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Tam Lin
 
 

Tam Lin (Paperback)

by Windling Terri (Foreword), Pamela Dean (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (87 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 12.50
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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

This delightful new entry in the Fairy Tale series, featuring children's classics refashioned for adult audiences, adapts the eponymous Scottish ballad to a Midwestern university setting. In the early '70s, scholarly Janet Carter enters Blackstock College as an English major. She and roommates Christina and Molly fall in with an attractive, often eccentric group of classics students who circle around Professor Medeous, a spectacular, enigmatic redheaded woman. The girls pair off with young male classicists, Janet beginning an affair with Nicholas Tooley, whose vast familiarity with Shakespeare and often distant approach to intimacy disturb her. When the liaison ends, she takes up with the young man formerly attached to Christina. The ghost of a pregnant student who committed suicide, mysterious late-night horseback forays led by Professor Medeous and the appearance in a list of Shakespeare's actors of the names of three of the Classics Department scholars urge Janet on a dangerous quest to save her lover. Dean ( The Whim of the Dragon ) has written a quintessential college novel, anchoring its fantastic elements in a solid, engaging reality.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


From Library Journal

The medieval Scottish ballad of a young woman who rescues her love from the queen of faerie undergoes a radical but convincing transformation as fantasy author Dean ( The Secret Country ) updates the story to modern times and relocates it to a Minnesota college campus. The fifth volume in the "Fairy Tale Series," which includes Steven Brust's The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars ( LJ 3/15/87) and Patricia Wrede's Snow White and Rose Red (Tor Bks., 1989), vividly portrays a classic tale of love that spans the border between the worlds. Recommended.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

87 Reviews
5 star:
 (56)
4 star:
 (9)
3 star:
 (8)
2 star:
 (8)
1 star:
 (6)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (87 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most helpful customer reviews

 
5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe you need 2 copies of this one, Mar 6 2004
By Mom with many books (Richmond, VA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Tam Lin (Mass Market Paperback)
I liked this book so much that when I had loaned my copy out, I borrowed my library's copy several times till I got my own back. The book was not what I expected when I picked it up - the modern-day (well, 1970's still feels modern-day to me, okay?) setting was a surprise, and the first time I read it I kept expecting a dissolve to fairyland. Despite the unexpected setting, I've returned again and again to this story of tangled relationships. The college situations rang true, and in fact made me homesick for my college town. Another reviewer mentioned Diana Wynne Jones' Fire and Hemlock, and Elizabeth Marie Pope's The Perilous Gard, both of which I heartily agree are wonderful variants from the same root stock as Tam Lin. Try all three!
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5.0 out of 5 stars nya-nya-nya-nya I WENT to the college in the book, Oct 14 2003
By J. Blake (Manchester, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Tam Lin (Mass Market Paperback)
And Carleton is just as wonderful, awesome, and invigorating as the college in the novel. I first read Tam Lin while in High School and immediately decided to go to the college in the book. Dean's charecterizations of college life, studies, and then general weirdness that goes on at a small liberal arts college are spot on. When her deft interweaving of the fantasy elements is added--this is an incredible book. The story is well done; the plot elements are consistent and interesting and the sheer presence of literature and books in the novel is sure to be enjoyable for anyone who enjoys books and reading. A wonderful book.
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4.0 out of 5 stars A decent novel, so-so retelling of 'Tam Lin', Mar 1 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Tam Lin (Mass Market Paperback)
I've recently started reading every version of Tam Lin I can get my hands on, and this is the most recent discovery of mine. As a novel about college life, 'Tam Lin' worked fairly well. I started my college career at a small private liberal arts school in Pennsylvania, and I was happily reminded of my experience there throughout the course of the book (my first crush there reminded me frighteningly of Nick; both were intelligent Irish musicians with tousled hair and small frames). I caught many of the subtle references to the original ballad, and some of the most subtle references made me laugh out loud (ex: Janet asks Thomas what type of woman he's looking for, to which he replies "A motherly type".).

I have a few criticisms, still. There are a lot of unsolved mysteries when the story ends, which made me a little mad. The character of Janet isn't at all like I imagined the heroine of this story should be; I guess I'm stuck on the sort of fiery, strong-willed Scottish lass I've seen in other interpretations and translations. Janet didn't seem all that enthusiastic about saving Thomas from the Fairy Queen, which made it hard to see the deep love they supposedly felt for one another. I guess a better developed relationship ahead of time would have made up for this, but for most of the book Thomas is with Janet's roommate, and while he does seem to have a very different relationship with Janet than with anyone else, it's lacking something to indicate that they were secretly falling in love. Finally, I wasn't that fond of most of Robin and Nick's dialogue, finding it just a tad too unrealistic, but once their true identities were revealed, I forgave them for it.

For a more interesting modern spin on this tale, I'd suggest Diana Wynne Jones's 'Fire and Hemlock'. Patricia McKillip's 'Winter Rose' is the most startlingly beautiful version I've read, but the very best version you can possibly find is Elizabeth Marie Pope's 'The Perilous Gard'. Pamela Dean's work falls just below these other three, but it's still an interesting and original retelling of my favorite ballad.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Flaws? Who cares!?!
Terri Windling's Fairy Tales Series has had an uneven history: some breathtaking riffs on classic stories and themes (Tanith Lee's White as Snow, for instance, or Jane Yolen's... Read more
Published on Jan 15 2003 by Ryan McSweeney

5.0 out of 5 stars An undeniable treasure
Some people say Tam Lin is a bit 'slow'. I find the book to be at a perfect pace for me. You get time to know all of the characters and you get a real feel for the college and for... Read more
Published on Jul 12 2002 by Anne

4.0 out of 5 stars "...A Double Rose, A Rose but Only Twa"
_Tam Lin_ is the sort of book that grows on you. You can read it once, grumble that you wasted your time on a book that seems to have little to do with the actual ballad, and... Read more
Published on May 10 2002

3.0 out of 5 stars Well written but far too slow
Not much happens in this book until the last 30 pages or so, and by that point it was too late for me. Read more
Published on April 27 2002 by Alianor

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful
I am a big fan of most of the Fairy Tale series and this one is one of the best, in my opinion.
Some earlier reviewer claims you have to have been an English major to enjoy... Read more
Published on April 23 2002 by C. A Baker

5.0 out of 5 stars A subtle book that a modern reader can't "get" in 1 reading
I see many reviews of those who read the book once, and didn't "get" it. This book requires VERY careful reading, and even then, unless you know the "Tam Lin"... Read more
Published on April 4 2002 by Kip Russell

5.0 out of 5 stars great story, nice retelling
I enjoyed the modern retelling, especially using the perils most college women face. The struggles the heroine goes through are timeless for other young women, and she faces them... Read more
Published on Jan 3 2002 by hcsencsi

4.0 out of 5 stars A review, rethought
I first reviewed Pamela Dean's _Tam Lin_ (...) and I gave it mediocre marks. This probably wasn't fair; I enjoyed the book the entire time I was reading it, and then panned it... Read more
Published on Oct 9 2001 by Kelly L. (www.FantasyLiteratur...

1.0 out of 5 stars Stinky.
Pamela Dean's _Tam Lin_ is part of a series of TOR books based on fairy tales. It's the only one that needed an editor's introduction explaining the fact. Read more
Published on Oct 5 2001 by wysewomon

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll like it or love it to death - I love it
Maybe it's that I wasn't a typical college kid, I don't know. But my friends and I could be having a food fight one minute, and be off on some tangent about whether particles of... Read more
Published on Sep 26 2001

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