Boston Begins City-Wide Fairy Tale Reading & Discussion Of Kelly Link's "The Faery Handbag"

Charles Vess - The Faery Handbag (from The Faery Reel)

Yes. It's not a traditional fairy tale, but Kelly Link's Nebula and Hugo award wining novelette The Faery Handbag is one of those few "new fairy tales" that have stuck with us ever since we first read it, The Faery Reel: Tales From Within the Twilight Realm (Ellen Datlow & Terri Winding 2004). We have read a lot of "new fairy tales" and while the writing is usually lovely and, occasionally, a story will resonate with us, not many of those stories sink into our subconscious fairy tale soup and stay there, becoming part of the shared language. 

A very strange thing, to us, is that we remember reading it for the first time, and, while thinking it was kinda neat, though more modern, more magic realism than fairy tale, not what we would have thought as "fairy tale", so just went on to read the rest of the volume. But somehow the ideas and the story wouldn't go away and we found ourselves thinking about the story in the following days and well after that. We haven't looked closely at why this is. We agree the story feels more like a modernized Victorian fairy tale to us than a "classic" one - not our preferred tale types - but the ideas... they feel very like they fit, right in Faerie Land, and by Faerie Land we mean the land in which fairy tales take place, whether fairies appear there or not.

Magic bags that hold things larger than themselves aren't a new concept in tales. We admit we are quite enamored of the idea that you can pack an entire room - or house! - into a carpet bag (Mary Poppins, Merlin in the Sword and the Stone) and simply carry it with you to your new abode. Magic purses, sacks and knapsacks have been able to capture, tame and contain everything from the sea to Death (The Soldier and Death), not to mention come in useful for benevolent gift givers during the Yule and Christmas season. The classic rabbit in a hat magician's staple, is a variant of these as well. Modern fantasy films employ this idea regularly too, but Link brings a fresh take to this delightful idea.

But back to the news.

The annual One City One Story movement, launched as part of the Boston Book Festival, is a pretty neat idea. Here's what it is:

One City One Story is the Boston Book Festival’s version of an all-city read, but instead of a book, we print and distribute a short story. Our goal is to make a short story available to all, free of charge, to spread the joy of reading for pleasure among the teens and adults of our city, and to create a community around a shared reading experience.

As part of this initiative, in the past they have offered online translations and downloads, led citywide discussions, leading up to a town-hall style discussion with the author, library discussions, distributed the story throughout the city for free in multiple languages, held a writing contest, online reading groups and discussions with the author.

Shaun Tan's illustration for The Faery Handbag
is very different from Charles Vess'
but equally intriguing

This year they've chosen Kelly Link's The Faery Handbag, which means, people are having conversations and discussing fairies and fairy tales, especially in a modern context, in many different places in one city. Not entirely coincidentally, the story is also set in the greater Boston area, so locals are even more likely to imagine fairy tale magic just around the corner.

If you haven't heard of it, you will find many references to it. Here's a great way to introduce the central concept, by way of a discussion on fabulism:

Fabulism is a curious way to explore and understand the ordinary. In Link’s story, the speaker spends her time hunting for this handbag. It’s black, made from dog-skin, with a clasp of bone that can open three different ways:

 If you opened it one way, then it was just a purse big enough to hold […] a pair of reading glasses and a library book and pillbox. If you opened the clasp another way, then you found yourself in a little boat floating at the mouth of a river. […] If you opened the handbag the wrong way, though, you found yourself in a dark land that smelled like blood. That’s where the guardian of the purse (the dog whose skin had been sewn into a purse) lived.

Fabulism is a lot like this purse. It seems to belong to this world, but doesn’t follow all of the rules. It beckons you. It’s off. The more you explore it, the more mystery and power it has.

You can find the many, many different places they're giving out the story for free in a list HERE.

The Faery Handbag - Artist unknown

You can read the story online HERE or download an English, Spanish or Russian PDF, or a Kindle or Ebook version HERE (more languages coming apparently).

On September 28th there will be a discussion of The Faery Handbag, care of Boston's NPR, WBUR, and they promise other discussions throughout the community to be announced soon as well. There's also a writing prompt for a contest with prizes. (Gotta love that!)

