In Link’s version, the premise is analogous: A rich man fears getting old and sees in his sons “the proof of his own mortality.” But when the youngest son sets out, he does so in a roadster with a copy of Kerouac and dog treats, winding his way through a landscape of pot farms and airport security, until the story is darkened by violent betrayal. It eventually resolves in a triple wedding. When the prince returns home, he breaks the acorn open to find, improbably, an enchantment, the smallest and most beautiful dog - but the king then sends him on another epic journey. In d’Aulnoy’s story, the youngest finds himself in a land of talking cats, ruled by a white cat who gives him an acorn to take back to the king. The first story, “The White Cat’s Divorce,” is a quest narrative based on Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy’s French fairy tale “The White Cat,” about a king who tasks his three sons with finding the smallest and most beautiful dog to distract them from pursuing his throne. Weird journeys, often featuring creepy companions, recur throughout the collection.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |