The Woodsman's First Tale

What I researched and Why/What I found: I looked up a version of Little Red Riding Hood I had heard in an audio book because I thought it put a very unique and sinister twist on the story. While the original versions of this tale involved everything from cannibalism to self deification to possible implications of sex with children, I think this version gives it a very different, and perhaps even more sinister for its subtlety, tint to the tale. I've tried twice now to get the file on the site, but I can't seem to figure it out. I'll be bringing my mp3 player and little speakers to class as well as the CD in case we can play it in the class computer. The rest of this might not make so much sense until you hear the story.

The story is part of the novel The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. If you are interested in new and disturbing, and often hilariously so, twists on old stories, then I highly recommend this novel: it is one of my favorites. The story refers to creatures called the Lou (I'm not sure if I spelled that correctly since I've only ever listened to this book) and in particular a male named La Roy. These creatures are some of the most sinister in the novel.

My interpretation: I think this version casts the girl as the villain in a superb way. The chase and subsequent seduction reflects the temptation of the original tales, yet in reverse: she has literally gone searching for her demise. Perhaps my favorite part of this story is later when she calls other girls to her in the forest. This continues the reversal, with the wolf being inactive, even docile, and a near non-participant. With the Lou acting as villains in the novel, with their main flaw and defining 'evil' feature being unending hunger and greed, the question comes up several times whether this feature comes from the Lou's wolf heritage, or their human heritage, asking us to look within ourselves for the hunger/greed of the beast. I think this question is at the core of both the original versions and this revised version and that the reversal of positions Connolly presents brings that question of humanity to the surface of the story.

What I think it adds to our discussion: One thing I think this story can really contribute, especially so early in the semester, is to help dispel the idea of children's stories as 'innocent.' This story is very dark, with no happily ever after, and the result of the story is the creation of the most foul creatures in the novel. I also think on a purely literary note that the efficiency of language in this piece is, well, top notch. I also think it would be interesting to look at the affective influence of this piece on its readers: how does an audience respond to a story, one that is seemingly sacred in our social script, being torn apart before their eyes?