Want more food for thought? Again from the highly recommended article on Diving into the Faery Handbag: On Fabulism:

The greatest part of the faery handbag is that there’s a wrong way to open it — meaning a dangerous way, a way that can eat you alive. And it’s that third compartment or “way of opening up” that separates the magical realism of childhood stories from the magical realism of stories for adults.

And because the proposed discussion questions are great to kick your brain into gear, even if you haven't read the story, we are putting the discussion prompts and questions below. Enjoy!

Chris Riddell - lady with carpet bag from sketchbook

Discussion Questions1. How did the jump between times/focuses affect your reading of the story?

2. Was Jake’s decision to go into the bag justified? Why or why not? Why do you think Zofia refused to let Genevieve go after him? 

3. After Zofia dies Genevieve becomes the official heir and guardian of the bag. What does this role mean if the bag is lost?  

4. Genevieve is a headstrong teenager entirely wrapped up in thoughts of her missing boyfriend and the fantastical world her grandmother taught her about. Does this make it difficult for you to sympathize with her or trust her as a narrator? Why? 

5. What lost item (like the Sesame Street shirt) would you like to find at The Garment District? What is the significance to you of finding something you thought was lost forever? 

6. How might this story have changed if Jake had not gotten expelled and MIT had not rescinded his acceptance? 

7. What is the importance of Scrabble tiles also acting as divination tiles in the story? Does it affect the way you read Zofia and Genevieve’s relationship to the game? 

8. What do you think will happen to Genevieve after this story ends? 

9. Does Zofia’s death (or absence, if you follow the thought that she didn’t actually die) force Genevieve to act differently than she would have before? If so, what is the difference?  

10. Do the characters in this story remind you of people you know? Is this affected by the familiar setting (greater Boston). Does this change the way you read the fantastical elements of the story? How? 

Writing Prompt 

In 500-700 words describe what you would expect or hope to see after disappearing into your own faery handbag for several decades. Email your story to info@bostonbookfest.org by Friday, September 30 for a chance to win a BBF prize package, including a signed copy of this year’s story!

The Boston Carpet Bag newspaper, 1851-1853

Let's Talk About... Maleficent-the-Movie (a very delayed conversation with Christie of "Spinning Straw Into Gold")

I have invited Christie of Spinning Straw Into Gold over to our corner of the web to talk Maleficent. That is, Maleficent-the-movie, not Maleficent-the-classic-Disney-character, and not which is actually a whole other conversation...

Gypsy: What I'm missing most about seeing the film is NOT having a conversation live with fairy tale people! I don't care if we all agree or disagree - I'd just love to have a conversation and hear everyone's thoughts. You up for digital scones and coffee? ;)

She replied:

Christie: Digital coffee--all the time, all the places! Thanks for the invite. I'm excited to talk about it with other fairy tale-ers, and maybe you'll change my mind!

While I never got around to posting a proper Part B "spoilery" review before I had to disappear for a while last year, you will get a good sense of a few of my thoughts as I "chat" with Christie (finally!).

Her review was titled "Bored to Death" so, from my notes, here's my part of the conversation, though you may want to read her post first, so you can see her POV and know what I'm referencing.

Just imagine Christie, holding her newest sleeping Prince-ling, kindly indulging me, munching on digital scones and sipping cyber coffee as I talk...

Also, you should be aware: HERE BE SPOILERS!

Thanks for the review! I'm curious what other fairy tale people think too and so here is my response (and please imagine we are sitting at a table having coffee & scones, discussing it all - my response is intended to be conversation rather than rebuttal because,really, I'm just glad we can talk fairy tales!). 

Anyway, I will - weirdly - say that while I understand exactly where you're coming from and that I think many of your criticisms are valid, I don't really agree overall. As my seven year old said to me today "..it's not the REAL Sleeping Beauty story, just one idea about it.." While I too was very disappointed Maleficent didn't turn into a dragon herself (I immediately wrote out three different and valid ways that could still have happened within that premise and context), if you didn't know she was "supposed" to turn into a dragon it wouldn't have been as irksome. In fact, it may have made perfect sense that it happened the way it did.

