The Reasonable Ogre: Tales for the Sick and Well (review)

This collection of twelve original fairy tales canvasses a range of complex emotional experiences that speak to the deepest fears and desires of teens (and adults) through the use of fairy tale creatures and settings. Some are fairly straightforward, addressing the infinite sadness of child death or the loss of an elderly beloved, while others require more thoughtful conjecture in order to come to a conclusion about what the ultimate theme might be, though the images resonate strongly throughout. A fragile glass garden, for instance, becomes the setting of a story about a young girl who believes her parents don't understand her, but then the tale turns in another direction to call into question the nature of reality itself and to ask who might be in charge. The stories address the conditions for desire, what motivates us to move forward, and what haunts us from our pasts, all within contexts that tease the solidity of the veil between imagination and experience. The imaginative lyricism and touches of fantasy and symbolism provide much of the same appeal as Nayeri's Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow (BCCB 12/11). Segbingway's lyrical monochromatic brushstrokes create artwork that complements the ethereal nature of the stories themselves, producing landscapes and figures that are alive with movement and texture and yet still intangible. The stories are beautifully written and inexhaustibly discussable, but they're also appropriate for private enjoyment and reflection.