3.88

4

Mar 02, 2013

I'm thrilled that this book contains the nasty version of Cinderella, where the stepsisters not only cut off parts of their feet in an attempt to wear the slipper, but also get their eyes pecked out by birds during the royal wedding.

That'll learn 'em.

These "children's classics" are fairly dripping with blood - particularly the evil blood of those who seek to keep true love from running its natural, ho-hum course.

These were dark and scary times to be a stepmother.
Even though Snow White is

I'm thrilled that this book contains the nasty version of Cinderella, where the stepsisters not only cut off parts of their feet in an attempt to wear the slipper, but also get their eyes pecked out by birds during the royal wedding.

That'll learn 'em.

These "children's classics" are fairly dripping with blood - particularly the evil blood of those who seek to keep true love from running its natural, ho-hum course.

These were dark and scary times to be a stepmother.
Even though Snow White is stupid enough to fall for the wicked queen dressed as a peddler woman bearing poisoned goodies on THREE SEPARATE OCCASIONS, it's the queen who's forced to don "red-hot iron shoes" and dance until she drops dead. Then there is the wicked stepmother in The Twelve Brothers. She is put to death in a barrel filled with boiling oil and venomous snakes - (boiling-oil-resistant serpents, one must presume), where she died "an evil death."

Reading more than 50 of these stories in a row tends to get a bit monotonous. In fact, many seem to be the SAME story re-told with only slight changes.

Here are the fairy tale rules:

1) Share your food and drink with tiny forest folk. Kindness to animals is always rewarded.
2) Teeny tiny men seem to have trouble staying out of cows' stomachs.
3) A multitude of tasks must be completed before one is allowed to marry royalty.
4) When three siblings set out on quests, it's always the youngest, weakest, most childlike and kindhearted who succeeds. That one also always goes last, does not make the same mistakes as his or her predecessors, and wins the heart of the prince or princess who is cleverly disguised as an old man or woman.
5) For some reason, tailors see a lot of action.

If you haven't read these, you really should...though I recommend sampling one every now and then, rather than all in one fell swoop.

Too many happily ever afters can leave a sour taste in your mouth. Not to mention a disturbing amount of sympathy for stepmothers.
...more

4

Jan 12, 2008

I was originally was going to give this a 3 because it is uneven strange, and sometimes surprisingly amoral, but then i realized how much I acutally had to say about it, and just how much I enjoyed reading these goofy stories. So bear with me while i recount some of the best and worst stories and some of the strange themes of grimm's fairy tales. (I have to admit, I write these reviews almost entirely for myself)

Some themes/things you should know:
-If you are an evil stepmother or witch, and you I was originally was going to give this a 3 because it is uneven strange, and sometimes surprisingly amoral, but then i realized how much I acutally had to say about it, and just how much I enjoyed reading these goofy stories. So bear with me while i recount some of the best and worst stories and some of the strange themes of grimm's fairy tales. (I have to admit, I write these reviews almost entirely for myself)

Some themes/things you should know:
-If you are an evil stepmother or witch, and you are looking for a brother and sister or pair of lovers, they've probably turned themselves into a duck and a lake, respectively.
-people or animals geting released from wolf's stomaches and then placing stones in their place.
-if you kill a dragon, giant or other fearsome creature, always cut out the tongue and hang onto in case you are betrayed by someone who claims to have killed the beast himself (when confronted, the deceiver will always claim that the beast had no tongue, but no one will believe him)
-if you rescue someone (a fair maden, of course) from the bottom of the well while your companions are above ground, always put something else in the basket to replace your weight, because they will drop you and try to kill you.
-Never bet against:
-A tailor
-Anyone named Dummling, or Thumbling
-The youngest of 3 brothers
-Anyone that can talk to, or is kind to animals, or who is kind to old women
-basically anyone young, pretty, and poor.
-Always bet against:
-ugly people

Best stories.
Two Brothers-two brothers wander the world with a shitload of animals at their beck and call, so many in fact, that they decide to split up. they stab some knife or something into a tree that they can look at to see if the other is ok. One becomes a king (after killing a dragon), the other wanders the world. the king goes hunting, gets turned into stone by a witch. the other brother her saves him. lots of other things happen. it's one of the longest and strangest stories and it's just great.
Rumpelstiltskin-One of the classics that the one I knew was actually very similar to the original. NOthing quite as funny as how upset the little guy gets when she figures out his name.
Brother Lustig-Another long and weird story, this is different in that Brother Lustig first appears to be a good guy, then he is kind of a jerk, but he sort of gets picked on by a priest and then he tricks his way into heaven. it's weird.
The Man of Iron-Robert Bly wrote a whole book on manliness based upon this fairy tale, and I can see why. It just a really good story, and very rich with male stereotypes. Not that stereotypes are necessarily good, but it just really well written and interesting.
The Straw, The Coal and The Bean-my favorite. So funny. Contains this passage, as the coal tries to cross the river by walking on the straw: "The straw, however, beginning to burn, and the Coal slipping after, hissed as it reached the water, and gave up the ghost. The Bean, which had prudently remaned up the shore, was forced to laugh at this accident, and the joke being so good, it laughed so immoderately that it burst itself." Fortunately a wandering tailor is able to stitch the bean back up.

