Be prepared for the twist at the end! View all 4 comments. Shelves: favorites. I remember when I read this book for the first time. I bought it the day after it came out, because I was already obsessed with Gregory Maguire despite the fact that he had only written one other adult book at that point.
I started the novel in the morning, the day I had to take my parents to the airport in Kalamazoo. We left that evening because their flight was an early morning one.
I read and read in the car, getting fairly far. When we got to the hotel and had to go to bed, I COULD NOT sleep, so I got up went in the hotel bathroom, but a towel under the door and read the rest of the book staying up until it was time for us to go to the airport around 4am. I think this may be my favorite Gregory Maguire novel. I believe this is probably because it deals with artists during a fascinating period.
It constantly amazes me how well Gregory Maguire can write books from a female perspective and get it spot on, when he is not a female. View 2 comments. Jul 04, Wealhtheow rated it liked it Shelves: fantasy. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister is way better than Wicked , not least because the characters have consistent personalities and the plot is coherent.
I appreciated the sensory details and descriptions, and the various characters are original. There's a nice twist near the end which gave me a little brain jolt, and I always like that. Oct 07, Audrephilia rated it it was ok. I always thought Cinderella might secretly be a bitch. This one was rife for Maguirizing—a story about girls where beauty is good and pure and being anything except a conventional beauty is evil and disgusting.
Maguire really likes to tackle these girl heroes and show a dark side. I read Wicked an I always thought Cinderella might secretly be a bitch. I read Wicked and liked it, even if I was pretty surprised at how dark and unlike the musical it was! I read this and liked it okay, but was a bit disappointed. It reads like older literature, makes excellent use of forgotten expressions or at least those whose meanings have been convoluted over time , and really works with cultural paradigms of times past so you remember why things are fucked up.
Because history was fucked up. It was easier with this novel than with Wicked since Wicked took place in a completely alternate world. This novel took place in historic Holland. I like complicated or misunderstood characters. I feel like JK Rowling had a good formula for taking a big, complex story with 20 moving parts and having them all fuse up perfectly by the end of the book.
They could be so much more engaging! Imagine the disappointment! I was told this was akin to Wicked! Not that Wicked was action packed. It took me a really long time to read that, too. But compared to this, it was a thriller! Mar 28, Tara rated it really liked it Shelves: favorite-reads. In the lives of children, pumpkins can turn into coaches, mice and rats into human beings.
If magic was present, it moved under the skin of the world, beneath the ability of human eyes to catch sight of it.
Immortality is a chancy thing; it cannot be promised or earned. Perhaps it cannot even be identified for what it is.
So let my hands and my face make their way in this world, let my hungry eyes see, my tongue taste. Is this the main thing that painters of portraits care about? The person on the verge of becoming someone else? May 29, Samantha rated it it was amazing. This book gives a whole new view on the Cinderella, one that is completely believable. It offers a real setting not just a land far, far away or a long time ago and speaks of real people.
It makes you think. Is beauty a gift or a curse? It offers a brave, out-of-the-ordinary heroine, one of the ugly stepsisters herself. The narrator shows you a new perspective on the Cinderella story. Perhaps the wicked stepsisters were not so wicked. Perhaps they had lives too.
Perhaps their lives were actuall This book gives a whole new view on the Cinderella, one that is completely believable. Perhaps their lives were actually better because they were not so beautiful. This seems to be a gift of Gregory Maguire's, to take old, well-known fairy tales, and make you question them. He can turn the clear antagonist of the story into a most wonderful, good protagonist.
It makes you look deep, past looks, past what everyone else tells you. Mar 08, Britany rated it it was ok Shelves: audiobook. While I think Gregory Maguire is brilliant to tackle these twisty fairy tales, and show us the "other" side, for me, I think that his writing is to wordy and feels too crowded, or overkill to actually tell the story he is looking to tell. Both sisters are ugly, but thoughtful, and care deeply about Clara. The happy fairy tale that everyone knows and shares, is turned upside down, and the real st While I think Gregory Maguire is brilliant to tackle these twisty fairy tales, and show us the "other" side, for me, I think that his writing is to wordy and feels too crowded, or overkill to actually tell the story he is looking to tell.
The happy fairy tale that everyone knows and shares, is turned upside down, and the real story is told. For me just too much. Too many words, too much emphasis on extraneous events, and the truly evil one here is the step mother- Margarenthe. Throughout the course of this book it looked set to gain two stars from me, but the ending ensured the confiscation of one of these.
In fact, it almost deserves a minus rating because of it. The story was extremely slow in starting, and never really picked up enough pace to make it interesting. What i knew of the storyline beforehand was basically that it was going to be a re-telling of the cinderella story from the perspective of one of the stepsisters.
What i didn't realise was that the fairy g Throughout the course of this book it looked set to gain two stars from me, but the ending ensured the confiscation of one of these.
What i didn't realise was that the fairy godmother element was removed in order to make the story seem like it could actually have happened in real life. I applauded the idea of this initially, but the unrealistic, and frankly diabolical ending flew back in the face of the idea.
Whilst i can't blame her for taking revenge on her evil mother, the fire-setting was completely reckless and anyone with any sense would know they were putting innocent lives at risk, so was she evil too or still a bit slow after all? And why would anyone keep such a charade going for so long? She actually kept up the pretense of not being able to speak but to utter indistinguishable noises right up to adulthood, played with toys, cried and wailed and let her little sister lead her around and look after her.
The fact she has no shame in all this means she was either mentally-ill or horribly twisted. Everyone seems to have their own theory on this, but i don't find any to be redeeming of this shocking twist which makes light of severe disability.
Why take out fairy godmothers and magic mice to make your story seem realistic and then add in other mythical creatures? This story is all too dark and sinister for my liking. Cinderella is one of my least favourite fairytales, and i was willing to hear the story coming from another angle, but this book just made me appreciate the original tale more.
I may now go and watch the disney version, and sing along with 'bibbity-bobbity-boo'! And i won't be reading 'Wicked' anytime soon. Oh, i have just remembered a positive about this book. The title is very clever, and although not exactly unique due to all of the recent copycat 'confessions of View all 3 comments. Dec 27, Lightreads rated it really liked it Shelves: historical , fiction , derivative-fiction , disability. A Cinderella retelling in the perspective of an ugly stepsister, from the author of Wicked.
Okay, this book is just "not quite. But I didn't want fine. I wanted this book to walk up to me and knock me on my ass with a right hook to the gut. Instead it came up, dazzled me with some fancy footwork, and then asked me for a sedate waltz.
Pa A Cinderella retelling in the perspective of an ugly stepsister, from the author of Wicked. And the writing itself is outstanding, the sentence-by-sentence pace intricate and beautiful. But this book, which was excellent by the standards of fiction everywhere, fell just that tragic bit short of the extraordinary thing that it could have been, that feeling when you read a book and it's as if the whole thing rings like a bell, the note perfect and clear and dazzling.
And this sounded as if the author left his finger on the bell when he struck it, to over-extend the metaphor. Mar 28, Donna Craig rated it it was amazing. I read Wicked a few years ago—more like I devoured it! This book was written in the same style. I was drawn into the world the author created, and I was held there, spellbound, until the book was finished.
Then, I sat there and stared at it for a while. It was hard to get my head out of the world of this book. I am looking forward to reading more by this author. I definitely lost sleep over this book!
I'm sorry, I just cannot get into this story. I don't know what it is exactly but I just can't get into it and it's boring as hell. The author writes very well and very clearly. I've read a couple other books by him. But for whatever reason I just simply cannot get into this story. Just not interesting at all for me. I gave it a chance. That's all that matters. Sep 26, Griffin Betz rated it it was ok Shelves: read-fiction.
It wasn't that I found Wicked a bad read, I actually rather enjoyed it, but the blurb on the back of "Confessions" lead me to think that Mr. Maguire had essentially repeated the same formula with a different fairy tale. Actually, 'Wicked' was written after 'Confessions' but I read 'Wicked first Deconstructing a fairy tale and retelling it from the point of view of a traditionally unsympathetic character looses its novelty quickly.
