{"id":6695,"date":"2019-09-19T20:38:46","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T18:38:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/?p=6695"},"modified":"2019-10-19T11:13:21","modified_gmt":"2019-10-19T09:13:21","slug":"das-labyrinth-des-fauns-cornelia-funke-und-guillermo-del-toro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/2019\/09\/pans-labyrinth-cornelia-spark-and-guillermo-del-toro\/","title":{"rendered":"Pan\u2019s Labyrinth \u2022 Cornelia Funke and Guillermo del Toro"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Lately, I\u2019ve turned my attention back to some contemporary young adult novels and picked up a few from my local bookstore. Unlike most of what I usually read, these mainstream titles have the advantage of being readily available to take home immediately. Among them was Pan\u2019s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun<\/em> by Cornelia Funke, which has been heavily promoted across all kinds of media. The book got me back on track, and my next read will once again be far removed from any bestseller lists.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The story takes place in 1944 in the Spanish countryside. Vidal, a captain in Franco\u2019s fascist regime, is tasked with crushing a group of rebel fighters hiding in a remote forest who continue to resist the ruling powers. The protagonist, Ofelia, moves with her pregnant mother to live with Vidal, her stepfather, in an inhospitable old mill that serves as the main base for his troops. There, Ofelia encounters a faun who gives her three tasks to complete. If she succeeds, she will become a princess in a mysterious, hidden realm.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

From the blurb and the design, I found the book quite appealing\u2014it promised a beautifully told fantasy story for young readers. What I found interesting is that in this case, the film Pan\u2019s Labyrinth<\/em> came first, and only later was it adapted into a novel by Cornelia Funke. Usually, of course, it\u2019s the other way around\u2014books are turned into films. Apparently, Guillermo del Toro was very fond of Cornelia Funke\u2019s writing, and after meeting her, the idea for this book emerged. I hadn\u2019t seen the movie before and only learned about it after purchasing the book.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The book does have recurring elements that feel magical and fantastical, which I enjoyed. However, the focus is largely on Vidal\u2019s actions and his brutal fight against the rebels. He dominates Ofelia\u2019s entire environment, including her mother, tortures his subordinates, and quickly reveals himself as a heartless tyrant. I found Vidal to be a very artificial figure\u2014an overblown antagonist who felt completely unrealistic and lacked depth. All of the characters feel like what they are: fictional constructs, one-dimensional and lacking nuance. Portraying a supervillain who mistreats the characters readers are meant to sympathize with is a fairly primitive way to create tension, and this simple narrative device overshadows the moments that could have been enchanting and fairytale-like.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Pan\u2019s<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The faun, the characters, and the ancient, enchanted settings all have a mysterious aura that works well while reading. But the dictator-Vidal storyline dominates the book so much that the delicate and magical aspects fade far into the background, barely shining through, and have little real impact on the plot. The cruel torture and murder scenes felt exaggerated and completely unnecessary. If Funke had portrayed Vidal with more complexity\u2014given him human traits, made him a more balanced character instead of a one-dimensional sadistic killer\u2014the secluded setting in the old mill could have been much more compelling. Instead, readers are given a flat story built from worn-out elements, with some potential to read between the lines, but ultimately lacking subtlety or nuance.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The book\u2019s language also failed to draw me in. I never really got into the flow of reading, and the sentences often felt short and choppy. It can\u2019t compare to the smooth or refined style that other authors masterfully achieve. Even for a young adult novel, it felt overly simplistic. What I found truly unbearable, though, were those pretentious \u201cMan\u201d and \u201cSometimes\u201d sentences sprinkled throughout\u2014platitudes of the worst kind. They have that distinct Coelho quality, full of banal pseudo-wisdom. You usually only hear such lines from politicians trying to downplay their own incompetence.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Sometimes, the darkness in the world turns even healers into butchers. (p. 153)<\/p><\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The design of the book, however, I really liked. The dust jacket is beautifully crafted, with embossed details that feel wonderful to the touch. The illustrations by Allen Williams greatly enhance the story\u2019s sense of magic. The hardcover itself is printed with an image of the faun and the girl, which looks lovely. I wish more books offered such thoughtful extras\u2014this one was clearly made with great care.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Pan\u2019s<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The book is 320 pages long, though it\u2019s clear that it\u2019s been padded quite a bit. I often see this with well-known authors, where publishers aim to increase the page count\u2014and thus the price. The book is divided into numerous short chapters, grouped into sections that often begin on new pages with additional blank space. In total, that easily cuts out a quarter of the actual content. So in the end, it\u2019s a light, quick read\u2014something you can finish in an evening.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Conclusion:<\/strong> This book left me disappointed. I had hoped for a much more beautiful and, above all, more magical story. Instead, the plot is ordinary, grim, and dark, filled with unnecessary scenes of torture and murder, and built on a flat antagonist structure that completely failed to engage me. Pan\u2019s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun<\/em> neither inspires reflection nor invites interpretation, and its characters are far from authentic. It offers a conventional story aimed purely at entertainment, and while the presentation evokes a faint enchanted-forest atmosphere, the substance falls short. Although I really like the book\u2019s appearance and illustrations, I wouldn\u2019t buy it again and definitely can\u2019t recommend it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Book information:<\/strong> Pan\u2019s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun<\/em> \u2022 Cornelia Funke and Guillermo del Toro \u2022 Fischer Sauerl\u00e4nder \u2022 320 pages \u2022 ISBN 9783737356664<\/p>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lately, I\u2019ve turned my attention back to some contemporary young adult novels and picked up a few from my local bookstore. Unlike most of what I usually read, these mainstream titles have the advantage of being readily available to take home immediately. Among them was Pan\u2019s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun by Cornelia Funke, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Pan\u2019s Labyrinth \u2022 Cornelia Funke and Guillermo del Toro”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"slim_seo":{"title":"Das Labyrinth des Fauns \u2022 Cornelia Funke und Guillermo del Toro - lesestunden","description":"In letzter Zeit habe ich mich wieder ein wenig aktuellen Jugendb\u00fcchern zugewandt und das ein oder andere Buch von unserem hiesigen B\u00fccherh\u00e4ndler erstanden, denn"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,46,20],"tags":[213,214],"class_list":["post-6695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy","category-young-adult","category-reviews","tag-cornelia-funke","tag-guillermo-del-toro"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/das_labyrinth_des_fauns_beitrag_neu.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}