Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Katherine Tegen Books (2019), Edition: Illustrated, 272 pages
Description
This spellbinding tale takes readers to a sinister, magical, and war-torn world filled with richly drawn characters like trickster fauns, murderous soldiers, child-eating monsters, courageous rebels, and a long-lost princess hoping to be reunited with her family. Spanish Civil War. Ofelia and her pregnant mother, Carmen, have come to live with her mother's new husband in a forest north of Spain. Ofelia is afraid of her new stepfather, whom she has nicknamed "The Wolf," and worries that he will hurt her mother. In the forest she encounters a small twiglike creature that she knows immediately is actually a fairy. She follows it through the forest, where she meets a half-man, half-goat creature, the Faun. He tells her that she is the reincarnation of an Underworld princess but her memories were erased by the sun. Ofelia's true father, the king of the Underworld, has left portals open all over the word so she can return to him. Only one portal is still open, and Ofelia must pass a series of tests before she is allowed to return to the Underworld. -- adapted from Amazon.com info… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member flying_monkeys
Every bit as dark and magical as the movie.
A few lines that stuck with me:
"Sometimes the objects we hold dear give away who were are even more than the people we love." (Vidal)
"So many questions. Humans asked them about everything, but they usually weren't half as good at finding the answers." (The
"That's what the books said, and didn't their tales feel so much truer than what adults pretended this world to be about? Only books talked about all the things adults didn't want you to ask about--Life. Death. Good and Evil. And what else truly mattered in life." (Ofelia)
"It is often easier to find something out than to face what you've found." (Ofelia)
A few lines that stuck with me:
"Sometimes the objects we hold dear give away who were are even more than the people we love." (Vidal)
"So many questions. Humans asked them about everything, but they usually weren't half as good at finding the answers." (The
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Fairy)"That's what the books said, and didn't their tales feel so much truer than what adults pretended this world to be about? Only books talked about all the things adults didn't want you to ask about--Life. Death. Good and Evil. And what else truly mattered in life." (Ofelia)
"It is often easier to find something out than to face what you've found." (Ofelia)
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LibraryThing member BenKline
Such a wonderful, gorgeous, beautiful, brilliant book. The pages are done so well and the artwork on the flash-back or side-segments or whatever you wish to call them is wonderful. The story is a wonderfully sad fairy tale.
There is so much to this story to unpack and so many little details to go
There is so much to this story to unpack and so many little details to go
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into. The story is done very well and the interesting interplays add a whole kind of mythos to this. This is in the YA section, and it will be a fine read for young adults (though some things might be a 'bit scary', but if read by a 12 year old or higher it should be fine), but this reads just as perfectly well to adults. In fact, we (adults) will most likely get more out of it, but I think its a wonderful read for Middle School or High School readers and I think the story will be wonderful for them in that its a great introduction to fantasy, fairy tales, adult themes, and good story-telling. Show Less
LibraryThing member thoroughlyme
3.5 out of 5, rounded up to 4
ARC provided by HarperCollins, via Edelweiss
Novelizations of movies can really be a hit or miss affair. The best ones take the events that happen within a film and expand upon them in ways only a novel can do - bringing readers into the thoughts of the characters within
Pan's Labyrinth is an R-rated film. Sure, it's a fairy tale, but it's a fairy tale aimed squarely at adults. It's filled with violence and horrific imagery and all manners of things one might not want children and young teens to be exposed to. So, naturally, you'd think any novelization/adaptation of Pan's Labyrinth would be aimed at adults. This doesn't appear to be the case with this book. Amazon classifies this book as a YA-novel, and that sounds about right. The prose is more simplistic than one might find in your normal, run of the mill Adult Fiction novel, but some of the words used in the book are more complex than you'd find in anything simpler than a YA-novel. So, in terms of writing, this is definitely a YA-novel. This opens up a question though - why write an adaptation of a film that was originally targeted towards adults and target it toward a younger demographic?
Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun walks this weird tight-rope between being true to the film and softening some of the edges. Nothing in the film is outright censored, but some of the more adult elements aren't really elaborated upon. There is violence in this book, and sometimes it's pretty brutal violence, but it's rarely given the kind of description that would match the horror that came with seeing it on the screen. To me, that feels a bit like a cop-out. I don't like it when stories have their rougher edges sanded down and it makes me want to wonder what the point in adapting this story is if you're gonna have to tweak elements of it to fit a new audience. To be fair to this book, though, not that much is changed in the vast scheme of things. The novel follows the film's plot pretty closely; certain elements are toned down a bit but nothing is really wholly missing. And, the horrific imagery and violence aren't really important to the story, per se, but it does feel just a bit ingenuous to tone them down, especially as the story does involve a literal civil war. Then again, that scene featuring the amputation of a rebel's leg is still in this book, so maybe things weren't really all that toned down. It's just a bit of a discordant mashup of tones for me. It's not book-killing or anything, but it's certainly one of the biggest things I noticed.
