Title: Spinners
Author: Donna Jo Napoli
Standalone
Number of Pages: 197
Date Read: 4/7/13
Genre: Fairy Tale Retellings
Rating: A
Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com)
This is the story of two spinners. The first honed his craft
at a stolen wheel, crippling his leg, turning a room full of straw into a
glittering dress for his beloved -- and losing her. The second steals moments
to teach herself. Saskia is her name, and she grows up to be a master spinner.
Nothing is beyond her -- until she, too, must spin straw into gold. And it is
then that they meet . . .
My Review:
* May Contain Spoilers*
I really liked this fairy tale retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale because its tells about how
Rumpelstiltskin became Rumpelstiltskin. He wasn't always a deformed little man who just spun straw into gold and tried to take the Queen's baby.
In this story Rumpelstiltskin, is known throughout the book as the spinner. As the story begins the reader learns that the spinner was once a young man who was in love. He was a tailor and made his living weaving and fixing clothes. The young woman the spinner loved, loved him as well. When he went to her father to ask for her hand, her father was going to marry her to the miller who could give her more than what the spinner could. However the spinner loved the girl so much that and wanted her so much that he told her father he could spin straw into gold and would make a gold wedding dress for her. The woman's father gave him a month to make the dress, agreeing that if he could make it then he would be able to marry her. While he was able to make the dress, spinning straw into gold with a stolen spinning wheel, the process deformed his leg, make it stay bent like a birds's wing. The women he loved, eventually couldn't stand the sight of his leg and married the miller instead. The spinner was heartbroken. Later on the woman became pregnant, which was the spinner's daughter not the miller's who she married (yes they had sex before being married...Shocker). The spinner poke to the woman he still loved the day the baby was to be born. The woman claimed that she didn't love him anymore and she named the spinner Rumpelstiltskin, out of spite. The baby is born, the woman dies and the spinner leaves town with his spinning wheel.
I liked Rumpelstiltskin in this book. You get to understand him and see what happens to him to make him want the Queen's (whose his daughter) baby. He has had a hard life. He lost the woman he loves when all he was trying to do was find a way to marry her. I gotta say the woman got what she deserved. She was so shallow that she couldn't see past his deformed leg which he got making HER selfish ass a dress so that her dumb father would allow the spinner to marry her selfish ass. Throughout the whole book, the spinner still loves the woman but God knows why. She betrayed him, ridiculed him and gave him a cruel name and he still loved her. What a sap, which makes the reader sympathize with him. Also not only does he have a daughter but he never saw her and she never knew about him. He lives day by day sometimes staying with families as their spinner for a few months, then moving on. Once he goes back to his home town, he meets a woman, Elke, who works for the king. The spinner's yarn are so good that she offers him a job spinning yarn in exchange for shelter and food. He agrees and then lived in a small shack in the woods by the castle. Finally the day comes when his daughter, Saskia, is captured by the king and locked in a room, being forced to spin straw into gold. The spinner wants to save his daughter and spins the straw for her. He wanted Saskia to see him and recognize something in him that would tell her he was her father. But she didn't. By the third night she had nothing left to trade him for spinning straw into gold. She offered him sex but he was disgusted by it because she was his daughter. When he came closer to her, which she took as an agreement to the offer, she grimaced and had disgust in her eyes, which angered him because the way she looked at him reminded him of her mother. Its sad because all he wanted was her love as a daughter which is why he ends up asking for her first born. He didn't want the baby for bad reasons, he wanted the baby to raise and to love and who would love him in return without looking at him in disgust. All he wanted was love his entire life. That selfish ass woman he loved and his dumbass daughter couldn't love him because of the way he looked which is just stupid. Obviously these people have never heard "don't judge a book by its cover". Especially the woman who the spinner loved. What kind of crap love is that where she dumps him because of his leg? If I truly loved someone and somehow they became deformed, I would't leave them because of that. They're still the same person on the inside no matter what they look like on the outside. So yeah I felt bad for the spinner and was on his side during the entire story.
There was really nothing remarkable about Saskia. She lived with her "father" the miller, who was a drunk. He drank every night. Eventually he became upset over a hair cut and a shave that Saskia gave him that he spent nine months drunk in bed. He didn't run his mill which means he didn't make any money. This is when Saskia learns how to spin on a spinning wheel (that was her mother's) from her best friend's mother. Eventually she hones her skills and becomes a master spinner making yarn even finer than her father's, the spinner. In that aspect she is just like her real father. Eventually the miller gets out of bed, notices that she can spin yarn and takes over selling her yarn at the market. Then the day comes where he takes Saskia to see the king where he stupidly blurts out that Saskia can spin straw into gold. Then the usual fairy tale that we all know was told, however with some aspects in the spinner's pov. Its is never really known whether Saskia figures out that the spinner is her real father. He calls her daughter which she thinks about and makes it seem like she knows or suspects he is her father. It is never really said outright.
This story was more of Rumpelstiltskin's story than it was about Saskia. Her parts were kind of boring to tell you the truth.
