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The Snow Queen
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The Snow Queen
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The Snow Queen
Audiobook6 hours

The Snow Queen

Written by Michael Cunningham

Narrated by Claire Danes

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

3/5

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About this audiobook

From the author of THE HOURS

‘Luminously written … page-turningly enjoyable, this is a profound novel about love from a highly regarded, Pulitzer-winning novelist’ Sunday Times

Walking through Central Park, Barrett Meeks sees a translucent light in the sky that regards him in a distinctly godlike way. Barrett doesn’t believe in visions – or in God – but he can’t deny what he’s seen. In nearby Brooklyn, Tyler, Barrett’s older brother, is trying – and failing – to write a wedding song for Beth, his wife-to-be, who is seriously ill. Barrett turns unexpectedly to religion, while Tyler grows convinced that only drugs can release his creative powers.

The Snow Queen, beautiful and heartbreaking, comic and tragic, proves again that Cunningham is one of the great novelists of his generation.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 6, 2014
ISBN9780007579143
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The Snow Queen
Author

Michael Cunningham

Michael Cunningham is the author of six novels including A Home at the End of the World, Flesh and Blood, The Hours, Specimen Days, and non-fiction book, Land’s End: A Walk Through Provincetown. The Hours was awarded both the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the 1999 PEN/Faulkner Award and made into an internationally acclaimed, Oscar-winning film. His new novel, The Snow Queen, will be published in May of 2014. He lives in New York.

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Reviews for The Snow Queen

Rating: 3.238853566878981 out of 5 stars
3/5

157 ratings26 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Really enjoyed the book reading by Julia Whelan and really enjoyed the book. Will be recommending it to all my friends and family.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The story of a little girl, and a little boy, and how they were separated and brought back together. This is a quaint story told in fairy tale fashion. The reader, Julia Whelan does a fine job. There were a few bits I found tedious, but that may be my impatient spirit at the moment. Brutal in some parts, a reminder that people didn't used to hide the evil or bad parts of life from children. I liked the allusion to the fragments of mirror distorting one's view of the world and all things good in the world, but I really didn't get the ending with the song of baby Jesus and the roses. An enjoyable story though, and just over an hour long.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I shouldn't have read this as an audiobook - the illustration potential must be astounding. Even still, it's a great story about love and the beauty of life. Having read about Anderson's personal life, it's interesting to see the incredible beauty he was able to see the everyday and the magic he was able to pull from thin-air.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Snow Queen was one of the spring books to read for the group, Into the Forest. I remembered the basic story from when I was young, but decided to refresh my memory with a reread. I?m so glad I did.

    The version that I read was barely 29 pages long, even with lovely illustrations taking up some of the space. It somehow managed to be charming, surprising, whimsical, lyrical, and a bit suspenseful all at the same time. I read it very slowly, even a few pages a day, just to let the phrases and images tumble about in my brain.

    I loved the matter-of-fact way that Gerda conversed with rivers, birds, and reindeer in her search for her missing friend. They were all guileless and helpful, which was not always the case with the humans in the story. Most of the humans were ultimately helpful, but not always guileless. Even so, no one in the story was evil as such. Like the story of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, an external force thrown into the world brings about hard-heartedness and cruelty.

    The natural world was firmly part of the fabric of the story. In fact, a few references made me wonder if Hans Christian Andersen was making sly pokes at rationality from time to time, particularly rationality that made one dismiss the mystical wonders of flora and fauna. The clever princess, who reads all the newspapers and then forgets them as proof of her intelligence, is a case in point.

