Napoli, Donna Jo. Beast

Orasmyn, prince of Persia, is noble, but proud--too proud, unwilling to make mistakes, ask for help, accept help that is given to him. And because of it he makes a mistake and becomes cursed to live as a lion until he wins the heart of a woman.

This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, yes, but at its most fascinating in its first half, before Orasmyn arrives in France to his abandoned chateau. He is marked as "different" from the presumed Western audience both because he is a lion and because he is Muslim; both his curse and his religion become more interesting in the way that the conflict between them illuminates each one. Napoli doesn't take the easy way out by pretending that a man cursed to live as a lion is just a man walking around in a lion suit. He has instincts; he acts on them without thinking, because that's what lions do, only to regret it later. And in the process, the book raises some very subtle questions about dualism and materialism; how much of who we are is just brain chemistry?

What I love about this book is that it really tastes and smells like things. It's alternately savage and domestic, but always sensual--in a way that has more to do with food, and life, than sex. This is especially nice in the sections that take place in Persia--

The better parts of the mutton and camel meat are being roasted or salted for drying; the stomach and tails are boiling for the servants; and all the rest has gone into stews in these vats. Ghorme sabzi: minced parsley and cilantro, fenugreek and mint, all friend in olive oil, then cubes of meat simmered, then water and red beans added on top.

Yum!

Orasmyn strikes the right balance as a narrator--introspective without overwrought angst, honest about his own faults, interesting and likeable. He is a lot of things: Persian, Muslim, lion, lover of poetry, gardener, and the small details in each of these things expand him beyond the fairy-tale Beast.

Alas, I can't say the same for Belle; she's kind of a plaster saint, and while there's enough new stuff to keep it interesting even after she arrives... well, I suppose it would be churlish of me to say the ending was predictable?

It doesn't matter; it's an intensely rich and good-tasting book. Better eaten with some good food around, because I'm hungry now.

Napoli, Donna Jo. Beast. New York: Simon Pulse, 2004.