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Overview
Meet the Beast -- before there was Beauty
Orasmyn is the prince of Persia and heir to the throne. His religion fills his heart and his mind, and he strives for the knowledge and leadership his father demonstrates. But on the day of the Feast of Sacrifices, Orasmyn makes a foolish choice that results in a fairy's wretched punishment: He is turned into a beast, a curse to be undone only by the love of a woman.
Thus begins Orasmyn's journey through the exotic Middle East and sensuous France as he struggles to learn the way of the beast, while also preserving the mind of the man. This is the story of his search, not only for a woman courageous enough to love him, but also for his own redemption.
Elaborates on the tale of "Beauty and the Beast," told from the point of view of the beast and set in Persia.
Synopsis
Meet the Beast — before there was Beauty
Orasmyn is the prince of Persia and heir to the throne. His religion fills his heart and his mind, and he strives for the knowledge and leadership his father demonstrates. But on the day of the Feast of Sacrifices, Orasmyn makes a foolish choice that results in a fairy's wretched punishment: He is turned into a beast, a curse to be undone only by the love of a woman.
Thus begins Orasmyn's journey through the exotic Middle East and sensuous France as he struggles to learn the way of the beast, while also preserving the mind of the man. This is the story of his search, not only for a woman courageous enough to love him, but also for his own redemption.
Publishers Weekly
The bulk of this Beauty and the Beast novel is devoted to (the beast) Orasmyn's life as a lion, everything from his probing of the complexities of his fate and his Islamic prayers to his efforts to obtain food. PW called the book "more cerebral than romantic in tone, more laborious than lush in its execution." Ages 12-up. (June) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
Our ReviewDonna Jo Napoli, the acclaimed author of Zel, Sirena, and Stones in Water, now delivers a version of Beauty and the Beast destined to be a classic. Beast is the story of Orasmyn, a young Persian prince who makes a single wrong decision that sets an ancient curse into motion and forever changes his fate. Transformed into a lion on the exact day his father is to embark on a lion hunt, Orasmyn escapes his beloved Persia and travels across Europe in search of redemption and forgiveness.
Although Beauty and the Beast has been retold many times -- in the form of a story, a movie, a television show, and even a Broadway musical -- it is usually told from Beauty's perspective, leaving readers to wonder what the prince did that was so terrible he was transformed into a beast. Napoli's Beast chronicles who the Beast was before Beauty found him.
Prince Orasmyn, born into a wealthy Muslim family during ancient times, helps a personal servant out of a difficult situation but in doing so violates the Qur'an and is transformed into a lion. Napoli, head of the linguistics department at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, weaves history, biology, foreign languages, and religion into the story of how he deals with this transformation.
Beast is filled with entrancing passages about what it is like for Orasmyn to survive among the lions, deer, snakes, and other animals he encounters in the wild. The book steps into the life of this princely lion convincingly and includes beautifully written episodes about the nature of the hunt. Adapting to the life of a beast is not easy for Orasmyn: "A cub runs between my legs. I trip and roll toward a lioness at one side. Astonishingly, she backs up with a growl. I get to my feet and run straight past her. The ruling male...runs after me.... He chases at a slow pace. Just to let me know that I don't belong, I'm not welcome. This is not my home. I am a lion, and I am not a lion."
A lion in body but not in mind, Orasmyn comes to realize that to break the curse, he must trek through Europe to find someone who will love him. He stumbles upon a castle in the deep woods of France, and the rest of the story is a familiar tale.
Napoli excels in telling Beast for many reasons, including the way she entwines many topics taught in American high schools into the story line. While in the castle's library, for instance, the Beast begins reading the Aeneid, which is studied by many advanced Latin students. The author includes familiar Latin passages and their translations. Farsi (the native language of Persia) and Arabic words are also integrated into the story, and a glossary at the end of the book allows for a better understanding of their meanings.
Middle Eastern religions, often given little attention in classrooms, are also incorporated into Beast, for Orasmyn was raised as a Muslim with Persian customs. The book shows how Islamic culture borrows many of its traditions from the Zoroastrians and how halal meat is prepared according to a sacred ritual, something also seen among Jews. The borrowing of traditions from the region's different religions, although not emphasized in the book, is particularly interesting to consider during a troublesome time in the Middle East today.
At a glance, Beast is a typical fairy tale retold, but the depth and scope of this book are far-reaching. Napoli has written a story best suited for advanced teen readers and even adults. Bring it to your book group. Bring it to your teachers. Bring it to your friends. They will thank you for bringing Beast to their attention.
--Soozan Baxter
From the Publisher
The New York Times Book Review Sophisticated.
Kirkus Reviews, starred review Exotic...compelling, relentless.
School Library Journal, starred review An elegantly sensual retelling of "Beauty and the Beast."
Booklist A winning version for genre fans.
Voice of Youth Advocates An engaging novel that takes the familiar story and adds a whole new depth to it....It will be hard to keep Beast on the shelf.
