hi i'd like to know if there are any books out there that basically have the same premise as some of the classic cooks (like the classic fairy tales) but with a funny modern day twist to them? i'm a teenager and i'd really like to read some books that are considered classics but have a funny modern twist to them..
2007-01-17 07:42:53 · 6 answers · asked by anonymous 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Definately check out Gregory Maguire. Besides his bestselling "Wicked," the book "Leaping Beauty" is a light-hearted, hilarious and ironic re-telling of several fairy tales. It's written in "fairy-tale" format but features modern "twists" (my favorite is probably 'Cinder-elephant' - but, you know, 'Leaping Beauty' - aka sleeping beauty - and 'Hamster and Gerbil' - aka hansel and gretel - they're all clever.)
The novels he writes are all very good as well. Wicked has gotten a lot of attention because it was made into a hit musical - it covers the Wizard of Oz story. I also really like "confessions of an ugly stepsister" which is Cinderella from the stepsister's perspective. "Leaping Beauty" is funny and quick, whereas the novels have serious tones mixed with funny.
The Jon Swiezka book is darling but it's a kid's book so if you are looking for something more on your teen-YA reading level I'd check out the Macguire stuff.
You want funny, but if you get inspired and want NOT funny you should look into "Rose Briar" by Jane Yolen and "Beauty" by Robin McKinley. Both are sleeping beauty re-tellings in novel form, and both are serious in tone, with Rose Briar having a holocaust parallel.
The "fables" graphic novels are interesting. I've never gotten really into the whole comic book/graphic novel thing, but the genre in general loves to take classics and re-set or re-work them so there are probably more gems in that kind of book to discover.
2007-01-17 10:14:21 · answer #1 · answered by lalabee 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gail Carson Levine did a good Cinderella story in Ella Enchanted (the book only; the movie was dreadful). For fairy stories made darker and more modern, I'd recommend _Tithe_ by Holly Black or _War for the Oaks_ by Emma Bull.
The play _Into the Woods_ basically takes all the fairy tales and brings up some less-known older endings and then explores the "What happens next?" angle. Also, you might check out the comic book series _Fables_ from Vertigo.
If you like Greek mythology, you can check out _The Orpheus Obsession_ by Dakota Lane, or my own take on Orpheus (in verse) at http://www.fables.org/summer04/orpheus.html
Actually, the Fables.org Web site is a great place for a lot of different takes on classic tales.
If you like Shakespeare, then I recommend the play _Rosencranz and Guildenstern are Dead_ by Tom Stoppard. And if you've read a lot of Shakespeare, then the movie _L.A. Story_ plays with all sorts of things from all sorts of plays.
Hope this helps.
2007-01-17 08:00:19 · answer #2 · answered by thunderpigeon 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Eyre Affair and the rest of the Thursday Next Novels by Jasper Fforde. All Jasper Fforde novels really. The Eyre Affair revolves around the plot of books such as Jane Eyre, Great Expectations, Sense and Sensibility, and Kafka's The Trial. Also he does this funny little thing with nursery rhymes in The Big Over Easy that ties into the third book in the Thursday Next series.
Um...if you're into classic gothic novels (such as Jane Eyre again, or The Woman in White) you'll love The Thirteenth Tale. It's not really a twist, but it's set in the gothic tradition. Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is also a good one. Written in the style and language of Victorian era England. About magicians, but not cheesily. Very good, overall.
2007-01-17 10:06:08 · answer #3 · answered by Heyyou! 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" by Gregory Maguire. Tells the story through her eyes, where she is just an understood bad guy and the Wizard of Oz is actually a tyrant who oppresses the people of Oz.
Maguire has also done other books on Snow White, Cinderella, etc.
2007-01-17 08:14:05 · answer #4 · answered by PieOPah 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith
Did the story of the three little pigs ever seem slightly biased to you? All that huffing and puffing--could one wolf really be so unequivocally evil? Finally, we get to hear the rest of the story, "as told to author Jon Scieszka," straight from the wolf's mouth. As Alexander T. Wolf explains it, the whole Big Bad Wolf thing was just a big misunderstanding. Al Wolf was minding his own business, making his granny a cake, when he realized he was out of a key ingredient. He innocently went from house to house to house (one made of straw, one of sticks, and one of bricks) asking to borrow a cup of sugar. Could he help it if he had a bad cold, causing him to sneeze gigantic, gale-force sneezes? Could he help it if pigs these days use shabby construction materials? And after the pigs had been ever-so-accidentally killed, well, who can blame him for having a snack?
2007-01-17 07:52:07 · answer #5 · answered by Amy B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Check out books by Spider Robinson. He is a master punster. One of his books incorporates the title into the book itself and is called ' THE LADY SLINGS THE BOOZE '.
2007-01-17 11:27:23 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