Beast

by Donna Jo Napoli

Book Overview

Elaborates on the tale of Beauty and the Beast, told from the point of view of the beast and set in Persia.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689835892
• ISBN13: 9780689835896
• Release Date: November 2000
• Publisher: Atheneum Books
• Length: 260 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.3" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

Interesting, but weird and kind of slow

Unique book. I liked it overall, but I had some issues. The main character is alone for too long in my opinion. The author does pretty well at keeping the solitude parts interesting, but when a book is just narrative and internal monologue it starts to drag for me. The beginning with his people and the end with the girl are way more engaging and interesting. I really like Napoli's characters' inner worlds and relationships with each other. Another thing that bothered me was the main theme of Orasmyn's struggle between man and beast. It's an interesting concept, but some of the choices Orasmyn makes as beast made me uncomfortable. It was hard to sympathize with Orasmyn sometimes because his humanity was clouded with his beast instincts. Maybe it's just me. However, there were things I really liked. Orasmyn's Islamic beliefs were very interesting to read about, and his culture and values were at the core of the book, giving it a unique atmosphere. I really loved his relationship with his family, it was so sweet. And I liked the girl a lot, I admired her spirit and honesty.

Just when it actually gets interesting, it's over.

I get that this book was about Beast backstory... but I really wish we had seen more of him with Belle. I wish Belle's character was built up more and I wish we could see what happened after he was cured. Almost all of this book is just him wandering around as a loin, doing lion stuff. Hunting. Sleeping. Walking from place to place. Being hungry. Mating with lions. (Yes that happens and thankfully it isn't graphic). Just normal [big] cat stuff and cats— have long, lazy, drawn out days, with meals being the only exciting thing that happens to them. Yawn. He doesn't even think to go to France until we are exactly halfway through the book. (I actually groaned out loud in frustration when he went back to Persia beforehand) And we don't even meet Belle until the last few chapters. And everything happens very very quickly. She reads. She cooks. She plays with little fox. They fall in love and just like that.. the curse breaks within a few sentences and then it just ends. This would have been an awesome read if only I got to read more about his time with Belle as a lion and a bit less about him wandering India and Persia as a lion eating and sleeping and mating and hunting and repeat until my head ached from boredom.

There's a Beast AND a Beauty in us all...

Donna Jo Napoli makes the heart-wrenching tale of a masked lover come vividly to life through the eyes of the beast. Through those eyes she shows his loneliness, desperation, faith, and hope in a world that will not except him. She meanders her words to express him; how he would talk to humans and live with them and learn to love with them but for the cursed mask that he can never remove. BEAST is passionate and true. It makes you want to cry in sorrow, dance in joy, and sympathize with the beast in his most pitiful moments. Displayed in all it's many shades of color, Donna has turned this simple French fairy tale completely inside out! BEAST is the story of a young man named Orasmyn. He is still young at the start of the book, but grows immensely by the end. Not in years, though he is older by some count, but in his wisdom and maturity. The scholar prince he once was is transformed quite suddenly in the night following the sacrifice of a defiled camel. This may seem strange to one who knows nothing of the history or customs of Persia... or it's mystical folklore, but you get the picture as you read along. A recurring theme throughout the book, pride is the cause of Orasmyn's original downfall. Instead of asking someone, his father, the Shah, or the imam, the prayer leader, what should be done, he reasons that a Shah's son must surely know the answer. In the belief that it would be degrading if a prince could not decide justice on his own, Orasmyn makes the grave mistake that will cost him his future. As earlier in the plot, while talking to his mother, the weakness of his prideful nature is shown: "Orasmyn, I've got a present for you. In my room. A book by Saadi." ...Mother's tone irritates. I pull my hand away. " I don't need help in choosing my reading." "We all need help Orasmyn." "A prince doesn't." Throughout Orasmyn's trials as a lion, from India to France, he is consistently reminding himself how he needs no one and can take care of himself. With Belle's help, however, his thoughts on this matter are considerably altered: "The steadfast innocence of Belle would condemn the best of men. And I am far from the best." Belle is, of course, the beauty who tames the beast in the well-known fable recreated by Disney and so many others. As he comes to know her more and more, Orasmyn gradually accepts Belle's help. At first, it is only in the smallest of ways; the honey cakes she bakes for him. Then, in the sharing of meals and the forming of their friendship. Eventually, the beast in Orasmyn is annihilated by Belle's goodwill, and he comes to realize his love for her that nearly bursts his heart. He learns his final lesson on the last pages of BEAST, when Belle is late in returning from visiting her ailing father, as in the animated version. Orasmyn is deathly afraid she will never come back. In his fear and longing, the lion Orasmyn does not eat or drink, but fasts because he cannot seem to live without Belle. But as she kneels beside h

Another great for Napoli

After quite a few books by this author in a row, I was beginning to find them tiring and a little 'simple'. This one woke me up again. A young, middle-eastern prince is rich, sheltered, and not too upset with his life. Unfortunately, he is cursed and becomes a lion. The only way for him to return to his old life is to experience the love of a woman. Knowing his fate is death if he remains in his father's park, he escapes to France and plants a garden of his favorite flowers, roses, to lure a woman. When he finally 'catches' one, he finds that it will take more planning than he imagined to keep her, and have her love him. Beautiful, haunting, a reawakening. Spectacular.

The best book I have ever read! READ THIS ONE!!

Skimmimg through books at the library, I was intrigued by the spine design for "Beast." I started to read it. When I looked up again, after reading through the first six chapters without stopping, hours had gone by. I was DEFINITLEY going to take out this book! It was compelling all the time through. The ending was great, not even rushed like some books I have read. The beast, in the book, turns into a lion. He is shunned by his hometown of India, and doesn't know where to go, or how to live. By one of his mother's books, he is guided to France where he meets the stunning and sympathetic beauty, and the curse is broken. Everyone knows the story line of this novel. Still Napoli has redone the story in a greatly creative way. She shows the emotions of the beast as he goes from home to home, not fitting in with a lion pride, and finally residing in an old abandoned French castle. Napoli is one of the first authors who have written this story from the Beast's point of view. The whole time through, I was amazed by her awesome ability to write a great novel. She creates many interesting twists to the tale, such as the beast living in India, and does it in an astoundingly creative way. I greatly enjoyed this book. It really deserves more than five stars! You HAVE to read it!I would recommed this book to young adults, because some of the material is mature for younger readers. When younger readers get olsder though, they should really read this book. It was really one of my favorites! Donna Jo Napoli is really a GREAT storyteller!!!

Napoli brings gives us another fairy tale treasure

I have been eagerly awaiting this book since the spring when I learned of its impending publication. The wait is over and I am thrilled with this book. Napoli, who has already wooed me with her gems, The Magic Circle and Zel, explores my favorite fairy tale--Beauty and the Beast--in a new and interesting way. The tale is given to us through the Beast's point of view and begins before the point when the tale usually starts. The Beast struggles with his transformation from human to animal. He seeks beauty and not just in the form of a woman to save him. I do not want to say more and ruin the story. Napoli, a linguist, provides us with not only a beautiful story, but with a book rich with language, although the Beast is deprived of speech. We are also given the opportunity to learn more about Persian and Islamic culture since the Beast is a Persian prince.This book makes a wonderful companion to Robin McKinley's "Beauty" and "Rose Daughter," two other Beauty and the Beast novels for fairy tale fans.