In 1944, Spain was under the shadow of the fascist dictatorship. The girl Ophelia lost her father when she was young. Her mother married a brutal fascist officer. When she became pregnant, she took her daughter to the officer's station in the woods to wait for the birth. Amid the horrors of war, Ofelia discovers an underground labyrinth where the mysterious god Pan awaits her. God Pan told her that she was the reincarnation of the princess of the underground kingdom, and she could only return home by completing three tasks. Ophelia thus builds a fairy tale world that is both real and illusory, confronting the cruel reality of darkness in her own way...
Reader comments
2022.12.26. 23: 20
I read the book in one night and it felt very good. I didn't watch the movie, but this book made me want to watch the movie. It was only after reading a few chapters that I suddenly realized that the content of this book was slightly similar to the movie someone recommended to me. Then I found out that this was a novel adapted from a movie, and I thought it was pretty good. The content is gripping. You will see a girl's growth, her innocence, and the fairy tale ending. This is indeed just a fairy tale, and the story ends when the girl is shot, but you can't deny that life needs fairy tales.
The writing is so good that it can be called a wonderful pen. The sickly moon describes the pale face, and the necklace like stolen stars from the sky is worn around the mayor's wife's neck... Hope and despair are piled together. Ophelia's tragic ending is actually the epitome of the tragedy of an era. In reality, there are no children. Words, but the author's descriptions of mysterious and weird scenes make people believe in fairy tales immersively, and have no choice but to believe that fairy tales really exist. In fairy tales, the girl is freed from pain and becomes a happy princess in the underground kingdom. There is no anxiety, no separation or death, only love that never ends.
Finished reading. I watched this movie almost seven years ago. It was a long time ago. Then I saw the book and read it. It was still good. The plot is similar to the movie.
Lots of fairy tale elements and metaphors.
The underground king has been looking for her princess.
Ophelia's father is dead. He likes to say that Ophelia is like her mother (the physical description is that of Snow White, who naively believes that there will be a prince to protect her)
Ophelia (the name of Hamlet's lover) calls her stepfather a wolf. Another fairy tale image.
A rose can make you immortal, but its thorns are poisonous.
The god Pan (woodcut) has been looking for the princess. Its eyes are the stones Ophelia picked up.
The pale man holding his eyes in his hand is a classic movie image.
The fairy tale protagonist must complete three trial tasks.
The novel adapted from the movie is written more clearly than the original movie, probably because the ten background stories interspersed by the author make the novel interlocking and more interesting. There is a suspense at the end. Did the heroine die or return to the underground kingdom?
This is an excellent book that interweaves fairy tales with reality, viewing the cruel world through a child's eyes and softening the edge of war.
But I think I don't want to watch it a second time, because tearing beautiful things into pieces is too heartbreaking for me.
It's still pretty good-looking, I thought Pan Shen would become a handsome guy 😂
2022.12.26. 23: 20 I read the book in one night and it felt very good. I didn't watch the movie, but this book made me want to watch the movie. It was only after reading a few chapters that I suddenly realized that the content of this book was slightly similar to the movie someone recommended to me. Then I found out that this was a novel adapted from a movie, and I thought it was pretty good. The content is gripping. You will see a girl's growth, her innocence, and the fairy tale ending. This is indeed just a fairy tale, and the story ends when the girl is shot, but you can't deny that life needs fairy tales.
The writing is so good that it can be called a wonderful pen. The sickly moon describes the pale face, and the necklace like stolen stars from the sky is worn around the mayor's wife's neck... Hope and despair are piled together. Ophelia's tragic ending is actually the epitome of the tragedy of an era. In reality, there are no children. Words, but the author's descriptions of mysterious and weird scenes make people believe in fairy tales immersively, and have no choice but to believe that fairy tales really exist. In fairy tales, the girl is freed from pain and becomes a happy princess in the underground kingdom. There is no anxiety, no separation or death, only love that never ends.
Finished reading. I watched this movie almost seven years ago. It was a long time ago. Then I saw the book and read it. It was still good. The plot is similar to the movie.
Lots of fairy tale elements and metaphors. The underground king has been looking for her princess. Ophelia's father is dead. He likes to say that Ophelia is like her mother (the physical description is that of Snow White, who naively believes that there will be a prince to protect her) Ophelia (the name of Hamlet's lover) calls her stepfather a wolf. Another fairy tale image. A rose can make you immortal, but its thorns are poisonous. The god Pan (woodcut) has been looking for the princess. Its eyes are the stones Ophelia picked up. The pale man holding his eyes in his hand is a classic movie image. The fairy tale protagonist must complete three trial tasks.
The novel adapted from the movie is written more clearly than the original movie, probably because the ten background stories interspersed by the author make the novel interlocking and more interesting. There is a suspense at the end. Did the heroine die or return to the underground kingdom?
This is an excellent book that interweaves fairy tales with reality, viewing the cruel world through a child's eyes and softening the edge of war. But I think I don't want to watch it a second time, because tearing beautiful things into pieces is too heartbreaking for me.
It's still pretty good-looking, I thought Pan Shen would become a handsome guy 😂
Life needs fairy tales