Anybody who has read Wicked will instantly feel right at home. Maguire provides interesting characters and plots that keep a reader interested. That said, I found the writing itself in Wicked to be more polished than the writing in Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. The retelling of 'Cinderella' felt less developed and the world of "Confessions," 17th Century Holland, seems less vivid than Maguire's reimagining of Oz. With the novelty of retooled fairy tales gone, "Confessions'" ended up being a bit underwhelming.
While the opening scenes were engrossing, the middle of the book was merely ok and the climactic scene, Cinderella at the ball, ended up feeling slow and flat.
The post script seems like an afterthought. Maguire has turned his shtick into a cottage industry, which is fine. It's a decent shtick. But unless you're interested in going through a post-modern reinvention of every single one of Grimm's Fairy Tales, read Wicked. The concept is the same and the writing and the plot are better. Feb 06, Joy H. I will do that today. I must have liked the book because I just found 15 pages of handwritten quotes which I had scribbled from it as I read!
Even I can't believe it! LOL These days I don't copy as many quotes because it's too time-consuming. I haven't got the energy either. Approval and disapproval alike satisfy those who deliver it more than those who receive it. I don't care for approval and I don't mind doing without.
Took me a while, especially copying all those quotations! Is evanescence - fleetingness - a necessary element of the thing that most moves us? A shooting star dazzles us more than the sun. A child captivates like an elf, but grows into grossness, an ogre, a harpy But words endure too Isn't that sort of beauty more beautiful than any other? Aug 23, Cheryl rated it really liked it. Chased from their English abode, their father killed and themselves sought to be next, Iris, Ruth and their mother Margarethe, flee to a Dutch town, hoping to be taken in by their grandfather.
Upon arriving, seeking his home, they are ridiculed, shunned and abased. Both the girls are considered ugly. Ruth is a lumbering dimwit. Iris is a scrawny brain. No one wants to help or hire them. They are hungry, desperate and fraught.
Happening upon a painter in his studio, they query his work through an Chased from their English abode, their father killed and themselves sought to be next, Iris, Ruth and their mother Margarethe, flee to a Dutch town, hoping to be taken in by their grandfather. Happening upon a painter in his studio, they query his work through an open window. He takes note of Iris..
It is her that gains them access to work and shelter. He paints the unfortunates. He paints the religious scenes of depravity. He paints flowers. It all unifies and they maintain. Set in the early craze for tulips and portraits, the trio winds up in the home of a more fortunate family. It is here that the beautiful, spoiled and sheltered Clara lives.
A playmate and soon stepsister to Iris and Ruth while Margarethe works the kitchen. The story unfurls, like a dying tulip, and wilts. Tho there is much kindness, mostly from the haves, there is cruelty from the wants. Greed plays a substantial part in this telling. A love story, a mystery, a historical fiction. I love this prequel to the age old story, Cinderella. I should also add that there's an interesting interview with the author on the final disc. It's always fascinating, to me, to get inside an author's brain.
Apr 27, Andy rated it liked it Shelves: bookclub-read , read , rad-reads This was an all right story. Part prequel, part Cinderella retelling told from the POV of the stepsister. Iris is a strange and cunning child. After fleeing from the UK to Holland in the dead of night, Iris must help her mother try and make a living. They end up in the home of a master painter, before Iris finds a job as a servant to a wealthy family with a beautiful young daughter named Clara. I don't have a lot to say about this book because for the most part it was very okay.
I liked the comp This was an all right story. I liked the complicated relationship between Iris and Clara and how they both cared and protected Ruth. The ending was really fun, but overall I didn't care about the characters much.
Audio reread This was such an inventive retelling of Cinderella. It felt almost true to the original story, but with a change in perspective. Dec 11, Carrol Park rated it really liked it. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Both of the stories clearly imply beauty in some way; however, they both present beauty in various ways.
One contains an enchanted natural world and presents magic to imply beauty, while the other indicates realistic beauty. Iris is asked by Schoonmaker to be his model in a painting of wildflowers. Later in time, when the painting is all done, Iris gets an opportunity to see the painting, and finds herself to be less attractive than she is in real life.
It is because the master wanted to have heightened contrast between the two objects, the wildflowers and Iris. These examples demonstrate that beauty is signified with natural features. The stepmother treated Cinderella with cruelty when she said "No, Cinderella, thou hast no clothes and thou canst not dance; thou wouldst only be laughed at" Grimm 2. The stepmother and stepsisters are full of confidence and sassiness, with the attitude of looking down on people other than themselves. They exploit and take advantages of their temporary appearance and are careless about their inner beauty.
Contrastingly, in Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister , Clara is overprotected and exploited by her parents. Since she had a beautiful appearance, her parents use her by painting her portrait to make money.
She is just a monkey in a zoo who is there for the visitors, and as a result, She becomes a person who is very timid and temperamental. Clara hides herself in her room or the kitchen because she is afraid of leaving her comfort zone, and being recognized in public.
Even though both characters are beautiful on the outside, their inner color personalities are very different. Cinderella also known as Clara in Confession of an Ugly Stepsister is the one who is always getting attention in both versions of the Cinderella story.
This is because Cinderella is the perfect example of beauty in society in both stories. Perhaps, the ball itself demonstrates the importance of outward appearances in the culture, because the purpose of the ball is to find a bride for the prince judging only by appearance. In Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister , Clara is the one who always has to stand next to van den Meer to sell her beauty, and to be exploited by him.
Everybody who does business with van den Meer is obsessed with Clara and the flower that she is holding. Have you laid eyes upon a more pleasing figure? The two cultures in these stories have differences, but the impact of beauty is applied in some way to both. Beauty is a powerful factor influencing many aspects in life, and is not just something that can be justified as superficial thing. The analyses illustrated above identifies the theme of realistic beauty and unrealistic beauty, differing personalities formed by outer beauty, and the impact of beauty on society.
Mar 30, Emily Hayslett rated it really liked it. For about half the book, there are very few correlations between the narrative being told and the fairy tale Cinderella, on which this story is based. Maguire spends most of the time developing Iris ugly step sister , and Clara Cinderella. My first experience with Gregory Maguire was Wicked I never read it, but watched the musical, I plan to remedy this , so I think I expected more shocking twists and reveals.
I was not exactly surprised by anything that happened, but it was an enjoyable experience. The writing is colorful and whimsical, and makes you feel like everything is sunny and warm, despite being a slightly darker version of the classic fairy tale. I think as I have gotten older I have started to reject the narrative that heroines must be pretty and talented, which is why Iris is so refreshing.
I feel except for some subtle adult content , this is actually a much healthier version of Cinderella for young girls. It teaches us that beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, and that you do not have to be aesthetically pleasing to accomplish great things and find love. That beauty itself can have consequences, and there are better things to do than spend our lives wishing to be prettier, or thinner, or more talented.
Thank you Gregory Maguire for continuing to challenge our perspectives. Jul 11, Rebecca Weller rated it really liked it. It was an interesting retelling.
Cinderella or Clara was quite the character, and Iris was likeable. You wanted her to find happiness. I enjoyed the painting element and was glad that Iris got to do what she loved. As a book adaptation, I give this movie a 5 or maybe even less. Several things that were changed from the book bothered me. One major one was the use of magic in the film, when the gypsy "magics" the shoes for Clara.
The lack of magic was in the book for a reason. Gregory Maguire wanted his meditation on beauty and ugliness to take center stage in the story. Another major change was how Iris and Casper meet.
If you've read the book then maybe you can understand why. I feel that their introduction in the movie makes Iris too self-conscious thus making her aware of herself whereas in the book she is taken by surprise and Casper catches a glimpse of the "real" Iris. Other changes bothered me as well such as the narrator of the whole story, where Clara's mother was, the attitudes of Clara and Margarethe.
I also wish that the Margarethe's rumor about Casper had stayed in the film. However, the movie, when one forgets Maguire's magnificent work, succeeds. The costuming and the acting of Stockard Channing and Emma Poole make this movie a treat to watch. If you are disappointed by the way that some of the characters look such as I was with Casper Matthew Goode was fine in the movie, but I envisioned something completely different , be glad that they didn't cast someone who wasn't even close to ugly, as Iris.
A disappointment to Maguire's fans, but a treat to all others, I hope that if this book is ever made into a movie that Maguire himself adapts his book. I'm just glad that they didn't do "Wicked. Details Edit. Release date March 10, United States. Canada Luxembourg. Technical specs Edit.
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