Genre: Short story
Published: Nov. 1, 2009, 112 pgs.
Source: Library
Review: 3/5 stars
Gregory Maguire has taken the rather dark tale of "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Andersen and has added a little light. This story was first heard on NPR and was written as a read-aloud Christmas story. It's a tragic story but feels a little less so as Maguire puts his spin on it. I wasn't very familiar with the story of "The Little Match Girl" when I read this book and I wonder if I would have enjoyed it more had I known the original tale better. It takes only 15-20 minutes to read so it's definitely worth the time. It really is a lovely story but I finished it feeling like I wanted a little "more". I'm not even sure what "more" I wanted but I wasn't completely satisfied. Has anyone else read this? I'm interested to hear what you think.
Rating: 1.1.1 As my mom used to call a good cleaning job--spic 'n' span clean.
4 comments:
As sad as "The Little Match Girl" is, it was one of my favorite stories growing up. I'm definitely reading Matchless when I get the chance.
Maybe it's just the widget and you have no control over it, but I definitely think that reading this "really lovely story" does not mean you might also like "Wicked". Ugh. I know you've read my review. Maybe you've read it since then and liked it better than I did, but I would look at that and go- eww. I don't want to read this. I am actually interested in reading it now though just bcs I have such a bad taste in my mouth for Gregory Maguire. Maybe this would change my opinion about him a little. :) I like your new background. Also- I am starting C25K this weekend and wanted to thank you for your encouragement/inspiration.:) Would love to get together sometime.
Hi Brady, it's good to hear from you. I've thought of you often (especially when I go into FG&DB) and have wondered how you're doing. I'd love to get together sometime.
As for the widget, no I don't have much control over it and I haven't exactly been thrilled with it anyway so maybe I'll take it down sometime soon. If you go to that post you'll find that I actually didn't finish reading Wicked because it was so bad. I think I might have enjoyed Matchless more if it had been written by someone else but I kept thinking, "This is the guy who wrote Wicked," and it was a bit distracting.
I enjoyed the retelling, but I also felt there was more of a story here and wouldn't have minded an actual novel. I didn't hear the The Little Match Girl story till I was an adult and it was used as an allegory. However I might have wanted more bc I am a Gregory Maguire fan and still remember staying up all night to finish Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West 14 years ago
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