    I had put off starting this book until the snow from the last storm melted. I?m glad I did. As I went on a long walk this morning, I saw snowdrops and crocus in brave little bunches. I couldn?t help but smile at them and asked them quietly what their story was.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The only reason I got myself a copy of The Snow Queen - and then I mean this particular edition, is cos I love Sanna Annukka (her illustrations, that is). Though now I've gotta admit I had forgotten how lovely this tale is! Really enjoyed it!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I had never read The Snow Queen before this, but the cover just drew me in and I HAD to do it.. The story was fantastical and at parts heartbreaking, with another good theme to it. I enjoyed this novella very much and now I understand all the remakes and shows and movies that have borrowed from this story. Absolutely brilliant. I would recommend this book. 4 out of 5 stars.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I got this book for free from Audible. Not my favorite Andersen tale, but it wasn't so bad, specially for a "Christmas tale". It's a cute story, though I think it's better suited for younger people. You can take a couple of interesting aspects from this book though. First of all, the lack of a damsel in distress. The main character is a girl that tries to find her best friend after he has been hit with a glass shard that turned his heart cold. She does get her share of help, but she is in no way a damsel in distress. I also enjoyed the entities she found on her way, her determination and strength. And, of course, there is the weight of friendship instead of the whole "true love" thing, which is absolutely lovely.
    Anyway, it's worth checking it out.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Snow Queen is about a set of friends named, Kai and Gerda, who do everything together before the snow queen blows ice glass into kai's eyes and heart. Gerda goes on a dangerous journey to the snow queen's palace to save Kai despite his change in behavior and saves him with her warm hearted love. This is a good fantasy because there are trolls and evil snow queens involved also a young child goes on a journey by herself through many dangerous places without proper tools and clothing. would use this in intermediate grades may be too intense and scary for younger kids despite its happy ending. illustrations: fine-line pen with ink and dyes applied over a detailed pencil drawing that was then erased.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The text was lovely in Engelbreit's version but I don't know if she adapted that or not. The illustrations were cute, but *not* at all appropriate, in my opinion. I had wanted to find the edition illustrated by Vladyslav Yerko or the one by Naomi Lewis. I will have to find another text, maybe an older one, to compare, as there's no note here.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is very special book for me. The story is wonderful and the illustrations are full of living art and beauty.The art in this book is truly breathtaking, the details are amazing! I just agreed with many readers about it. For example: "This is perhaps the most extraordinary children's book that I have ever seen.' - Paulo Coelho, Internationally selebrated writer. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil" Or: "The full page illustrations by the award winning Ukrainian artist, Vladyslav Yerko, are alone worth the price of the book. I recommend it to all ages." Robert Goldsborough, Writer and former Chicago Tribune Magazine editor* I found special edition of The Snow Queen book on the site snowqueen.us
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a lovely reading of Andersen's story of Gerda and her friend Kai, who becomes contaminated by the shards of a demon-made magic mirror, and succumbs to the lure of the Snow Queen.

    Gerda sees the change in her friend when he is affected by the shards, and when he vanishes, she will not believe that he is dead. She sets off on quest to find him, armed chiefly with her courage, loyalty, and good heart.

    Something that may seem unexpected to those who grew up on Disney versions of fairy tales is that nearly all the strong characters here, both good and ill, at least the human ones, are women and girls.

    Julia Whelan is an excellent narrator, with a delightful voice, and she strikes exactly the right tone in reading this.

    Recommended.

    This book is free on Audible until January 31, 2015.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The book is a fast-paced, adventure-laden story of the contrasting lives of two 19th century girls, one raised in the "civilized" portion of Scandinavia, the other the daughter of a shaman and a robber-baron of Lapland. Together they must confront the Ice Queen, sorceress of the icy Northern wastes. When Gerda leaves home to track down Kai, the boy she wishes would return her love and who has gone North with a mysterious countess to study arcane subjects, she little expects to become the captive of a robber baron of Northern Finland and his daughter's pet plaything. Ritva, the shaman's headstrong daughter comes to realize that Gerda is not just a human pet, fit only to amuse her. Together they seek the Snow Queen's castle in the Northern fastness. Gerda's rational and common sense approach, along with Ritva's innate fey nature and her reindeer, Ba, allow them to release Kai and escape. Ultimately though, Gerda can see that Kai will never truly be interested in her. As a book for young adults The Snow Queen is just fine, proceeding quickly but in an exciting and page-turning manner. However, the best of childrens' literature reads well for both youngsters and adults, though obviously on different levels. For an older reader The Snow Queen lacks somewhat in depth and, in several instances, I would have liked a particular scene or narrative to continue longer and in more detail. The narrative often skipped forward several weeks or months. This to a certain extent is probably due to the fairy tale source/style, a genre which frequently uses such leaps in time or space, but in The Snow Queen this often precluded anything but the sketchiest details of the society and landscapes around the two young women.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Beautifully illustrated.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    As the story opens, Barrett has received a break-up text from his latest boyfriend. While walking through the city at night in the snow, he views a pale aqua light hovering over his head. He is an atheist, but this vision awakens his spiritual curiosity. Barrett lives in an apartment in Brooklyn with his brother, Tyler, and Tyler’s fiancé, Beth, who is terminally ill. Tyler is a musician, struggling to write songs. He believes cocaine will help but becomes addicted. He gets involved with Beth’s friend Liz.