That said - I totally get where you're coming from with the boredom. It didn't help that it started with a completely unnecessary Narrator, as well as far too early in the actual story. (I've learned to give Hollywood movies about 20 minutes of unnecessary prologue/filler before they get to the real thing - ridiculous, but there you go.) Disney (these days) tends to not trust it's audiences so over explains or over simplifies and leaves out a lot of subtlety as a result. That said, in this case, seeing many of the critic reviews, I have to wonder if that isn't justified. The movie - by itself and separate from Sleeping Beauty (of Disney or fairy tale) generally succeeds. Considering, too, it was a first time Director I would have to say, if it had been my film, I would have been happier than not. However I do get the serious sense that scenes were cut *much* shorter than they should have been, and that too much time was given to the wrong things like flying scenes (nice, but we got it, thanks) as well as unnecessary prologues. 

                     

I'm still a little astonished at the lack of understanding that critics in general have shown about the old world and belief of faerie, which was a very large part of the "world building" and premise. (Much of the 'lore' of the movie premise was based off 'olde worlde' views of Faerie and specifically Spenser's The Faerie Queene). Perhaps my Australian & UK leanings skewed me toward having this as a normal part of my fairy tales and stories but Faerie was a formidable unknown world/dimension that scared many common people, or at least, they had a very healthy respect for it. While I think stating that it was set in Scotland was unnecessary, (too specific!) it did also make it clear (to my viewing group anyway) that this was a peoples that lived uneasily alongside the border of fairy, whose lives contained many little rituals and offerings/petitions to (rarely seen) faeries, so that their human lives wouldn't be beset with additional bad luck from the Fae. Perhaps this is one of the big mistakes made: that it was assumed people would automatically know this - but it turns out they don't. 

                     

I discovered, interestingly, and after the fact of seeing the movie, that one of the two novel retellings, includes an additional (!) prologue scene that is all about a shepherd and his son leaving a fairy offering from their lunch to keep the wee folk happy. The set up in the book is clear and sets the stage for conflict, uneasiness, wariness and mistrust on both sides, as well as extreme measures by faeries who don't tend to temper their responses but are either for or against you.* 

Another interesting thing that I sort of got a sense about in the movie but not very clearly, is that in both novels, the 3 faeries ask for asylum from Faerie (essentially they betray and abandon their home and fellow folk) for the comforts and seeming growing power of the human king. In the movie I really believe they are *intended* to be shown as caricatures as BOTH what people think fairies are (small, pixie-dust laden, 'helpful' etc) AND also what we really don't want them to be (selfish, capricious, lacking a soul and unreliable). Everything from the way they were designed, to their dialogue to their motivations and focus during the movie suggested these are the sorts of fairies you DON'T want to be allied with. This, however, seems completely lost on most folk, which would say the Director did a bad job of communicating the most basic thing about them. The whole point was that, thank goodness! Aurora's godmother/s were NOT these awful fairies at all.

I have to say I liked the thorns around Faerie. It was for protection rather than to be used as a weapon - which again works better with what earlier versions of Sleeping Beauty had. What, again, could have been clearer is that King Stefan also surrounded his castle with iron thorns (missing a clear visual for that Mr. Director!) and plated it in iron so it was toxic to the fae (yes - giant plot hole for the good fairies getting in at the end but anyway...). There were parallel set ups all through the movie but some just weren't very clear. The wings, too, were bound in iron and glass, and they only moved when Aurora reached out to them (which is supposed to be a huge metaphor and it's an excellent one. They also end up saving each other which is great from the usually-passive Sleeping Beauty criticism as well).

Diaval said a lot without using actual words, which I think was also the point. Though he started as a willing slave for Maleficent there's no way, especially in that era & setting, that a master would let their slave talk and behave toward them that way if they didn't have some sort of friendship and respect for them. When the final facing of Stefan arrived and she told him it wasn't his fight, basically freeing him of his slave status (another shift toward good for her) he essentially said: "You idiot -  don't you know by now that you're not alone any more?" It was subtle but it humanized her a lot and gave us a male/female relationship that developed without any sexual tension (the scene with them flying together - both free - at the end was great, and perhaps should have been the final one, but I digress..)

