Re: The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell Read and Discuss thread!

[Glorfindel]

Snow White is the character I like the least in TLoS. She is weak and naive, imo. Sometimes you can be too loving and sweet. Especially how she did not consider the dangers of letting the Evil Queen free.
But it was necessary for the story, I suppose, and these people excist in real life too.

I don't think it's bad for children to learn that even the villains who committed the worst crimes are (or once were) still human. They were once children too. Nor do I think that all they deserve after their crimes is to rot in a prison because they can never be redeemed or forgiven. Some of the worst villains can never be redeemed or forgiven and should never be set free again, but we owe it to our own dignity and humanity to still treat them as people, even when they haven't done that themselves when it comes to their victims and there's no sign that they will ever better their ways.
Setting them free would be foolish and wrong, but I see no wrong in listening to their stories, find some understanding and compassion, even trying to help them right some of the wrongs done either to themselves or to their victims (although I admit that for some all help is futile). If we give up on them again, what's left of humanity in general?
Mind you, I'm a very vindictive person myself: I will never forgive nor forget my bullies. But I still hope they have bettered their ways and are living meaningfull and good lives now. Granted: some part of me also hopes they somehow had to pay for their wrongdoings to me and others, but I don't want them to pay forever and be miserable, if only for the sake of their own families and loved ones.

I think it's okay for children in the age this book was targeted at to find out that villains are not always 2-dimensional all bad, black characters with no background, like so many childrens' books and movies depict them. There's always a reason why, even though it is not a justification for their evilness by all means.
Not many authors think that children are capable yet of making that observation, they don't take them seriously. And it's true that some children can't make that observation, but the smart ones can, and sometimes I think we don't give children enough credit for making up their own minds. We as adults are modeled into our beliefs, preconceptions and standards, and therefore we look at this children's book in a different way as children. We already know the answers to the questions raised in TLoS.
Children however still have to learn and experience a lot. Having a book that does not divide the world simply into good and bad helps them not becoming black and white thinkers themselves. J.K. Rowling does the same thing in her Harry Potter books, where no hero is all good and no villain (not even Voldemort) is all bad, or started out as being all bad.

Villains are humans too, although in the case of the Evil Queen her humanity was gone after she had removed her heart, and that's why in the end she was unredeemable (and the book showed she was beyond redemption by her being willing to kill 2 innocent children to get what she wanted). Her having a heart of stone was not used as the only excuse/reason why she did so many evil deeds. There was also her jealousy at Snow White for the mirror thinking it was his old lover, after she already had removed her heart. But the other characters in the book still could feel compassion for her sad story.
I do think Chris went maybe a bit too far with this, but that's okay, because I don't expect or demand of him to do everything 100% right (esp. not at his age) and I don't think it did any real harm in the book nor to the children reading it.
These stories make you think, and that is always a good thing in my eyes when I have read a book (or seen a movie).


As for Carson and the Evil Queen: I never said they were similar, but their overall theme has similarities: they were both struggling with feeling too much, getting hurt too much, being passionate, and they both took measures to close their hearts off to not feel the pain again and to become heartless towards other people to get to their goals. For Carson this lasted only for a brief moment and it was mostly a facade, but the Evil Queen (and Sheryl) went off the deep end.

[Lottie2303]

Yeah, I officially got kicked out of a thread!

But sure, I guess the three of us can arrange to move our dicussion to a different thread. Makes perfect sense. Alas, that means I have to wait a bit to post my respond. Still a bit to say about the matter .

[MoviesAreLife]

I didn't see what Snow White did as loving and sweet. It was more of a bad decision done out of a moment of weakness. Very self destructive, actually. Her behavior reminds me of so many accounts of abused people who, for some reason, NEED the love and approval of their abusers. It makes me sick, that level of neediness. Her confession of "I let you harm me!" made me want to barf. It's bad enough that she put herself at risk because of some stupid complex, but I didn't even think of the fact that she was putting so many others, including the twins, in danger as well. Snow White has always been my least favorite Disney princess, ironically enough. I couldn't stand her in the 1937 film...that voice! Ugh!

[Lottie2303]

I started listening to LoS once again. I once again fall in love with the twins. I especially want tp adopt Connor and never let him go again

[MoviesAreLife]

Conner is hilarious and Alex is so sweet! I want to adopt them both!

[MissSoniaPP]

I just read the book.
Only now had access to the book and I'm reading in English because the translation into Portuguese (from Brazil because of Portugal does not yet exist) is bad

I like the twins, especially Conner (I've always been Ron Wesley fan)
I loved what Chris did to with Evil Queen
Little Red Riding Hood: is one character that is annoying in the beginning but in the end is of my favorite  
Goldilocks and Red: love the dynamics of these two
I loved know who really grandmother and father were

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