Out of the Black Forest - review

Book review

Bergmann, F. J., and Hoppmann, Kelli, 2012, Out of the Black Forest, Centennial Press, 44 p., full color pdf $5; print $8, ISBN 978-0-97994-2-6, 0-9797994-2-2. I reviewed the pdf.

This is a stunning book. I am a real fan of Hoppmann's art, and there are 18 paintings here: one for each poem, as well as front and back covers. These paintings are a perfect complement to Bergmann's creepy poems. Out of the Black Forest is a grim collection of fairy tales re-imagined as poems. As with older versions of the classic tales, these are suffused with betrayal, abuse, dreams fulfilled ironically if at all, and, of course, death. Bergmann has turned an original eye on swans that are sometimes people, kings who don't want to relinquish control of their daughters, girls and women struggling to deal with abusive situations, and more. I think all the tales will be familiar, though few appear in familiar forms. This is, of course, the most fun way to re-read stories we first encountered when we were young.

Little Red Riding Hood is pretty much a cipher in the popular version of the tale. She carries the cookies, or whatever, from point A to point B. But all the action happens between the two predators and grandma. After the words “the end” the woodsman may be interested in a reward from LRR, but all of that happens off camera. But is this the true original and complete story? What you'll find in Out of the Black Forest may not be original or complete, but it may be more true.

From “Teeth”

The heavy osier basket
was covered with a clean linen
napkin she had spent all winter
embroidering with snowflakes.
When it grew dark, she lifted
the napkin. There was no bread.

Bergmann's protagonists, mostly women, are not in control of events. Most medieval women (actually, most medieval people) weren't. Whoever was right there where the mundane and the ultra-mundane intersected was up against it. All too often she was completely alone.

From “Sting”

when her father chose
the warlord she hated, it was time:
for the jar of darker honey gathered
from poppy, hellebore, wolfsbane;
...for the word aestivate.

Sometimes the motivations get confused in the retelling of those old stories. It may be deliberate or it may be because storytellers really didn't understand. Maybe 100 years isn't long enough.

A lot of fairytales seem truly horrible to modern sensibilities. How much worse would it be if the telling wasn't so ritualized? Did I say this book was fun? I did, didn't I. You need this book, even if your interest in fairytales is nil. Surely you think you know some of the stories.