3 disturbing stories:
The Frog Prince: Did you know that in the original, the frog is turned into a prince after being thrown against the wall?! She gets pissed at him because she is supposed to be his companion (because he retrieved her ball), but then he turns into a prince and they marry. what kind of lesson does that teach?? Actually the story is really more about the last paragraph, about the prince's loyal servant, Henry, who had tied bands around his heart which broke of happiness upont the prince's return.
Cinderella: one stepsisters tries to get into the shoe by cutting off a toe, the other by cutting off a heel. Their punishment for failure? They get their eyes pecked out by birds.
The Poor Boy in his Grave
An orphaned boy is adopted by a cruel farmer and wife. The farmer beats for his honest or endearing mistakes, like eating a bundle of grapes because he was a hungry. While baling hay while they are out, his sweater gets caught in the hay. Knowing he will be beaten, his despair leads him to drink what the the farmer's wife said was poison, but is actually honey. At this point you still think things are going to end up well. And it's kind of funny, he says "I thought death would be bitter, but it is so sweet!" He then moves onto to the fly-poison, about which he was also lied to, because it turns out to be wine. Still funny. But then his drukeness makes him feel a bit woozy, so he thinks he might be dying so, he goes and lays in an open grave, and the cold and the wine kill him! He lays in the grave forever. The farmer's house burns down later on and he and his wife live in poverty and misery, but come on!!

That's all. See, I told you I had a lot to say. ...more

3

Nov 15, 2018

“Kinder-und Hausmärchen” is a key German contribution to world literature. It comprises about 250 traditional tales, which were collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, and first published in 1812, with a second volume dated 1815. Although the most accurate translation of this title would be “Children’s and Household Tales”, most English readers know these stories as Grimms’ Fairy Tales, sadly often with the apostrophe misplaced, as “Grimm’s Fairy Tales”.

Between 1824 and 1839, Edgar Taylor had “Kinder-und Hausmärchen” is a key German contribution to world literature. It comprises about 250 traditional tales, which were collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, and first published in 1812, with a second volume dated 1815. Although the most accurate translation of this title would be “Children’s and Household Tales”, most English readers know these stories as Grimms’ Fairy Tales, sadly often with the apostrophe misplaced, as “Grimm’s Fairy Tales”.

Between 1824 and 1839, Edgar Taylor had translated these tales into English, again in two volumes. In 1870, Wilhelm’s eldest son, Hermann, edited what has come to be known as the definitive edition of “Kinder- und Hausmärchen”. In 1901, Marian Edwardes made a selection of these tales, and it is on her selection which most modern collections are now based. There is a typical “English Grimm”, which always comprises around fifty stories; not always the same fifty, but all chosen from a list of around half of the original number of 250 in the 1870 edition.



Charles Folkard - “Hansel and Gretel”

The list is short, because these were tales for children, and some were little more than riddles or anecdotes. Some were merely variations on the same theme. And in addition to those banned by the Victorians for their impropriety, the 20th century rejected some for their brutality, horror and anti-Semitism. It is easy enough to find a list of all 250 online, and some of the little known ones are indeed hair-raising to read.

Here I have listed all the ones in this volume, along with alternative names I have discovered they are also known by. I have added the number according to the original classication and order in which they were published. These are based on Marian Edwarde’s selection, and checked against Edgar Taylor’s for authenticity. The text therefore cannot be bettered, in English.



Charles Folkard - “The Three Dwarfs in the Wood”

It has to be said though, that the presentation of the volume is a disappointment. The illustrations are by Charles Folkard, whose watercolours are very much in the tradition of the golden age children’s illustrators, Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac and Kay Nielsen. They match the style of tales perfectly, but there are only eight colour plates in the entire book, two of which I have included here. The volume is roughly the size of a hardback novel, and there are line drawings at the beginning of each story, plus occasional ones in between. The less said about the cover illustration the better. It is not credited, but clearly drawn by a staff artist of the time, who created a contemporary feel. I prefer to do away with this cover, as underneath the cloth-bound book is printed with a silhouette repeated design of the girl and the deer, but this is a personal preference.

Because of my disappointment with the reproductions of the art work, I am keeping this review at my default rating of 3 stars.


1. The Dancing Shoes - “The Twelve Dancing Princesses”, “The Worn-Out Dancing Shoes” or “The Shoes that were Danced to Pieces” - 133
2. The House in the Wood - “The Hut in the Forest” - 169
3. The Golden Bird - 57
4. The Twelve Huntsmen - 67
5. The White Snake - 17
6. Little Red Riding Hood - “Little Red Cap” - 26
7. The Singing Lark - “The Singing, Springing Lark”, “The Singing, Soaring Lark”, “The Lady and the Lion” or “Lily and the Lion” - 88
8. The Brave Little Tailor - “The Valiant Little Tailor” or “The Gallant Tailor” - 20
9. Rapunzel - 12
10. The Iron Stove - 127
11. Jorinda and Joringel - 69
12. Hansel and Gretel - “Hansel and Grettel”, “Hansel and Grethel”, or “Little Brother and Little Sister” - 15
13. The Boy Who Set Out to Learn what Fear Was - “The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was” or “The Story of a Boy Who Went Forth to Learn Fear” - 4
14. Donkey-Wort - “The Donkey” - 144
15. Old Sultan - 48
16. The Fox and the Horse - 132
17. The Travelling Musicians - “Town Musicians of Bremen”, “The Bremen Town Musicians” - 27
18. The Golden Goose - 64
19. The Wishing Table - “The Magic Table, the Gold-Donkey, and the Club in the Sack”, “The Wishing-Table, the Gold-Ass, and the Cudgel in the Sack” - 36
20. Tom Thumb - “Thumbling” and “Thumbling’s Travels” (also known as “Thumbling as Journeyman” - 37 and 45 *
21. Snow White - “Little Snow White” - 53
22. The Three Dwarfs in the Wood - “The Three Little Men in the Wood” or “The Three Little Gnomes in the Forest” -13
23. The Four Craftsmen - “The Four Skilful Brothers” - 129
24. Snow-White and Rose-Red - “The Ungrateful Dwarf” - 161
25. The Twelve Brothers - 9
26. Jack My Hedgehog - Hans My Hedgehog - 108
27. The Sleeping Beauty - “Little Briar Rose”, “The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods” - 50
28. The Raven - 93
29. Bearskin -101
30. Cinderella - “The Little Glass Slipper” - 21
31. Three Spinning Fairies - “The Three Spinning Women”, “The Three Spinners” - 14
32. Rumpel-Stilts-Ken - “Rumpelstiltskin”, “Tom Tit Tot” - 55
33. Mistress Holle - “Mother Holle”, or “Mother Hulda”, or “Old Mother Frost” - 24
34. King Thrush-beard 52
35. Thumbling the Dwarf and Thumbling the Giant - *
36. The Water of Life - 97
37. The Blue Light - 116
38. The Fisherman and his Wife - 19
39. The Goose Girl - 89
40. The Water Fairy - “The Water Nixie” or “The Water-Nix” - 79
41. The Frog Prince - “The Frog King”, or “Iron Henry” - 1
42. The Elves and the Cobbler - “The Elves”, or “The Elves and the Shoemaker”, - 39
43. Giant Golden Beard - “The Giant and the Three Golden Hairs”, or “The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs” - 29
44. King of the Golden Mountain - 92
45. The Two Brothers - 60
46. Hans in Luck - 83
47. The Turnip - 146 ...more

5

Dec 05, 2015

A very good read. Reminds me of my childhood days when my Grandma used to read these fairy tales to me. They are pretty graphic however. I recommend this book to all. Read to your children folks. It will create a love of reading and a thirst for knowledge. Enjoy and Be Blessed.
Diamond

2

Jan 26, 2018

Grimm’s Fairy Tales, (the apostrophe is as it is printed on the book’s title page and cover) is Richard Adams’s personal selection of nineteen tales, which he made in 1981. This is a large format book with illustrations by Pauline Ellison. Pauline Ellison is a prolific illustrator of books, producing meticulous detailed watercolour images with use of natural colour tones. These paintings are quite busy, and the characters and interiors have a Germanic or East European feel. They are very Grimm’s Fairy Tales, (the apostrophe is as it is printed on the book’s title page and cover) is Richard Adams’s personal selection of nineteen tales, which he made in 1981. This is a large format book with illustrations by Pauline Ellison. Pauline Ellison is a prolific illustrator of books, producing meticulous detailed watercolour images with use of natural colour tones. These paintings are quite busy, and the characters and interiors have a Germanic or East European feel. They are very attractive, and the book displays this art well using glossy paper and printing to a high standard.

As I have often found with illustrated books of folk and fairy tales, the actual text is very much the poor relation. Here at least there is one illustration per story, inserted in the story itself, rather than randomly. Yet the size of the book, and the cramped feel of the text does not invite one to read each story. The font size is very small, and the translators are not credited. It seems as if this is a book produced primarily for the artworks.

Richard Adams has written a brief essay as an introduction. Presumably he was asked to make this selection because he was at the peak of his popularity in 1981. I was struck by the synchronicity of an editor who originally conceived his most famous book “Watership Down” as a story to tell his daughters on long car journeys, just as the stories here were an oral tradition, which were passed down and developed through many generations, before being collected and fixed in a written form by the brothers Grimm. However, most of his essay was rather dry and academic, which disappointed me, as I do like Richard Adams’s writing style.

There is nothing to say what determined his choice of stories; some of which are familiar and others not. It would be interesting to know what drew him to these, when he had over two hundred tales by the brothers Grimm to choose from. Here is the complete list of titles:

The Frog King or Iron Henry
Hansel and Gretel
The Fisherman and his Wife
Cinderella
Thumbling
Mother Holle
The Seven Ravens
Fitcher’s Bird
The Juniper Tre
The Six Swans
Little Snow-White
Little Briar-Rose
Rumpelstiltskin
The Golden Bird
The Golden Goose
Bearskin
The Blue Light
The Moon
Little Red-Cap

All in all, this is not my preferred book of tales by the Brothers Grimm. I would like to be able to read them without navigating a bulky book and poring over the words. But the illustrations are careful, quality work, so I would rate this book at less than the default average, hence 2 stars. ...more

2

Jul 20, 2011

I'm glad to have read this, simply because fairy tale plots and themes are used so often in modern literature that it felt good to become acquainted with old versions of the tales and get closer to the original folklore. I also enjoyed picking up on some of the values of the time that come across in the stories.

That said, most of them are terribly boring. The method of storytelling is something I just could not get comfortable with - rapid, perfunctory, repetitive, bizarrely irrational. It was I'm glad to have read this, simply because fairy tale plots and themes are used so often in modern literature that it felt good to become acquainted with old versions of the tales and get closer to the original folklore. I also enjoyed picking up on some of the values of the time that come across in the stories.

That said, most of them are terribly boring. The method of storytelling is something I just could not get comfortable with - rapid, perfunctory, repetitive, bizarrely irrational. It was often disturbingly amoral as well, even more so than stories that try to be realistic about how life goes. There are plenty of the happy endings that have come to characterise fairy tales today, but happy endings were certainly not the standard for these tales - some are incredibly violent and/or downright depressing.

I'm not criticising the book or fairy tales in general for this; they're rich cultural texts that still influence literature today. But I decided to go with a subjective rating, which is to say, I did not really enjoy reading this, however valuable the experience. ...more

5

Dec 21, 2012

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.



Wolves and Campfires: Grimms Märchen by Die Brüder Grimm



(Original Review, 2005-11-30)


In Genesis there is suddenly this sentence/observation about giants walking the Earth in them days... I always see those elderly male Jews in Babylon, staring glumly at some campfire, thinking about the good old days and thinking up revengeful plans to smite the enemy. They tell the stories of their tribes but there is that one quite senile idiot If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.



Wolves and Campfires: Grimms Märchen by Die Brüder Grimm



(Original Review, 2005-11-30)


In Genesis there is suddenly this sentence/observation about giants walking the Earth in them days... I always see those elderly male Jews in Babylon, staring glumly at some campfire, thinking about the good old days and thinking up revengeful plans to smite the enemy. They tell the stories of their tribes but there is that one quite senile idiot always going on about 'them giants' - so in the end they say, "Okay, we WILL put them in. Now shut up already!" I can see myself being the Giant Guy (if more all over the place) and I'm not sure the good campfire folks here need the distraction... ...more

4

Nov 17, 2009

I couldn't find the edition I had so I went with one that was closest in date.

Why only 4 stars for the tails we all remember "fondly" from childhood? Think about it. These are "Grimm's" fairy tales and they certainly are "grim". Still there are tales we remember and love so...4. Their at least not as "grim" as Andersen's fairy tales!

4

May 05, 2015

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Since Marisa Meyers bases her Lunar Chronicles books on the tale of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White I thought that I re-read these classic fairy tales so I am not in the dark so much about who some of the characters are supposed to be in the books.

My version has twenty-five fairy tales which are
The Goose-Girl
The Little Brother and Sister
Hansel and Gretel
Oh, If I Could But Shiver!
Dummling and the Three Feathers
Little Snow White
Catherine and Frederick
The Valiant Since Marisa Meyers bases her Lunar Chronicles books on the tale of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White I thought that I re-read these classic fairy tales so I am not in the dark so much about who some of the characters are supposed to be in the books.

My version has twenty-five fairy tales which are
The Goose-Girl
The Little Brother and Sister
Hansel and Gretel
Oh, If I Could But Shiver!
Dummling and the Three Feathers
Little Snow White
Catherine and Frederick
The Valiant Little Taylor
Little Red-Cap
The Golden Goose
Bearskin
Cinderella
Faithful John
The Water of Life
Thumbling
Briar Rose
The Six Swans
Rapunzel
Mother Holle
The Frog Prince
The Travels of Tom Thumb
Snow-White and Rose-Red
The Three Little Men in the Wood
Rumpelstilskin, and
Little-One-Eye, Two-Eyes, and Three-Eyes

I recall watching most of these stories as a kid on Nickelodeon's Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics.