I can't help but think that (and this goes for the original fairy tale as well), if the spinner (aka: Rumpelstiltskin) kept his mouth shut and never sang that stupid song to himself that revealed his name, he be all in the clear and would of gotten his grandchild to love and raise. I mean, if you give a person 3 days to find out your name, then why in the world would you sing about your name before the 3 days are up? It just doesn't make sense. Oh well.
Rumpelstiltskin became Rumpelstiltskin. He wasn't always a deformed little man who just spun straw into gold and tried to take the Queen's baby.
In this story Rumpelstiltskin, is known throughout the book as the spinner. As the story begins the reader learns that the spinner was once a young man who was in love. He was a tailor and made his living weaving and fixing clothes. The young woman the spinner loved, loved him as well. When he went to her father to ask for her hand, her father was going to marry her to the miller who could give her more than what the spinner could. However the spinner loved the girl so much that and wanted her so much that he told her father he could spin straw into gold and would make a gold wedding dress for her. The woman's father gave him a month to make the dress, agreeing that if he could make it then he would be able to marry her. While he was able to make the dress, spinning straw into gold with a stolen spinning wheel, the process deformed his leg, make it stay bent like a birds's wing. The women he loved, eventually couldn't stand the sight of his leg and married the miller instead. The spinner was heartbroken. Later on the woman became pregnant, which was the spinner's daughter not the miller's who she married (yes they had sex before being married...Shocker). The spinner poke to the woman he still loved the day the baby was to be born. The woman claimed that she didn't love him anymore and she named the spinner Rumpelstiltskin, out of spite. The baby is born, the woman dies and the spinner leaves town with his spinning wheel.
I liked Rumpelstiltskin in this book. You get to understand him and see what happens to him to make him want the Queen's (whose his daughter) baby. He has had a hard life. He lost the woman he loves when all he was trying to do was find a way to marry her. I gotta say the woman got what she deserved. She was so shallow that she couldn't see past his deformed leg which he got making HER selfish ass a dress so that her dumb father would allow the spinner to marry her selfish ass. Throughout the whole book, the spinner still loves the woman but God knows why. She betrayed him, ridiculed him and gave him a cruel name and he still loved her. What a sap, which makes the reader sympathize with him. Also not only does he have a daughter but he never saw her and she never knew about him. He lives day by day sometimes staying with families as their spinner for a few months, then moving on. Once he goes back to his home town, he meets a woman, Elke, who works for the king. The spinner's yarn are so good that she offers him a job spinning yarn in exchange for shelter and food. He agrees and then lived in a small shack in the woods by the castle. Finally the day comes when his daughter, Saskia, is captured by the king and locked in a room, being forced to spin straw into gold. The spinner wants to save his daughter and spins the straw for her. He wanted Saskia to see him and recognize something in him that would tell her he was her father. But she didn't. By the third night she had nothing left to trade him for spinning straw into gold. She offered him sex but he was disgusted by it because she was his daughter. When he came closer to her, which she took as an agreement to the offer, she grimaced and had disgust in her eyes, which angered him because the way she looked at him reminded him of her mother. Its sad because all he wanted was her love as a daughter which is why he ends up asking for her first born. He didn't want the baby for bad reasons, he wanted the baby to raise and to love and who would love him in return without looking at him in disgust. All he wanted was love his entire life. That selfish ass woman he loved and his dumbass daughter couldn't love him because of the way he looked which is just stupid. Obviously these people have never heard "don't judge a book by its cover". Especially the woman who the spinner loved. What kind of crap love is that where she dumps him because of his leg? If I truly loved someone and somehow they became deformed, I would't leave them because of that. They're still the same person on the inside no matter what they look like on the outside. So yeah I felt bad for the spinner and was on his side during the entire story.
There was really nothing remarkable about Saskia. She lived with her "father" the miller, who was a drunk. He drank every night. Eventually he became upset over a hair cut and a shave that Saskia gave him that he spent nine months drunk in bed. He didn't run his mill which means he didn't make any money. This is when Saskia learns how to spin on a spinning wheel (that was her mother's) from her best friend's mother. Eventually she hones her skills and becomes a master spinner making yarn even finer than her father's, the spinner. In that aspect she is just like her real father. Eventually the miller gets out of bed, notices that she can spin yarn and takes over selling her yarn at the market. Then the day comes where he takes Saskia to see the king where he stupidly blurts out that Saskia can spin straw into gold. Then the usual fairy tale that we all know was told, however with some aspects in the spinner's pov. Its is never really known whether Saskia figures out that the spinner is her real father. He calls her daughter which she thinks about and makes it seem like she knows or suspects he is her father. It is never really said outright.
This story was more of Rumpelstiltskin's story than it was about Saskia. Her parts were kind of boring to tell you the truth.
I can't help but think that (and this goes for the original fairy tale as well), if the spinner (aka: Rumpelstiltskin) kept his mouth shut and never sang that stupid song to himself that revealed his name, he be all in the clear and would of gotten his grandchild to love and raise. I mean, if you give a person 3 days to find out your name, then why in the world would you sing about your name before the 3 days are up? It just doesn't make sense. Oh well.
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