    I did not particularly enjoy this book. It is filled with existential angst. The thin plot meanders and does not seem to have any driving force. The brothers are looking for clarity in their lives and appear to be getting in each other’s way. The unusual vision is not explored in any depth. I picked it up on the strength of Michael Cunningham’s The Hours, which I loved, but this book pales in comparison. I can only say it was okay.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    A horrible effort of a novel that wanted to be ‘’smart’’, ‘’literary’’, ‘’raw’’ and ‘’haunting’’. What it really was can be described thus: Sleeping pill.And not very effective, I am afraid.Yes, there are lovely, melancholic descriptions of New York.And that’s about it.I don’t particularly enjoy reading about a character’s endless thoughts on drugs or shagging every living thing that moves and even if that kind of a story was my cup of tea, I’d still feel bored because the writer decided to populate its novel with caricatures instead of characters. The dialogue was atrocious, the gimmicky questions on life and miracles and death were laughable.You cannot ‘’cramp’’ a story with themes like politics, ethics, religion, sexuality, family relationships, marital relationships, life after death, death after life, miracles, illness, art and whatnot if you don’t have the chops to do it. And I am sorry to say but this is my third novel by this writer and my third disappointment.So. No.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Love dies, as do those we love. But that doesn’t decrease its value, or stop us from learning to love. Love heals and hurts. Love soothes and betrays. Love plays wonderful music on the senses, or leaves the musician seeking solace in white powders. Love can’t be forced into patterns defined by another. And true love just might be the perfect surprise, as a lonely guy falls, in a chance encounter, for the love of his life.While plans and dreams go awry, when almost-miracles change the point of view, and as chance purchases delight just as surely as chance encounters, author Michael Cunningham invites readers into the lives of a small group of people—brothers, lover, wife... Small windows reveal small details of their lives, leaving readers to deduce how the story got here from where we last saw them. And always that theme of love, loving, music, art and hope reaches out the window-ledge.Haunting, almost-sad, almost-beautiful and vividly real, the Snow Queen’s lure is set against true longing and love might win through.Disclosure: I really enjoyed meeting these characters and reading this book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Beautifully written, very engaging, and sad with a delicate compelling sweetness.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    An over-written little book that unfortunately fails to answer the question why we should be interested in any of these people or their depressing stories. There are some paragraphs that I'm sure would sound absolutely beautiful read aloud, and there are a few interesting and original bits of observation, but I found myself coming to the conclusion that the kind of wistful novels about gay men from New York City I so used to enjoy 25 years ago must have come to the end of their useful life. Sad.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Well written, but so depressing. Other than a mild empathy for Barrett, I can't relate to any of the characters. The book has had some good moments, but I'm abandoning it at 32% read (kindle). Life's too short for me to read books I'm not enjoying. For readers who can connect with the lives and personalities of the main characters, I'm sure this will be a good read.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Oh, Michael. I wanted to like your book, but now that ive read it, and your other one The Hours, I've decided you only have one story and it's not a story that grips me. That might be unfair of me, but self absorbed, uninteresting, dead mother worshipping people seeking transcendence from their mundane lives because they think they're better than their mundane lives don't do it for me.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Seems like the people who disliked this book got hung up on it's connection with H.C. Andersen's fable of the same name. I'm crass enough not to have been aware of the literary allusion. And I don't know (and haven't researched) Michael Cunningham's motive, or even if he chose the title. The dust cover makes no mention to the fable. If I have a quibble with the title, I would have called it a novella.Having got that out of the way, I loved this book without having to deal with the baggage of Andersen's fable. "Not a lot happens" only in the sense that the events of a many years are elicited by reference. The tension and motivations of 4 intimately involved people are too subjective to be laid out by an omniscient narrator. We have 4 narrators in this ménage a trois plus one. Barrett, Tyler, and Liz unite in their care and love for Beth by seemingly do damage mostly to themselves.[More-to-come]