Opening Theme to Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics, my link text

They actually for the most part kept pretty faithful to the majority of the stories. My favorite of these cartoons was definitely "Bearskin" though, my link text

So I read all of these stories and for the purposes of this post I plan on just focusing on Little Snow White, Little Red-Cap, Cinderella, and Rapunzel.

Characters
I think my main comment for each of these stories are that many of these young women (except for Cinderella) do not seem that intelligent.

Snow White does not seem that bright. After being told repeatedly by the seven dwarfs to not open the door to anyone. There are two incidents that happen until The Queen finally in her mind does away with Snow White.

Little Red-Cap gets eaten up by the Wolf even though one wonders how great her eyesight was that she totally did not realize a Wolf was sitting in her Grandmother's bed.

Cinderella I was happy to see that actually is more close to the live-action Disney movie more than I thought since we get her mother telling her to be good and kind.

Rapunzel chose to marry a guy after he climbs her hair and she realizes he is handsome.....yeah.

Plot
The plot for Snow White is a young Princess trying to escape a Queen who is fixated on being the most beautiful in the land. One wonders why it is so important for the Queen to be deemed the fairest. Snow White escaping and living with the seven dwarfs does make one wonder how her taking care of seven dwarfs was better than going someplace else to hide away from the Queen. Snow White hides away from the Queen and is cautioned against going out and talking to anyone in case it is the Queen looking to harm her.

Little Red-Cap in the first half of the story is just on her way to her Grandmother's house and comes across the Wolf who decides to make a meal of her and her Grandmother. There really is not a lot of meat to this story at all. There is one version that is told and another shorter version that we hear about after the unhappy ending to the first version.

Cinderella is told by her dying mother to be a good girl and that she will watch her from heaven and watch over her. Unlike with the Disney version Cinderella's father does not die. Instead the guy lives and watches how his new wife and two stepdaughters treat his daughter. In my head that is actually worse, so at least if her father was not around you would hope that he would actually step in and stop having people treat his only daughter like a servant. Cinderella is so good and kind she plans a hazel tree and due to her tears it grows and a little bird comes and lives in it.

Rapunzel is taken away as a baby to live with an Enchantress after her father was caught stealing rampion from the Enchantress's garden to feed his pregnant wife. Apparently her father deemed it okay to give away his child to someone who was quite willing to murder him for stealing some herbs. In case you didn't notice it, I am not that fond of the parents in any of these fairy tales. Rapunzel grows up and is locked away in a tower when she is 12 years old. Two years later a passing Prince (why are Princes always passing through?) comes through and sees the Enchantress calling up to Rapunzel so he lies in wait and does the same thing.

Writing and Pacing
The writing for all of these stories is pretty simplistic. They are children's stories so it is written for them to read and understand. The pacing for all of them were pretty much straightforward since all of the stories, except for Cinderella were very short.

Setting
Honestly there is not much details to any of the settings. The stories are pretty short so you don't get a lot of detail about that.

Endings
I think you have to decide for yourself what constitutes a happy ending.

For Snow White she wakes up and finds out that a Prince has carried her off who tells her that he loves her more than anything in the world. She consents to be his wife. The Queen after hearing about a new-made Queen that is more beautiful goes to see her becomes ill with passion and becomes choked and dies afterwards. Could this be a potential spoiler to the Lunar Chronicles?

Little Red-Cap was quite grim actually. In version one she and her Grandmother are eaten and a passing huntsman shoots the wolf in the head and both Little Red-Cap and the Grandmother presumably die. I think that the Brothers Grimm realized that was not really a happy ending and had another version where the Wolf falls off the wolf into a trough and drowns.

Cinderella really does have the best ending. She has a magical tree that provides her with gowns and shoes for a ball and eventually after her stepsisters disfigure their feet goes off and lives with the Prince. You don't really hear about Cinderella's father or the stepmother so one imagines they did not live happily ever after.

Rapunzel also had a bleak story-line until the happily ever after. Rapunzel "marries" the Prince when according to the story-line she had to be about 14 years old. Rapunzel makes a not intelligent comment about how heavy the Enchantress is compared to the Prince's son. Due to that the Enchantress flies into a rage, cuts her hair, and leaves her in the desert. The Prince is blinded by thorns when he throws himself out of a tower window. After wandering the desert for years he finds Rapunzel again who heals his eyes with her tears. I I totally prefer Disney's Tangled.

All in all these were fast paced stories that I do have to wonder how appropriate some of them were for children. Most of them had stories about children being treated horribly by their parents or just ignored. Heck Hansel and Gretel had a father who didn't want to leave his kids to starve to death in the woods, but does so since he is henpecked by his second wife. He does feel bad though (eyeroll).