While I might question the point in this book existing given my previously mentioned points, it's not that the book is remotely bad. It's very well-written and well-paced and does nearly everything you'd want a novelization/adaptation of a film to do. Readers are taken into the heads of a number of different characters. Certain scenes are expanded upon or told from a new point of view. Funke utilizes the strengths of a prose novel to tell certain parts of the story in a way that a film couldn't really do. And, best of all, there are some interludes scattered throughout that expand upon the Underground Kingdom and elaborate upon how a number of the characters in the "real-world" storyline tie into the events of the "Underground Kingdom" storyline. Those interludes were probably my favorite part as, by nature, they could really feel like a surreal fairy tale and offered something genuinely new to this story that I'm very familiar with.
At the end of the day, Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun is an enjoyable read. As you read it, you may get confused at just who the book is for - is it for fans of the book? Is it for new readers? If so, is it for teenage readers? Adult readers? Does it even matter? Honestly, probably not. As is, it's nothing particularly special, but it's well-made. It expands upon the film in a number of ways - chiefly in those interludes that feature totally new material not seen in the film. Readers are taken into the minds of various characters, although the insight provided is never really as much as one would like - these insights pale in comparison to another novel adaptation of one of del Toro's films, The Shape of Water (written by Daniel Kraus) - though, I still enjoyed these insights quite a bit. I enjoyed this novel a fair amount; it's a quick read and it's fun to revisit this story from a new point of view. I wouldn't call it essential reading, but if you were ever curious about the film but found yourself frightened by some of the more severe imagery, this is a good way to experience the story. I'd still probably recommend watching the film a bit more than I'd recommend reading this book, but this is a pretty solid adaptation of it.
ARC provided by HarperCollins, via Edelweiss
Novelizations of movies can really be a hit or miss affair. The best ones take the events that happen within a film and expand upon them in ways only a novel can do - bringing readers into the thoughts of the characters within
Show More
a film and showing those same events from a different angle or with extra bits that the film might not have had time to show. Unfortunately, most film novelizations don't do that - they to just be fairly strict prose conversions of the script. So, it's with that mindset that I approached this "novelization" of Guillermo del Toro's award-winning Pan's Labyrinth - I hesitate to call this book a novelization because Pan's Labyrinth came out thirteen years ago and most novelizations come out around the same time as the film they're novelizing. With that context, it might be best to consider this book a retelling of the story featuring in the film - a screen-to-page adaptation, if you will, by a talented author - Cornelia Funke. As is always the case with any adaptation, does the story still work when transferred to this new medium? In the case of Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun, the answer is yes and no.Pan's Labyrinth is an R-rated film. Sure, it's a fairy tale, but it's a fairy tale aimed squarely at adults. It's filled with violence and horrific imagery and all manners of things one might not want children and young teens to be exposed to. So, naturally, you'd think any novelization/adaptation of Pan's Labyrinth would be aimed at adults. This doesn't appear to be the case with this book. Amazon classifies this book as a YA-novel, and that sounds about right. The prose is more simplistic than one might find in your normal, run of the mill Adult Fiction novel, but some of the words used in the book are more complex than you'd find in anything simpler than a YA-novel. So, in terms of writing, this is definitely a YA-novel. This opens up a question though - why write an adaptation of a film that was originally targeted towards adults and target it toward a younger demographic?
Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun walks this weird tight-rope between being true to the film and softening some of the edges. Nothing in the film is outright censored, but some of the more adult elements aren't really elaborated upon. There is violence in this book, and sometimes it's pretty brutal violence, but it's rarely given the kind of description that would match the horror that came with seeing it on the screen. To me, that feels a bit like a cop-out. I don't like it when stories have their rougher edges sanded down and it makes me want to wonder what the point in adapting this story is if you're gonna have to tweak elements of it to fit a new audience. To be fair to this book, though, not that much is changed in the vast scheme of things. The novel follows the film's plot pretty closely; certain elements are toned down a bit but nothing is really wholly missing. And, the horrific imagery and violence aren't really important to the story, per se, but it does feel just a bit ingenuous to tone them down, especially as the story does involve a literal civil war. Then again, that scene featuring the amputation of a rebel's leg is still in this book, so maybe things weren't really all that toned down. It's just a bit of a discordant mashup of tones for me. It's not book-killing or anything, but it's certainly one of the biggest things I noticed.
While I might question the point in this book existing given my previously mentioned points, it's not that the book is remotely bad. It's very well-written and well-paced and does nearly everything you'd want a novelization/adaptation of a film to do. Readers are taken into the heads of a number of different characters. Certain scenes are expanded upon or told from a new point of view. Funke utilizes the strengths of a prose novel to tell certain parts of the story in a way that a film couldn't really do. And, best of all, there are some interludes scattered throughout that expand upon the Underground Kingdom and elaborate upon how a number of the characters in the "real-world" storyline tie into the events of the "Underground Kingdom" storyline. Those interludes were probably my favorite part as, by nature, they could really feel like a surreal fairy tale and offered something genuinely new to this story that I'm very familiar with.
