Monday, June 4, 2012

30 Day Book Challenge! Day 4: "Guilty Pleasure"?

A right interesting question for today:

Day 4: What is your "guilty pleasure" book?

Whenever asked for a guilty pleasure, there must needs be a confession behind it, and here is mine: I have not, to date, outgrown my love for the fairy tale (and I hope I never will). There are so many things wonderful and real about "prince and princess" stories; they are beautiful because they can reveal truth in a new light, and cause you to think about real things in a different way. At least, this is the case for many of them. There are some, however, which are pure sugar: fun, sweet, entertaining reads, with a smile at the end, that one has to be careful not to eat too much of too frequently (lest you rot your literary teeth and find they've grown too weak to tear off meat). This is my definition of a "guilty pleasure" book: a treat that should not be indulged in too often. And by such definition, I submit to you...


A twist on the story of Cinderella, Ella Enchanted is the tale of a girl who is given a most unusual (and not-quite-as-good-as-it-sounds) fairy gift at birth: obedience. Although forever compliant on the outside, she struggles to defy the spell that denies her the gift we often fail to be thankful for, the gift of free will. In the end, of course, love will be the answer - but in the meantime she must suffer the thoughtless commands of those who love her, the cruel commands of those who hate her, and the potentially fatal commands of those who wish to destroy her and all she holds dear.

"Anyone could control me with an order. It had to be a direct command, such as 'Put on a shawl,' or 'You must go to bed now.' A wish or request had no effect. I was free to ignore 'I wish you would put on a shawl' or 'Why don't you go to bed now?' But against an order I was powerless.
If someone told me to hop on one foot for a day and a half, I'd have to do it. And hopping on one foot wasn't the worst order I could be given. If you commanded me to cut off my own head, I'd have to do it.
I was in danger at every moment."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What is your favorite candy-book?
 


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