A lot of the stories barely resemble the Disney counterparts. For example, Briar Rose made me laugh since there is no dragon in this story. Instead the thirteenth fairy is just angry she was not invited and throws a curse that Briar Rose would die upon her fifteenth birthday. A twelfth fairy changes it so that everyone will fall asleep for 100 years. So a Prince passing through on the day of the 100th year is there at the right place and time for Briar Rose to wake up and they marry. That's it. No epic fight with a dragon. ...more

4

Jun 05, 2018

Today’s review is going to be a bit different, it is a review of a particular Publisher for the Grimm’s Fairy Tales, folklore and tales compiled by the Brothers Grimm in Germany around the 1800s. Having read the Pantheon version of the Grimm stories, I was already familiar that what Disney turned them into, was not the reality.
Maple Press was kind enough to send me a copy of the book, in exchange of an honest review. Last year, I wrote a huge research paper on Grimm’s Snow White, and Red Riding Today’s review is going to be a bit different, it is a review of a particular Publisher for the Grimm’s Fairy Tales, folklore and tales compiled by the Brothers Grimm in Germany around the 1800s. Having read the Pantheon version of the Grimm stories, I was already familiar that what Disney turned them into, was not the reality.
Maple Press was kind enough to send me a copy of the book, in exchange of an honest review. Last year, I wrote a huge research paper on Grimm’s Snow White, and Red Riding Hood explaining the latent meaning in both the “cautionary tales”. For that, I used the Pantheon edition which was more detailed and had a variety of foot notes and references. However, not everyone would want to review the stories one by one, or really get to the bottom of all the tales. For general reading I would highly suggest the Maple Press publication. It is not dense, and is very fluid in terms of translation and writing. I read sixteen stories out of the sixty two. They have the entire important, well know stories and then a few others . I chose the sixteen from across the index.

Briar Rose, Rapunzel, Snow White and Red Rose, are more known and hence not many pages have been devoted to introduce characters. They keep it precise, and easily readable so that the known stories don’t bore you.
There were rare punctuation errors, and the pages were light. The entire book is three hundred and fifty two pages long. The original compilation was much larger, however Maple Press has selected stories from the second edition as the stories are a bit happier, less sensual and more fantastical. The stories are handpicked, to fit this anthology, and not all of them are included, I believe.

This is perfect to gift young children, or even for teenagers to read because it really isn’t that hard to grasp. Plus the language and syntax is very direct, there are no fancy words, or dialogues like the middle ages. Would highly recommend to keep in your collection.
...more

3

Apr 11, 2018

I’ve always said I love a good fairy tale. But you know what I’ve realized? I really love longer, more fleshed-out retellings of these choppy, abbreviated originals. Well ... SOME of the originals. Many of these tales are bizarre to the point of ridiculousness and make me wonder what the people were smoking who dreamed them up. I mean, you are definitely high if you’ve decided one of the main characters in your story is a sausage who takes up housekeeping with a bird and mouse. Yep. Good. And. I’ve always said I love a good fairy tale. But you know what I’ve realized? I really love longer, more fleshed-out retellings of these choppy, abbreviated originals. Well ... SOME of the originals. Many of these tales are bizarre to the point of ridiculousness and make me wonder what the people were smoking who dreamed them up. I mean, you are definitely high if you’ve decided one of the main characters in your story is a sausage who takes up housekeeping with a bird and mouse. Yep. Good. And. High. ...more

3

Oct 26, 2015

I am all about fairy tales. I love reading faory tale book even though i read or heard the story 1000 times already. However, this book was the worst fairy tales book i have ever read. Only attractive part i found was the cover and illustrations inside. Poor writing style! I hate giving bad rating but couldn't stop myself for this one!

3

Sep 29, 2013

Read for the Coursera Fantasy & Science Fiction course -- which I think it going to be interesting, perhaps especially because I'm not sure I agree with the set texts or with the course description. Anyway, the Grimms' fairytales are obviously classics, and worth reading for that, though the selection here includes some very similar stories. And, of course, the same kind of logic is shared by most fairytales, so it's similar in that way too. Some of the illustrations in this version are Read for the Coursera Fantasy & Science Fiction course -- which I think it going to be interesting, perhaps especially because I'm not sure I agree with the set texts or with the course description. Anyway, the Grimms' fairytales are obviously classics, and worth reading for that, though the selection here includes some very similar stories. And, of course, the same kind of logic is shared by most fairytales, so it's similar in that way too. Some of the illustrations in this version are quite lovely, though. ...more

4

Apr 19, 2016

This audiobook was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This review can also be found at The Starry-Eyed Revue.

Even though I know that these are all classic tales, I feel like I'm reading them for the first time, like they've been reinvented with a grown-up me in mind: dark and macabre and grotesque. But that's probably because I grew up with the watered-down Disney versions for the most part. Not that I haven't read my fair share of these sometimes bloody lessons in This audiobook was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This review can also be found at The Starry-Eyed Revue.