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Never having seen "Frozen" and not being familiar with the fairy tale, I had to Wikipedia the Snow Queen story and now I understand why Michael Cunningham thusly titled this book. The main characters - brothers Barrett and Tyler, married to Beth, and their friend Liz - all enclose each other in a too-tight circle. Their friends and relations - their mother, a too young, lame boyfriend for Liz - are also majorly important. If seen as a series of vignettes and enactment of scenes, I think it's well written, but it does not hang together as a novel.Tyler's mystical experience one night in New York City - seeing a strangely spiritual light in the sky - is the frame for the following years and the link to the snowflakes and icicles of the Brothers Grimm. He is a singer-songwriter in search of The One True Song, the pursuit of which seems real and valid, but if it happened, would you then die or stop being a musician? Does the performer know when they've done it? This I have always wondered: did Woody Allen (yuck, I know) realize that Annie Hall was as good as it would ever get for him? Leonard Cohen - how does he keep going at such a high level at 80, is he still reaching for The One True Song?But I digress, and you've stopped reading by now, for sure, if you are interested in The Snow Queen. My favorite part of the book was a New Years Eve party, lame and awful as most are, but where when the guests depart, Cunningham tells us all their futures, in a way that makes me wish he'd come to my house every December 31st.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A well written novel of the search for meaning in life. Not the luminous novel I expected.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Hans Christian Andersen’s fable, “Snow Queen”, is the source of the title. Andersen’s fable is about the struggle between good and evil. In Michael Cunningham’s book, there seems to be a struggle between reality and unreality. In the fable, the broken pieces of a looking glass brought out the worst in people, perhaps the title indicates that the characters in Cunningham’s novel are all broken people, unable to deal with life in a healthy way. Not one of the characters was a fully functional human being, following any rules of decorum. The use of drugs was addressed as harmful, but not really emphasized as a wrong choice. The unusual alliances of couples that simply seemed to toy with each other, was demoralizing in many ways. Not one character seemed to have a redeeming feature. They all seemed to be miserably unhappy and unfulfilled people, living on the edge of “Normal”. Perhaps I am feeling overly critical because I feel as if I was personally attacked by the political philosophy of the characters, obviously reflecting those views of the author or he could just as easily have written ill about Al Gore, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. I am not taking sides, merely indicating that there was plenty of reason to use the Democrats as examples, as well as the Republicans. If he had been more even handed, perhaps he would not have turned me off. If I wanted to read a biased political diatribe against the GOP, I would read George Soros’ Socialist leaning Media Matters or watch the Cable arm of the Liberals, MSNBC! The author has lots of company in this effort to brainwash the reading public, since many authors, today, use their bully pulpit to present their own personal dogma, their own personal prejudiced ideology, without regard to the sensitivity of those readers who might disagree with them. Sometimes I feel that only the cover and title changes from book to book, and I am simply reading the same prejudiced message again and again. While the authors present me with the ideas they prefer, they are obviously unwilling to consider those ideas that I might prefer. If shown the light of day and presented fairly, those ideas might alter their own limited, one-sided opinions and help bring us all together.I rarely give up on a book, once I start it, but this one almost forced me over the edge. It wasn’t just that the story was a Liberal handbook; it was that it was a diatribe against Conservatives and/or Republicans. When the book attacked George W. Bush, I thought, okay, maybe the author is establishing a timeline for his narrative. When his narrative became vitriolic, including Sarah Palin and John McCain, I bristled. I do not want to be force fed an author’s political views. Perhaps Mr. Cunningham did not intend to insult his readers who were not on the same political spectrum as he, but then he sure fooled me. Because I am a fiscal Conservative, but a social Liberal, undaunted, I continued to read the book. However, the politics ruined the experience. There didn’t seem to be any reason to include such nastiness against a political party unless the author’s message was that