He tells his stories with the same louche, ominous disdain of the M.C. in Cabaret...It’s positively delectable. I had no idea Mr. Cunningham had it in him.
Tart humor has always been the antidote to Cunningham’s occasional over-investment in his gorgeous prose, and his wicked wit is particularly welcome when directed at those who usually get off scot-free in fairy tales.
A good adaptation makes the reader want to go back and revisit the original, something Cunningham's A Wild Swan fails to do...That Cunningham strips these stories of their magic seems, to me, unforgivable. If I am inclined to go back to the originals after reading Cunningham it is only because I feel compelled to rescue them from this fundamental violation.
A Wild Swan fails to achieve as much as it might have. Too many tales do too little that's either particularly innovative...In a book this slim, it's too bad the tales do not bear more weight.
Cunningham, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his Virginia Woolf-inspired novel The Hours, brings a sophistication, sensibility and modern macabre humor to these timeless stories that recalls the original untainted tales of our European ancestors.
Cunningham does an excellent job of changing narrative voices while always maintaining the fairy-tale tone. [But] when reading the book in a short span, the humor and stories started to feel a bit repetitive. I think this stems from growing up with a version of these tales. Regardless, the stories are fun to read.