Publishers Weekly -
Despite its wonderfully imaginative premise, this refashioned Beauty and the Beast falls curiously flat--it is more cerebral than romantic in tone, more laborious than lush in its execution. Unlike Robin McKinley, whose Beauty and Rose Daughter focus closely on the heroine, Napoli (Crazy Jack; Zel) concentrates on the Beast. He is first met as Orasmyn, son of the shah of Persia. As the royal family prepares for a sacred feast, Orasmyn makes a grave error in permitting a scarred camel ("a beast who knew suffering") to be sacrificed in a holy ritual. Although the sacrifice has been offered to God, it is a djinn (a spirit that can take on disguises) who takes offense and curses Orasmyn, who awakens the next day to find he has been turned into a lion. The bulk of the novel is devoted to Orasmyn's life as a lion, everything from his probing of the complexities of his fate and his Islamic prayers to his constant efforts to obtain food and his inability to resist other animals' kills. More attention seems paid to the mechanics of Orasmyn's strange existence than to the narrative logic; the storytelling strains when Orasmyn walks, by night, to the South of France and finds a beautiful castle that has been abandoned and left unplundered, presumably because it is rumored to be haunted. When Orasmyn finally meets Belle, they fall in love over the Aeneid, which Belle reads aloud to him in Latin (quoted here, without translation). At her father's, Belle misses "reading and praying together" with Orasmyn; love is mentioned but not emphasized. The weight of the historical and cultural settings overpowers the mysteries and enchantment of the original plot. Ages 12-up. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.Publishers Weekly
The bulk of this Beauty and the Beast novel is devoted to (the beast) Orasmyn's life as a lion, everything from his probing of the complexities of his fate and his Islamic prayers to his efforts to obtain food. PW called the book "more cerebral than romantic in tone, more laborious than lush in its execution." Ages 12-up. (June) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.KLIATT
To quote from the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, July 2000: The striking cover of this book, featuring a lion's face partially pulled away to reveal a man's face underneath, should immediately clue readers in that this is a new version of "Beauty and the Beast." Here the story is told from the point of view of the Beast, who is really a gentle young Persian prince named Orasmyn. When he makes the mistake of permitting a flawed animal to be chosen for a religious sacrifice, a wicked fairy takes her revenge by turning the prince into an animal himself—a lion, on the day that his father, the king, is to go lion hunting. "Only a woman's love can undo the curse," the fairy warns. But at first survival is more important than love; Orasmyn must leave his home if he is to live, and he travels to India and back, and then to France, trying to remain faithful to his Muslim beliefs and his love for literature while coping with the baser instincts of a beast, lust as well as bloodlust. With difficulty, he learns how to hunt and how to survive, but the need for love is not forgotten. In southwest France he finds a deserted castle, and makes it his home. A man wanders in seeking shelter, and Orasmyn convinces him that his family's life will be forfeit if he does not send his daughter to live in the castle. When Belle arrives, she is afraid but acts bravely, and she wins Orasmyn's heart with her goodness even as he longs for her love—which is granted to him at last, breaking the terrible spell. The tension between the young man's mind and the beast's body it is trapped in is beautifully expressed here; the struggle between reason and instinct may resonate with many teens. Orasmyn's anguishis well conveyed, as well as the physical sensations of being a lion—the thrill of the hunt, the drive to mate, the contentment of a full stomach. This is an intriguing and deeply affecting story, and the exotic Persian aspect adds to its flavor. There is historical precedence for Napoli's version of the tale: in an author's note at the end she explains that she based it on Charles Lamb's 1811 poetic version, in which the prince was Persian. Napoli is head of the linguistics department at Swarthmore College, and she uses many Persian and Arabic words in the text; a glossary is appended. KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2000, Simon & Schuster, Pulse, 260p., Ages 12 to 18.—Paula Rohrlick
VOYA
What Napoli does well is retell fairy tales in a new and usually unsettling light. Beast's attempts at love within the world of the lion reached into my chest and plucked deftly at my heartstrings, and the entire castle/Belle/Beast part brought the nasty images of Disney flicks dancing through my head. Everyone familiar with the tale knows that Beast will meet up with Beauty and Live Happily Ever After, which more or less happens in a lukewarm fashion [in the disappointingly traditional second half of the book]. The addition of the Islamic culture into the [story] gives it new life, but I was still unsatisfied by the second half. The previous books I've read by Napoli (Magic Circle [Dutton, 1993/VOYA August 1993] and Zel [Dutton, 1996/VOYA April 1997]) were far darker than this one and did a better job of keeping my interest. The first half of Beast is excellent. The second half is mediocre. Added together and averaged, that makes this rendition decent, shading to good reading because the lion point of view just rocked. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2000, Simon and Schuster, 272p, $17. Ages 13 to 18. Reviewer: Jill Christian, Teen ReviewerSOURCE: VOYA, October 2000 (Vol. 23, No. 4)