The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty
by Anne Rice
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Book Reviews of The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty
Book Review: Beauty who sleeps around
Summary: 3 Stars
I'm trying to study, yes study, princesses.
For many decades, Disney has been creating animation features of various princess stories based on childhood favorite fairy tales.
Disney being the finiest animator and all, but still, I think they are getting old.
So, I had this wildest idea of creating animation of princesses...(yes, you could say in your dream, good luck drawing 24 pictures per second or a day...)
Now, being that as a main motivation, I've started to read this book.
But simply, just take the beginning part where Beauty is being woken up after 100 years of sleep. The entire story does not have any connection to the original Sleeping beauty story. Though I've enjoy the beginning parts, where the expectation of being answered on the question, what they mean by "happily ever after" and erotic in nature and all...
But it just gets dull after a while.
Just replace the beginning of the story with say, Snow white, or whatever princess, the story works the same...
Oh well, I say the first book of the series is a good popcorn read, being written by Anne Rice and all, but continuing and trying to finish the whole series is not worth it. It just does not go anywhere...
Book Review: not what I unexpected but somewhat boring
Summary: 4 Stars
I was expecting the typical BDSM type story with loving doms and beautiful slaves and what fun they have but there is here an undercurrent of something else. Something cruel and inhuman and immoral worked into the narrative. That aside, it is really quite a boring book. There is very little sex, hetero anyway. Beauty hardly gets any. Most of the hardcore action deals with the male slaves only, especially the horrific ordeal of Prince Alexi. It is as if Anne Rice was afraid of pushing the envelope for fear it may offend her own sensibilities and other women readers. I see this same consideration in her vampire novels and Exit to Eden. My other complain is that Rice seems to me to have very little talent for description. She may have a great imagination but the literary skill for describing scenes visually and realistically does not seem present. For example she would describe intercourse as someone just sticking it in, but a better writer would have delved into how it felt, what it looked like, the sounds the participants made, and so on. There is no irony or anything particularly striking about her prose. I am not a great reader but in recalling books by Updike and Styron, I could almost smell the sex as if I was the same room.Book Review: Sick and depressing
Summary: 1 Stars
This is an erotic version of "Sleeping Beauty" taking up where the original left off. Here the Prince awakens Beauty by having sex with her--not kissing her. When she is awakened she belongs to the Prince. He commences to force her walk around nude at all times, spanks her repeatedly, allows peiople to watch her be degraded and objectified by him. The book goes into great detail over EVERY act and how Beauty is thoroughly horrified and humiliated. Did I mention she's 15??? I don't care if Anne Rice wrote this--it's trash. I loved her other erotic novel "Exit to Eden" but this seems to be a how-to book on how to sexually degrade a woman. It's sick and depressing and absolutely horrifying. Rice seems to get a great deal of pleasure out of going on and on and ON about the sexual humiliation Beauty goes through. I kept reading only because it IS well-written and I was hoping there would be some rationalization for this. But, by page 50, I couldn't stand it anymore. I've read lots of shocking and explicit books--I'm no prude--but I've never stopped reading a book because it was so sick and pointless. If you love reading how a young girl is sexually abused and humiliated this is for you. Otherwise stay FAR away.Book Review: Beauty was better off sleeping
Summary: 1 Stars
I had always heard good things about Ann Rice, and when I came across this book it sounded very interesting. I thought it was a very interesting to take this classic tale and put a dark twist on it. But I must say...I'm extremely disappointed.
The first 50 pages or so was interesting. After that the entire book just got too boring.
Rice tries to be kinky, but she fails.
I mean COME ON! How many times can you spank or whip someone until it get boring?
I wanted and expected something dark; I wanted something with depth. This woman cannot write. If you read the book count how many times she uses the word "delicious." It makes me wonder if she even owns a thesaurus! The constant use of "delicious" and elementary descriptions throughout make this book a very annoying read.
It's clear she lacks a developed vocabulary.
It wasn't even sexy enough to keep my interest!
It's mind numbing to me how many horrible books are published these days.
AND THINK: SHE DIDN'T JUST WRITE ONE HORRIBLE SLEEPING BEAUTY BOOK! NO, SHE WROTE THREE!
I'm so disappointed that I seriously doubt I'll ever read anything by her again.
What a waste of time, paper, and money.
Book Review: WELL WRITTEN, BUT EROTICA?????
Summary: 4 Stars
Ms. Rice has given us a good bit of writing here. I have to agree with several other reviewers in that it really has nothing to do with the tale of Sleeping Beauty, other than the title. Now as to the erotica. I suppose that should be decided by the individual reader. I like a good erotic book and good erotic writing. I am a big Anais Nin fan. This work though, the sleeping beauty work, is only erotic if you are very much into hard core S&M, which is not my particular cup of tea. Ms. Rice is rather repetiive at times. Some of this stuff is rather scary, as a matter of fact. As an example, raping a unconscious fifteen year old girl, from my point of view, is sort of stomach turning and disgusting - way over the top. That being said, I must admit that the authors discriptive powers are quite acute and if you are into such things as complete total humiliation, which some are I suppose, then this is good. I read somewhere that the author set out to write a book of pure pornography. I do feel she was sucessful with this one (and the two that followed). All in all, I think the book is well done. I am glad I read it. I doubt if I would seek out it's ilk again though, but then that is just me.