Your concern that this movie missed the point of "there is evil and ugliness in the world, just as there is hope and unspeakable beauty" - was actually what the whole movie was about as well. They even said it out loud. It's just that instead of the evil being Maleficent, it was King Stefan who not only made poor choices (like Maleficent also did) but refused to turn away from them and look for another path (which is the big turn for M). Your last paragraph before the poem was beautiful and the perfect argument for the movie - even with it's two-dimensional villain faults. But then it can only be considered that way if you let the movie be it's own entity apart from the fairy tale and Disney's own animated movie as well. (Note: in the script Stefan originally killed the king by smothering him with a pillow when he laughed at Stefan's offering of the wings, assuming he would then succeed to the throne - that's also in the books). 

The one ridiculous thing that I agree on with everyone was just wrong, is that Maleficent's "real" name was still Maleficent. That made NO sense at all (I cannot find any way the name "Maleficent" can be seen as 'good'), and seems to be this giant oversight. She didn't even need a proper name at the start (you know how sketchy giving your real name can be anyway - people in fairy tales often let themselves be labeled by others, rather than reveal their true name - it would have worked if she hadn't said her real one) and yet she has to be introduced with that name. #justno

My other big negative note would be that THE major marketing point was just outright wrong, therefore misleading and ultimately when people are processing it, confusing: Maleficent was not "evil"  or "wicked" and never became the true definition of such. She did some terrible things, yes, but it was clear she was making poor choices from a place a serious pain. The entire point of the movie was that she didn't let herself become exactly that (while Stefan, in contrast, did.). I think this marketing ploy alone, while "delicious" and tapping into what a lot of people DID want to see, just wasn't true. (And now people are both angry about that or confused.) Again, a major point people just didn't get is that it was intended to be a family movie - for all ages - (heck, it didn't dawn on me that's what they were trying to do until Angelina Jolie said she was looking forward to being in a movie that her whole family could see - even the little ones!) and while older people and teens might LOVE a movie about someone truly wicked and permanently twisted in some way (eg Batman Origins) even to the point of seeing her get her comeuppance, to focus on that story for a family movie (especially with that person as the main character) just isn't appropriate. So they didn't. But that's not what they said they were doing either. 

So, ironically, many people were set up for disappointment.

Overall the movie had most of what it should have had, but not enough. But it also shouldn't need supplemental notes from novels in order to make it's point either. It just didn't have it in the right proportions and at times both underestimated the audience and then overestimated them. The film took risks with content and themes that even Walt himself would have been concerned about doing but as a result it resulted in being "a better film than it should have been". As we all know, children's books are harder to write than adult ones and the same goes for film, especially if you're trying to make something more than throwaway entertainment. I think the film succeeded as much as it did because of Angelina Jolie's involvement and attention to detail, as well as her phenomenal acting of the part, but with a more seasoned director I think it would have done better still.

Time will tell how this really pans out. As it stands audiences are generally in the thumbs up category while 1st critic rounds are not. 2nd critic rounds, however, are not as quick to dismiss it though. While they're not saying it's "good" in general, more and more are agreeing that for all it's (MANY!) faults, that we need more films like Maleficent, with that heart, message and progressive thinking - just done better.

Now, the important thing: "Would you like an extra scone?" ;)

Thanks for the opportunity to discuss with a fairy tale friend!

* There are whole fairy tales about fairies who were invited to a banquet but were a) given the wrong plate instead of the one they wanted of so had a tantrum and held a grudge for generations or, b) were left standing at the gate too long to be welcomed personally by the King, so got upset. [In the tale I'm thinking of specifically, this is ironic because the King has gone to great lengths to make sure ALL the faeries are invited so not a single one would get upset, but the list is so long that he hasn't even finished reading off the invites to go out before the first ones start arriving.. and causing trouble!]

In Discussion: "The Brave Little Toaster" & HC Andersen's Tragic Anthropomorphized Objects

The Steadfast Tin Soldier Shigeru Hatsuyama for Thumbelina (and other tales) (Japan, 1925)

Yes! This is one of my favorite things: when passionate discussions of lesser-known fairy tales appear in (seemingly unrelated) social media and pop culture/geek discussions!

