Product Description

The magnificent title story of this collection of fairy tales for adults describes the strange and uncanny relationship between its extravagantly intelligent heroine--a world renowned scholar of the art of story-telling--and the marvelous being that lives in a mysterious bottle, found in a dusty shop in an Istanbul bazaar. As A.S. Byatt renders this relationship with a powerful combination of erudition and passion, she makes the interaction of the natural and the supernatural seem not only convincing, but inevitable.

The companion stories in this collection each display different facets of Byatt's remarkable gift for enchantment. They range from fables of sexual obsession to allegories of political tragedy; they draw us into narratives that are as mesmerizing as dreams and as bracing as philosophical meditations; and they all us to inhabit an imaginative universe astonishing in the precision of its detail, its intellectual consistency, and its splendor.

"A dreamy treat.... It is not merely strange, it is wondrous."
--Boston Globe

"Alternatingly erudite and earthy, direct and playful.... If Scheherazade ever needs a break, Byatt can step in, indefinitely."
--Chicago Tribune

"Byatt's writing is crystalline and splendidly imaginative.... These [are] perfectly formed tales."
--Washington Post Book World

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #219106 in Books
• Published on: 1998-10-27
• Released on: 1998-10-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780679762225
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
"Once upon a time," A.S. Byatt's title fairy story begins, "when men and women hurtled through the air on metal wings, when they wore webbed feet and walked on the bottom of the sea, learning the speech of whales and the songs of the dolphins ... there was a woman who was largely irrelevant, and therefore happy. Her business was storytelling..." But this is no backward looking, quaint fairy time. The time is the present, and the protagonist is a sensible scholar who is given the not-at-all sensible gift of a genie. How will Gillian, an expert in fairy stories and well versed in all that can go wrong with wishes, use hers?

Distinguished British author and Booker Prize-winner A.S. Byatt creates fairy tales for adults, each a blend of the magical and the modern, and readers of Angels & Insects and Possession will recognize the role of Victorian fairy tales in her fiction. This handsome little book includes reproductions of woodcuts that evoke our childhood wonder for dragons and princesses, glass coffins and netherworldly things.

From Library Journal
The enjoyment of fairy tales comes from new ways of telling old themes. The underlying stories are predictable?innocence is tested, a mission accomplished, a lesson learned, and an adult finally born?but the characters, adventures, and outcome vary with each telling. However, every once in a while this pattern gets bent or broken, as in Byatt's collection of five previously published stories. Each story is refreshingly different, eloquently detailing the story's setting, and each contains developed characters and dialog that make them truly enjoyable. The last and title story is the length of a small novella and is itself a collection of stories within a story. Readers who can keep up will have a fascinating adventure wandering from story to story as a modern middle-aged woman is granted three wishes by a highly personal and experienced genie. More than a play on words, this piece is a play on storytelling. Byatt has redesigned the fairy tale, breathing new life into old themes, and has done it with talent to spare. For all collections.
-?Laurel Duda, Marine Biological Lab., Woods Hole, Mass.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Four short fairy tales with a contemporary edge, and one novella-length tale that brilliantly transforms a story of middle- age angst into a celebration of serendipity and sex. Byatt (Babel Tower, 1996, etc.) uses that parallel world of fairy tales--which closely resembles our own in motive, character, and outcome--to explore the sources of hope and imagination. ``The Glass Coffin'' reworks a traditional quest tale as a tailor seeking employment helps a stranger and, as a reward, is given a glass key and certain mystifying instructions to follow that lead him to a beautiful sleeping princess. In ``Gode's Story,'' a young woman is true, while her feckless sailor lover betrays her, only to find his happiness with a new bride short-lived when he sees her among the Dead riding the ocean waves. ``The Story of the Eldest Princess'' is a witty reworking of the quest tale as well as a low-key analysis of the role of fate, choice, and character as a princess steps out of her preordained role in life to rescue her people. And ``Dragon's Breath'' is a wry morality tale about the unsuspected ``true relations between peace and beauty and terror'' revealed when dragons destroy a village. But Byatt is at her best in the novella, about what happens when Dr. Gillian Perholt, in Turkey to attend a conference on stories, is granted the chance to make three wishes, which all come true. Troubled by visions of her mortality and her husband's desertion, fiftyish Gillian buys a dirty but striking old glass bottle and takes it back to her hotel. When she washes it, a handsome Djinn appears, who gives her the younger body she wishes for, makes love to her as she wishes, and after talk, tales, and travels, grants her her third wish. An intelligent detour with an exemplary guide through Keats's ``magic casements'' to fairy land. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

A Treat for Byatt Fans
I loved this book but I really think you have to have read Byatt's Booker Prize winning novel, "Possession," in order to best understand and relate to the stories in "The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye."

