Point Appertaining To Books Swan Lake (A Kingdom Far and Clear: The Swan Lake Trilogy #1)

Title	:	Swan Lake (A Kingdom Far and Clear: The Swan Lake Trilogy #1)
Author	:	Mark Helprin
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	First Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 80 pages
Published	:	October 2nd 2012 by Houghton Mifflin (Jp) (first published 1989)
Categories	:	Fiction. Fantasy. Childrens. Picture Books

Swan Lake (A Kingdom Far and Clear: The Swan Lake Trilogy #1) Paperback | Pages: 80 pages

Representaion Concering Books Swan Lake (A Kingdom Far and Clear: The Swan Lake Trilogy #1)

This version of Swan Lake (1989) is written by Mark Helprin with fabulous color illustrations by Chris Van Allsburg. The story, of course, is very similar to the famous ballet.

An old man lives on a mountain with a young girl who, as children of her type often do, wants to venture down from the safe seclusion of their mountain to find her parents. Seeing this, the old man tells the girl a story to show her what she will encounter below: A story about a prince and a princess named Odette. As the old man relates the story of these star-crossed lovers, it becomes apparent that their fate is intimately linked with the young girl.

While parts of the story are excellent and the illustrations are truly stunning, the book on a whole left me cold. Helprin's writing is odd. I have written at length in other areas about my strong dislike of modernizing fairy tale stories with references to things like newspapers in a story clearly meant to be set in an earlier time. It might have been funny in Shrek but in any attempt to relate a story as a true fairy tale it just fails miserably, creating a disconnect between the reader and the story.

You can find this review and more on my blog Miss Print

Declare Books To Swan Lake (A Kingdom Far and Clear: The Swan Lake Trilogy #1)

Original Title:	Swan Lake
ISBN:	0395646472 (ISBN13: 9780395646472)
Edition Language:	English
Series:	A Kingdom Far and Clear: The Swan Lake Trilogy #1

Rating Appertaining To Books Swan Lake (A Kingdom Far and Clear: The Swan Lake Trilogy #1)

Ratings: 4.13 From 960 Users | 90 Reviews

Crit Appertaining To Books Swan Lake (A Kingdom Far and Clear: The Swan Lake Trilogy #1)

'The best way to know someone is by watching him work or struggle, for then he forgets himself and his qualities either shine through or stay dark.'

Sweet story that can be enjoyed by everyone, provided they read the book first.

The usual magic from this writer who isn't talked about enough, in my view. Van Allsburg's illustrations really bring it to life, not that Helprin's gorgeous prose needs the help. Helprin expands from the famous story to make it his own, yet images from from Balanchine's version of the ballet came to me as I read it. Complex as it is, this should easily appeal to readers of all ages.

The Van Allsburg illustrations are beautiful in the re-telling of The Swan Princess. It is a beautiful story as I expected a Helprin book to be having been mesmerized by the story & language of Winter's Tale. Wonderful read!



You should own this book and read it often. Be sure to get your hands on an out of print hard copy - the illustrations will live inside of you. I sob every time I finish this book so I have to be sure I'm not around anyone who would think I'm a weirdo (like my kids! - yeah that's right it's a "kids book" - but don't read it to your kid unless you want to blubber all over them)

The illustrations are amazing.