If I were fancy and extra organized I'd start a whole series or regular feature on this topic. As it is, I will just add a new tag: #PopFTDiscussions (aka #GOLD!) Hopefully this new tag will have a lot of use in future...

So what incited this particular one, you ask? It was The Mary Sue's article "Anthropomorphizing the Mundane: Five Fictional Objects that Messed Us Up" by Sara Goodwin. Under the following picture of the Brave Little Toaster, the article begins:

I was one of those kids who was absolutely convinced that my toys came to life when I was asleep and led full lives. Not only that, but I can remember getting out of bed to put a pair of shoes together so they wouldn’t have to spend the night alone. ... anthropomorphizing objects has been going on for many years in many cultures. Who doesn’t cry when they think about The Velveteen Rabbit and how badly he wanted to be real? 

"Tsukumo-gami,
Spirits of Used Articles"
by ITO Jakuchu
(1716-1800), Japan

Was Mary Poppins' Umbrella 100 yrs old?

And I was REALLY pleased to see that Tsukumogami was mentioned (the Japanese ritual/celebration of an object's 100th birthday), something which I learned more about last year and am completely delighted by. Another Japanese festival not mentioned is Hari-kuyo: Festival of Broken Needles which "is a solemn rite of respect and thanksgiving in which the worn and broken sewing needles used in the previous year are retired to a sacred resting place."

Interesting note: the most popular image representing Tsukumogami in general is an animated umbrella... *turns to look at Mary Poppins suspiciously*

In Japanese culture, there is a concept called Tsukumogami, which is popularly used to refer to an object that has reached its hundredth birthday and become alive. There seems to be a bit of a divide between the religious interpretations and the popular culture use of this word, but from what I can tell from some quick Google research is that it was commonly associated with religion in the past and has been adopted by modern cultures to describe a kind of anthropomorphism.  

Using animals, objects, etc. to tell a story can have practical uses beyond making us cry when we see a lamp that looks like that adorable, hopping Pixar lamp lying in a dumpster. 

It continues being a great read, complete with a list of Brave Little Toaster-like cousins we've all had tug at our heartstrings, so I suggest you hop on over there and read it in total. It succinctly looks at anthropomorphized objects on film we came to love, then cried for (hilarious), but then I began reading the comments and lo and behold, Hans Christian Anderson's name appeared, and not without a little rage attached! #painandtears 

The comments number well over 100 so I'm posting the HCA portion of the discussion here for your perusal. You can always go to the original page and join in the discussion if you become so inclined!
(Note: I have bleeped and asterix'd some of the language for gentler sensibilities and in an effort to redirect nastier versions of spam far, far away... and be warned that the spacing between comments is really, really weird. I don't have time to transcribe it all so it looks neat etc so please bear with the copy and paste results!)

by Kay Nielsen

Wauwy

Hans Christian Andersen was the -bleeping- worst with this, I swear to God. The man could have written a story from the POV of a tongue scraper and it would have been full of pathos, tragedy, and an unbearably sad ending.

^^ Edit FTNH: This sentence - now in bold, care of moi - is so true! ^^

F--- YOU HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN, I AM NOT OVER THE FIR TREE OR THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER, AND I NEVER WILL BE

;A;

ETA: lmao I just checked his wikipedia page and look at this sh*t.

A very early fairy tale by Andersen called The Tallow Candle (Danish: Tællelyset) was discovered in a Danish archive in October 2012. The story, written in the 1820s, was about a candle who did not feel appreciated.

ridiculous.

by vacation-challenge

• Kris Smith  Wauwy • 

  
  

  That's because candles are ***holes. Especially Danish ones.
  • Snow Monet  Kris Smith • 

    
    

    And matchsticks just bring tears. 
• Ceaen  Wauwy •

  
  

  The Andersen book I have is broken up into thematic sections. There is an entire "Anthropomorphic Objects and Animals" section in that book.
  • Sara Goodwin  Ceaen 

    
    

    I remember that! The roots of my malady are slowly being exposed! :-)

  • 

    by Angela Rizza

• silaria  Wauwy • 

  
  

  The Tin Soldier story confused me so much as a kid. I couldn't understand the point of a story where no one rescued him.
  • Wauwy  silaria •

    
    

    The point is pain and tears. Regalli  Wauwy • 
    • 
      

      Isn't that the point of all of Hans Christian Andersen's work? Wauwy  Regalli • 
      • 
        

        Not The Snow Queen, aka best fairy tale ever!

        But yeah everything else lol.

         Regalli  Wauwy • 
        • 
          

          You forget: Frozen happened to that.

          
          

          
          

           Wauwy  Regalli •
          • 
            

            LALALALALA CAN'T HEAR YOU

            GERDA x KAI OTP, LITTLE ROBBER GIRL BEST SIDE CHARACTER, FABULOUS TRUE NEUTRAL SNOW QUEEN, CRYING AWAY MIRROR SHARDS AND SNATCHING UR FAVS' WIGS

            
            

            
            

             

             

            

            by Pedro Bascon
            • 
              

              
              Regalli  Wauwy 

              
              

              Please. Little Robber Girl/Gerda/Kai post-story friendship and eventual OT3 is where it's at. (SO p*ssed that they basically took all the side characters and turned them into Kristoff. YOU HAD A PERFECT CHANCE TO DO SOMETHING PROGRESSIVE WITH YOUR LINE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE LIKE THE 1930S, DISNEY, YOU HAD DAMN WELL BETTER MAKE UP FOR IT IN THE SEQUEL.)

              (Seriously though I will forgive... not all, but like 65% of that movie's faults if they cash in on its mediocrity and give Elsa a female love interest. If we have to get a sequel, at least give us that.) 
              

              Cat C  Wauwy • 
        • 
          

          That has ALWAYS been my favorite!

          
          

          
          

          Sara Goodwin  silaria •
  • 
    

    The point was that he fed on the tears of children. 
• Sara Goodwin  Wauwy •

  
  

  Totally! I'm so glad you mentioned him and his anthropomorphic ways! That fir tree .... and the Steadfast Tin Soldier .... why, Hans C.A.? Why?

  
  

  
  

    

• 

  from the Andrew Lang Yellow Fairy Book (by Henry Justice Ford)

• 
  

  
  othellia  Wauwy • 

  
  

  OH MY GOD. I HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THAT FIR TREE STORY FOR YEARS NOW.

  I had a picture book of it as a kid and I swear it's traumatized me for life as far as getting real Christmas trees go. I've told other people about it and no one else had heard of it. Their reactions to my summaries were pretty much all along the lines of "J---- C-----!" Looked on amazon and google for Christmas tree children's books, but do you know how many Christmas tree books there are?

  So thank you. (And omg I should have known it was HCA! *shakes fist*)

  ETA: No really. I even described to people how the Christmas Tree felt pain after it was chopped down but bore through it because it was so happy to covered in decorations and lights, just like the Little Mermaid when she got her feet. Fffffffffu- I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN!

  • 

    by P.J. Lynch

  • 
    

    Wauwy  othellia •

    
    

    I'm happy to help you recall your childhood trauma.

    Mine involves a Mercer Meyer book about a sad rabbit whose friends all forget her birthday and okay I really can't talk about it. Even though they all throw her a surprise party at the end, it does nothing, NOTHING, to make up for the fathomless depths of pain she and the reader have suffered.
• Miss_Dahlia  Wauwy • 

  
  

  Apparently a friend of his made a bet with him that he couldn't write a story that would make people feel sympathy for a pin. Hans won the bet
  .
• *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Studio Soyuzmultfilm in 1976

Ah yes:

"..he fed on the tears of children...".

Thank you Ms. Goodwin. I will never forget that throwaway comment now. It's fits so very,very well.. (Sorry Mr. Andersen. It was bound to happen when you made us love your characters and then- *neck slicing motion with SFX*!)

Here is an evil IKEA commercial (brought to our attention by the same Ms. Goodwin) that will not help you at all:

Told you it was evil. (You had to look...)