Even though I know that these are all classic tales, I feel like I'm reading them for the first time, like they've been reinvented with a grown-up me in mind: dark and macabre and grotesque. But that's probably because I grew up with the watered-down Disney versions for the most part. Not that I haven't read my fair share of these sometimes bloody lessons in morality, but I love having them all in one place like this, and narrated by such a fabulous all-star cast.

I love the narration of these stories. This collection kicks off with the incomparable Katherine Kellgren reciting Rapunzel and her performance is perfection. She really nails that witch. And January LaVoy delivers a heart-breaking rendition of Cinderella. Her narration always features so many varied voices and emotions. As does Jim Dale's, whose account of Rumplestiltskin is on par for what I expect from such a talented narrator. From the delightfully whimsical to the perfunctory yet magical performances, this well-rounded cast lends the perfect voice to each of these tales.

The musical interludes between each tale were lovely and magical and added just that extra something to the collection. I would love to have these tales bound up with that artwork from the cover to share with my daughter, but I know she'll love this audiobook just the same...when she's read for such grim tales. ;)

GIF it to me straight:
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5

Apr 17, 2017

I was familiar with the modern adaptations of these classic fairytales, but I’d never read the originals in all their gory glory. I loved the majority of these stories. They’re weird and morally ambiguous. A lot of them end with “They all lived happily ever after, until they died.” The Brothers Grimm are like the 1800s version of Internet trolls. “You like these characters? Well, they’re all dead or miserable now. LOL. U mad?”

Fairytales are interesting because you get to see the values of the I was familiar with the modern adaptations of these classic fairytales, but I’d never read the originals in all their gory glory. I loved the majority of these stories. They’re weird and morally ambiguous. A lot of them end with “They all lived happily ever after, until they died.” The Brothers Grimm are like the 1800s version of Internet trolls. “You like these characters? Well, they’re all dead or miserable now. LOL. U mad?”

Fairytales are interesting because you get to see the values of the societies that created them. Many of the tales in this collection have similar themes. The stories teach kindness, hard work, patience, charity, and quick thinking. They do their teaching in disturbing ways, though. Bad guys tend to suffer horrific deaths.

I assume that most people are familiar with the fairytales in this collection (such as “The Frog-Prince,” “Rumpelstiltskin,” “Snow White,” and “Ashputtel”/Cinderella), so I won’t bother summarizing them. Disney already did that for me. Instead, I’ll tell you what I learned from The Brothers Grimm.

- Selling your children is almost always a bad idea. Murdering your children also tends to create more problems than it solves.

- Being a beautiful princess sucks. Your parents devise a bunch of crazy tests for your suiters and then force you to marry whichever suiter doesn’t die. You get no say in this murder/marriage process.

- Be nice to frogs.

- Don’t trust crows, but be sure to eavesdrop on their conversations. Ditto ravens.

- It’s great to be the youngest child. Your older siblings are selfish and stupid, so you just have to wait for them to get themselves killed. Then you’ll get all the inheritance. And maybe one of those beautiful princesses.

- Avoid ugly old women. They’re all witches. Or cannibalistic witches.

- Men can’t always tell the difference between beautiful princesses and cannibalistic witches.

- For the love of God, remember to invite all the fairies to your birthday party. If you don’t, there will be hell to pay.

“He who helped you when you were in trouble ought not afterwards be despised by you.” - Fairy Tales From The Brothers Grimm

“He who is too well off is always longing for something new.” - Fairy Tales From The Brothers Grimm

My favorite stories are “The Fisherman and His Wife” and “The Mouse, The Bird and The Sausage.” In “The Fisherman and His Wife,” a man finds a magic fish, and his wife takes advantage of the fish’s kindness. In “The Mouse, The Bird and The Sausage,” one of the main characters is a sausage. A sausage who likes to cook. What’s not to love about that?

If you haven’t read these stories, I’d recommend them. They’re short and entertaining. They may also deepen your understanding of modern literature. It’s amazing how often authors allude to fairytales.
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5

Jun 07, 2016

Listened for Fun (Borrowed from the Library)
Overall Rating: 5.00
Story Rating: 5.00
Character Rating: 5.00

Audio Rating: 5.00 (not part of the overall rating)

Tweet Length Review: If you get a chance to listen to the Audiobook Released May 2016 narrated by Jim Dale, Luke Daniels, Katherine Kellgren then DO IT!

Tweet Longer: OMG this was just a complete delight and a little twisted.

Audio Details:

"Rapunzel", read by Katherine Kellgren
"Cinderella", read by January LaVoy
"Little Red-Cap", read by Listened for Fun (Borrowed from the Library)
Overall Rating: 5.00
Story Rating: 5.00
Character Rating: 5.00

Audio Rating: 5.00 (not part of the overall rating)

Tweet Length Review: If you get a chance to listen to the Audiobook Released May 2016 narrated by Jim Dale, Luke Daniels, Katherine Kellgren then DO IT!