In "Possession," Byatt created two wonderful Victorian characters, Randolphe Ash and Christabel La Motte, both writers. Two of the fairy tales contained in this collection of Byatt originals, "The Glass Coffin," and "Gode's Story," are the work of "Ash" and "La Motte." This is not to say that a reader will not enjoy them if he or she has not read "Possession." It only means that he will not derive the maxiumum amount of enjoyment from the stories.

The other two stories, "The Story of the Eldest Princess" and "Dragons' Breath," as well as the title novella, are meditations on the art of storytelling and all are very good. "The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye," in particular, is excellent. The only thing I didn't like about some of these stories, "The Story of the Eldest Princess," especially, is the thread of feminisim that runs through them. But, on further reflection, I suppose that is typical of all fairy tales, to some extent.

"The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye," tells the tale of a modern day storyteller who loves to meditate on the tales of Scheherazade. It is a rather pessimistic tale, from some standpoints, though not entirely, and the storyteller is a very clever one. She proves this cleverness when she winds up with a djinn of her very own.

Byatt's characters never seem to be black or white; instead, they are simply people with very differing views on life and the choices that should be made. The characters in this book are no different and that is one of things that makes them so charming and believable.

These aren't the typical "happily ever after" fairy tales of your childhood. They are, rather, meditations and reflections instead. But they are meditations and reflections that do contain more than a bit of magic. If you like your fairy tales told with a modern touch and if you prefer them on the esoteric side, this might be a book you'll really enjoy.

This book contains one of the finest novellas in English
If I could give this book 10 stars for the novella "The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye", I certainly would. I think it is one of the three finest short stories in the English language along with Isak Dineson's "Babette's Feast" and Paul Bowles'"Delicate Prey".

Two thirds of the book are devoted to this novella. There are 4 short stories that make up the other third of the book. These stories: The Glass Coffin, Gode's Story, Tale of the Eldest Princess, and Dragon's Breath, are very well constructed adult fairy tales and well worth reading.

However "The Dijinn in the Nightingale's Eye" is exceptional. In this story, Gillian, a middleaged scholar is in Istanbul for a conference of experts on myths, legends, and fairy tales. Her husband has divorced her after their two daughters had grown and left home. From here the story starts to spin story within story in rich overlays of meaning and metaphor. Gillian is an expert in wishes since she is an expert in fairy tales. The wisdom of her three wishes drives the tale. We are treated to an interpretation of one of Chaucer's tales as well as a re-telling of Gilgamesh.

I am certain that rich feminist interpretations are possible, considering the images of the role of women that change throughout the book. The characters go to St. Sophia (named after the feminine aspect of the Holy Spirit) where they put their finger into a hole in a marble column that remains forever moist.

The writing was very erotic for a fairy tale. The Djinn appears nude in Gillian's hotel room, he is 20 times larger than a human, as are his genitals. Byatt then tales us of the overpowering smell of masculinity coming from this handsome giant creature.

The Djinn tells tales of his 1000 year existence in the courts of Arab kings. His tales of love reveal that his heart is as mature as the heart of Gillian, making them a wonderful match for the adventures they undergo.

I was thoroughly entertained with the wisdom of each of Gillian's three wishes and her ability to string out these three wishes as she gained more knowledge of the Djinn. It is her final wish that reveals the ultimate power in the Universe, at least from my perspective. Maybe this is why I was so captivated by Byatt's wonderful novella.

I read the novella twice over the last 5 years and it remains unforgettable for me. I can not recommend it more strongly.

Twisted tales and fresh perspectives
I've always found A.S. Byatt to be not only entertaining, but also educational. Reading her books is like attending an English lecture by a favorite professor. Suddenly you realize that three hours have gone by and you've been so engrossed that you didn't notice. A.S. Byatt is a wordsmith of the highest order. Her little volume of tales provides a feast for anyone who enjoys the vagaries of the English language. Who wouldn't want to be a "narratologist", like the main character in the title story? I love that word....wish I'd coined it myself! The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye, a collection of adult fairy tales, provides a delightful juxtoposition of fantasy and reality, present and past. Things are not what they seem. But of course, if you know anything about fairy folk, you already know this to be true. It's a real treat to find fairy tales that capture the shifting, mercurial nature of "the little people." If you think you're too old for fairy tales, read a few from Byatt's book. Just remember to keep your wits about you lest the author catch you unawares, blissfully expecting a "happily ever after" that never arrives.