[.ca] Briar Rose (ISBN 0802135412)

From Amazon.com:
Robert Coover has a power over the language matched by few authors and a curiosity about the nature of stories and narratives that keeps his work intellectually charged, if sometimes difficult to follow. Students of postmodernism and fans of metafiction will be interested to read Briar Rose, Coover's funny deconstruction and retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale.

too much:
First let me say that I'm a big fan of mythopoetic metaphorical fiction - if it's done right. I only found Briar Rose to be overwritten, empty, and tiresome.

What a Waste of Time!:
Well, sorry but this story \ois disappointing\c. Espescially for anyone who enjoyed the story and idea of Sleeping Beauty. And its not even that the story is that bad. The writing \ois no good\c. The reader is constantly confused, and even when you've finished the book, you might go "huh?" I hated it. I do not suggest that anyone buy this book.

Tedious, Boring, Brilliant?:
As I read this book for a college class on fairy tales, I began to realize what Coover was doing: throwing out narrative for an exploration of destiny, fairy tales, dreams, story, and relationship to the reader. By the end of the short book, I totally hated it. So what do I do? I read it again. That's right, I'm drawn back to this meticulous piece of boredom. I guess that means the book is either brilliant or such a beautiful car wreck I have to make a U-turn to take a second look.

POOR LITTLE PRINCE IN A BRIAR PATCH WITH NO PADDLE:
Robert Coover is one of the pioneering post-modernists that started working in the 60's and shows no signs of stopping...The three main characters of the piece are the princess, known as Rose, the rescuing prince, and the wicked fairy who cast the spell on her. Instead of an innocent princess, we have one who dreams of being violated sexually by her prince before he gives her a kiss to wake her. She is aroused by this. The only world she inhabits is that of her dreams. In her moments of existentialist thought she questions why she has to be the princess. Why is she made to suffer? What did she do wrong to be enchanted into an eternal sleep? The prince at first appears to be the stereotype we all know. He is handsome, brave, and whose sole reason for living is to do good. He is flawed, though, by his own over-confidence. Most of the book he is cutting through briars. Even he is not really interested in Rose. He is simply fulfilling his mythic job. Namely, rescuing virgin maidens. He has a problem with his fate too. He lives for the quest and recognizes that once the quest is over the aftermath becomes too mundane. If he rescues the princess, he will have to marry her and settle down. There is no mystery or wonder in day to day life and so he almost dreads getting to the castle to wake her. As with most post-modern thought the fairy exhibits both good and evil sides, almost a two-face type character. She feels on one side a joy in the princess' suffering but on the other hand she feels she rescued her from an otherwise humdrum existence. At least while she is enchanted she will not know death or pain. Unfortunately, the fairy has to supply the dreams of Rose and most of them are about horrible tales that happened to sleeping princesses. I liked this book a lot. You feel as though all the characters are fighting against their archetypal nature. They are all struggling against their fate and this is heroic. It is more than a questioning of existence. This book is about the QUEST for existence. What does it mean to fulfill your destiny? Is there anything after that? Are your dreams stronger than reality? I would recommend this book to first-time Coover readers because it is short and more accessible than some of his other work. Besides, the language is beautiful.

Not his best:
I think this would have worked better as a short story. It's a bold and poetic take on Sleeping Beauty - the book is divided into numerous brief sections that continuously, circularly revisit and revise different portions of the story. It has things to say about not just Sleeping Beauty, but act of storytelling and the nature of narrative. However, the repetition does start getting tiresome after a while; it would be a more tolerable yet equally effective read if it were significantly shorter. Overall, it's one Coover's weaker works, but as he's one of the most unsung, underrated masters of postmodernism around, it's still pretty good. To see him in top form, read A Night at the Movies, one of my personal favorites of his. For more of his revisions of fairy tales, see his novel Pinocchio in Venice and the stories "The Door" and "The Gingerbread House" in his collection Pricksongs and Descants.