for her careless actions. Hephaestion, one of the dwarves, withdraws from any emotion in seeking to protect himself. You cannot cookie-cut these characters. It's just not possible. You can only accept them for the stunningly real people they are. And you can marvel at Tanith Lee, who can create such power and make it look so easy.

Tanith Lee is one of my very favorite writers, and whenever she and the world of Fairy Tales meet, the result is always pretty explosive. But have caution: this book is certainly not for everyone. This book is extremely dark and graphic, and has some of those uniquely "tanith-y" characters that are complex and not all that likeable. But they contrast nicely with the characters that are downright monstrous. I like that she explores the issue of what, exactly would make someone like Snow White's mother act the way she does, and involves issues of magic in a way that does not solve problems, but causes them. The end is not so much "bittersweet", as "wrenching". I wouldn't reccomend it to someone who hasn't read any other Lee books. I read the Orson Scott Card book, "Hart's Hope", and was struck be the similarities, not in the plot, but in themes, imagery, and questions posed. If you liked that book, this one is for you. Keep in mind, though, that this book is much more horror than it is fantasy, despite the Fairy Tale connections.

When I first encountered Terri Windling's awesome Fairy Tale Series several years ago, I learned that one of the authors who was working on a tale for the series was Tanith Lee. I anxiously anticipated her book and it was well worth the wait. I truly believe I'd recognize a Tanith Lee-created character just about anywhere. She marvelously writes the most wickedly flawed, but insidiously human people. I also greatly admire her ability to sustain characterization consistently throughout her work. The plot is great here too; a variation on the Snow White tale magically interwoven with the whole Demeter-Hades-Persephone fertility mythos from ancient Greece. This book has tremendous appeal to not only fantasy, mythology, and fairy tale aficionados, but would serve as a great introduction to Lee's work as well; especially recommended would be her Red as Blood collection of fairy stories. Lee is often compared most favorably with Angela Carter; this analogy remains apt with this latest book. The other books in Windling's Fairy Tale Series are also as good as this one.

First, I am happy to see the Faery Tale series by Terri Windling back in publication. I was sad to see it disappear years ago. I hope to see more in the series soon!Like Terri Windling's series, I am always excited when I see a new Tanith Lee novel. I had just finished reading Wolf Tower (which is a wonderful book) and saw White as Snow was due out soon...I waited with much anticipation for the book's arrival and I am happy to say I wan't disappointed by Tanith Lee's retelling of Snow White. This is one of her many reworkings of this particular fairy tale, but what makes this one different is that it is also a powerful and ingenious parallel of the Persephone/Demeter myth. As usual, Lee's prose is gorgeous and the story is challenging and unpredictable. There are a lot of layers to this novel and it deserves to be read and reread so that one can savor the imagery and emotion that this book builds. I particularly liked the dark psychology of the book--the war between mother and daughter, the war fought within oneself, the war between the sexes...everything resonates in this book and scenes continue to echo in my mind. This book belongs on the shelf next to Deerskin,by Robin McKinley and The Armless Maiden, an anthology by Terri Windling, for it is a powerful novel dealing with the more common, darker emotions of humanity.