Liberals and Progressives are good and Republicans and Conservatives are evil, and they are, therefore, engaged in the fable’s struggle between good and evil. However, if that was the case, it should have been included in a review so that I, as an innocent bystander, thinking the book would be as good as “The Hours”, could have been forewarned.In addition, Clare Danes is the reader of the audio, and although her enunciation is fine and she reads with some feeling, she seems to be outside of the book, not of it. She never fully forms the characters or identifies them singularly. In good audios, the reader almost becomes another character in the book. Not so, with this one. She seemed almost tired and hoarse as she read. The book needed someone who could get into the characters voice and personality, making each one individual and real, rather than making them all seem lumped together. Since most of the characters were male, I think a male reader might have been better.The author interview at the end helped to soften my opinion of the book. I had not known that the author, Michael Cunningham, was gay. I was unsure of why the sexuality of the characters played such a prominent part in the narrative, but after the interview, I understood. I also could commiserate with his being grateful for having survived the aids epidemic, since I experienced the loss of many I admired before the cocktail was discovered. The interview brought me to a closer understanding of the author, but not to the story. I simply am not certain what point he was trying to make, other than a political treatise in the guise of a novel. Perhaps the virtues of these conflicting views were meant to be considered between the pages of this book: sickness/health, liberal/conservative, success/failure, life/death, happy/sad, hate/love, gay/straight, hope/hopelessness. Unfortunately, the reader who was offended by the unnecessary, angry political views presented may not take the time to concentrate on the good vs. bad behavior and the right vs. wrong choices.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Hmmm. Where to start with this one? Well I almost put it down when I found it was another gay fiction book, but then I thought no I will read it. This is not really my type of book and I could not connect with the story or the characters. I don’t know that I got the message or the point of this story. These characters all seemed very lost to me. There was drugs, sex and infidelity, occasional foul language and gay relationships. There was political commentary and opinions thrown in here and there randomly. Definitely an adult book, not something for the youngsters!!! There is the vision of the supernatural light that Barrett saw which I thought was a little farfetched and hokey. I was hoping that the characters would get their acts together and that this would have a happy ending, but that doesn’t really happen. I am at a loss about this one. I am still wondering about what the point is? I get that it is about love and relationships and the rest is sort of lost on me. I could not figure out who the Snow Queen is? Is it Beth? Is it Liz? I am not sure I will ever figure it out!!! Somebody fill me in on this one!!! I think that this was one of the most bizarre books I have read. Do yourself a favor and read something else!! LOL!! I give this book 2.5 out of 5 stars.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Snow Queen is a slice of life that follows brothers Tyler and Barrett and their friends for a few years in the mid-2000s. There isn’t that much of a plot. Yes, Barrett sees the light and turns to religion but that all that entails is going to church a few times. Tyler’s struggle to write Beth the perfect song is a more developed plotline but not the focus of the story either. One thing I really appreciated is that it was a non-issue that Barrett is gay. He wasn’t a stereotype – he was just another character in the book that happened to be gay.What makes this a great book is Cunningham’s astounding prose. He can craft a beautiful metaphor or description for even the most mundane object or smallest gesture. It was actually a bit over the top at times. But most of the time, I loved it. I think listening to it aloud made the writing sound even more poetic than if I had read the print copy.I also liked how the story would skip ahead in time at points and the reader learned what had happened in the intervening time though the characters recollections. This kept the book from getting too bogged down in details and was a great device to summarize portions of the story.Claire Danes is the perfect narrator for this book. A lesser narrator might have sounded droning reading the lengthy, meandering metaphors. Danes is obviously a phenomenal actress and read the entire book with subtle emotion that served to make the language even more beautiful. It was almost hypnotic to listen to.After listening to this book, I’d love to read Cunningham’s backlist. He is definitely a talented, original writer.