At the end of the day, Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun is an enjoyable read. As you read it, you may get confused at just who the book is for - is it for fans of the book? Is it for new readers? If so, is it for teenage readers? Adult readers? Does it even matter? Honestly, probably not. As is, it's nothing particularly special, but it's well-made. It expands upon the film in a number of ways - chiefly in those interludes that feature totally new material not seen in the film. Readers are taken into the minds of various characters, although the insight provided is never really as much as one would like - these insights pale in comparison to another novel adaptation of one of del Toro's films, The Shape of Water (written by Daniel Kraus) - though, I still enjoyed these insights quite a bit. I enjoyed this novel a fair amount; it's a quick read and it's fun to revisit this story from a new point of view. I wouldn't call it essential reading, but if you were ever curious about the film but found yourself frightened by some of the more severe imagery, this is a good way to experience the story. I'd still probably recommend watching the film a bit more than I'd recommend reading this book, but this is a pretty solid adaptation of it.
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LibraryThing member knerd.knitter
A novelization... normally, I would shy away from a book like this, but somehow I didn't realize that's what it was until I had started reading it, and by then I was enjoying it so much, I didn't care! I love the film, and this book was very true to the plot of the movie, also adding backstory that
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wasn't in the movie, but adds to the richness of the story itself. This is the perfect kind of story for me: whimsical, fairy tale-like, but with just enough horror to remind you that it's not a children's story. Show Less
LibraryThing member krau0098
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I borrowed this on audiobook from my library.
Thoughts: I wasn't a huge fan of this and struggled to finish it. I listened to this on audiobook which was part of my issue; it was hard to tell when we were leaving the main story and jumping into a side
The story jumps between the story of Ophelia, a sad young girl whose father has died and whose mother has decided to marry an evil commander, and other random fairy tales. Ophelia's mother is pregnant with the commander's child. Ophelia gets lured into performing some crazy tasks to prove to a fawn that she is a lost princess. In between these tasks we follow the day to day drudgery of Ophelia's existence and also hear fairy tale like stories of the history and past of the world (both imaginary and real).
This was okay. I liked the concept. This was written after the Pan's Labyrinth movie was released and does a good job of filling in some of the background that was missing in the movie. I really enjoyed the fairy tale like feel to portions of the story. Unfortunately, I had a hard time following the story at times. We jump from Ophelia's story, to some tale from the past, to the rebel soldiers, to various people around Ophelia and it was a bit erratic. I think listening to this on audiobook contributed to my confusion because the transitions weren't very clear.
The writing was okay. I didn't really enjoy the characters all that much, you just bounce around too much to engage with them. The story is dreary and dark and depressing. Description is lacking throughout, so it's hard to picture places and settings. This is one I probably could have skipped.
My Summary (3/5): Overall this was okay but not great. The story felt fractured and it was hard to follow as it jumped between Ophelia, past tales, and other characters. It was fairly depressing and just not that interesting. I would have preferred to be listening to something else. This is a book I was really looking forward to so I pushed through but it wasn't really my thing and I would recommend skipping it.
Thoughts: I wasn't a huge fan of this and struggled to finish it. I listened to this on audiobook which was part of my issue; it was hard to tell when we were leaving the main story and jumping into a side
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fairy tale. It came off as very wandering and a bit hard to follow.The story jumps between the story of Ophelia, a sad young girl whose father has died and whose mother has decided to marry an evil commander, and other random fairy tales. Ophelia's mother is pregnant with the commander's child. Ophelia gets lured into performing some crazy tasks to prove to a fawn that she is a lost princess. In between these tasks we follow the day to day drudgery of Ophelia's existence and also hear fairy tale like stories of the history and past of the world (both imaginary and real).
This was okay. I liked the concept. This was written after the Pan's Labyrinth movie was released and does a good job of filling in some of the background that was missing in the movie. I really enjoyed the fairy tale like feel to portions of the story. Unfortunately, I had a hard time following the story at times. We jump from Ophelia's story, to some tale from the past, to the rebel soldiers, to various people around Ophelia and it was a bit erratic. I think listening to this on audiobook contributed to my confusion because the transitions weren't very clear.
The writing was okay. I didn't really enjoy the characters all that much, you just bounce around too much to engage with them. The story is dreary and dark and depressing. Description is lacking throughout, so it's hard to picture places and settings. This is one I probably could have skipped.
My Summary (3/5): Overall this was okay but not great. The story felt fractured and it was hard to follow as it jumped between Ophelia, past tales, and other characters. It was fairly depressing and just not that interesting. I would have preferred to be listening to something else. This is a book I was really looking forward to so I pushed through but it wasn't really my thing and I would recommend skipping it.
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Awards
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2019-07-02
Physical description
272 p.; 9 inches
ISBN
0062414461 / 9780062414465
Local notes
Signed with drawing by Allen Williams