Tweet Longer: OMG this was just a complete delight and a little twisted.

Audio Details:

"Rapunzel", read by Katherine Kellgren
"Cinderella", read by January LaVoy
"Little Red-Cap", read by Simon Vance
"Little Briar-Rose", read by Grover Gardner
"Little Snow-White", read by Kate Rudd
"Rumpelstiltskin", read by Jim Dale
"The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces", read by Alfred Molina
"A Riddling Tale", read by Janis Ian
"The Twelve Brothers", read by Graeme Malcolm
"The White Snake", read by Scott Brick
"The Elves", read by Bahni Turpin
"The Six Swans", read by Davina Porter
"The Twelve Huntsmen", read by Dion Graham
"The Goose-Girl", read by Edoardo Ballerini
"Sweet Porridge", read by Jayne Entwistle
"The Golden Goose", read by Luke Daniels
"Eve's Various Children", read by Roy Dotrice
"Snow-White and Rose-Red", read by Julia Whelan
"The Frog-King, or Iron Henry", read by Kirby Heyborne
"The Sea-Hare", read by Mark Bramhall
"Hansel and Gretel", read by Robin Miles

Length: 3 hrs and 39 mins

Part of my Read It, Rate It, File It, DONE! Reviews
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3

Jun 06, 2012

Ever wonder why we stop reading Fairy Tales!!

All great cultures have passed on rich heritage for coming generations in the form of art, music, dance, dressing, behaviour, traditions, language, greetings, symbols, scripts, and of course literature. Literature could be in the form of religious scripts, historical recordings, pictorial representations, hymns, songs and folk tales. Aesop Fables of the Greek, Panchtantra Tales of India, Jataka Tales of the Buddhist and the Brothers Grimm’s Fairy Ever wonder why we stop reading Fairy Tales!!

All great cultures have passed on rich heritage for coming generations in the form of art, music, dance, dressing, behaviour, traditions, language, greetings, symbols, scripts, and of course literature. Literature could be in the form of religious scripts, historical recordings, pictorial representations, hymns, songs and folk tales. Aesop Fables of the Greek, Panchtantra Tales of India, Jataka Tales of the Buddhist and the Brothers Grimm’s Fairy Tales of Germany stand testimony and essential part of growing up phase of children of various cultures.

After a daily dose of Fairy tales in childhood why do we stop reading these fairy tales once we grow up – WHY? Do they start appearing false as the real world opens to us! or is it because our brain develops and we just can’t believe in all magic, luck, destiny and fairies! or is it because hope and dreams become more practical and realistic! All you want is a normal life, family and home rather than that of grandeur, Princes and castles!

To read more and share your views.. visit
http://storywala.blogspot.in/2012/09/...

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5

Jun 01, 2012

"Seven at one blow--that is my way!"

Never has a little book of stories delighted me so. It was easy, breezy and beautiful, like Covergirl. And amusing, and creepy, like all good fairy tales should be. The quote above is from "The Gallant Tailor," a sure favorite, though there are so many I would call favorite. "Six Soldiers of Fortune" holds a certain rebellious essence to it, and could mean a lot to a soldier of today. In the story, soldiers are neglected once one of the king's wars is declared "Seven at one blow--that is my way!"

Never has a little book of stories delighted me so. It was easy, breezy and beautiful, like Covergirl. And amusing, and creepy, like all good fairy tales should be. The quote above is from "The Gallant Tailor," a sure favorite, though there are so many I would call favorite. "Six Soldiers of Fortune" holds a certain rebellious essence to it, and could mean a lot to a soldier of today. In the story, soldiers are neglected once one of the king's wars is declared over. Yet, they find that when several of them band together, they each hold a special ability. Joined like this, they hatch a plan to take the king for all he is worth. Oh hell yeah.

The book contains recognizable classics like "Tom Thumb," "Snow White," and "Rumpelstiltskin," but also others I hadn't heard before. Many have familiar moral lessons, but others simply condemn liars and, in the case of one tale, even people who just plain drive you crazy.

Anyway, I took the book with me everywhere. If that isn't a sign of how into it I was, I'm not sure what is. ...more

3

Apr 25, 2012

Over the years, I've read a considerable amount of fairytales so I was familiar with most of the stories in this collection (in one form or another). However I was surprised at how dark some of the themes were, especially if they were intended for children. Good always seems to prevail but not in the way we would think. With faithful servants being beheaded and frogs being smashed on walls before their worth emerges, no wonder Disney et al have glossed the stories up to suit modern day Over the years, I've read a considerable amount of fairytales so I was familiar with most of the stories in this collection (in one form or another). However I was surprised at how dark some of the themes were, especially if they were intended for children. Good always seems to prevail but not in the way we would think. With faithful servants being beheaded and frogs being smashed on walls before their worth emerges, no wonder Disney et al have glossed the stories up to suit modern day sensitivities. Not all the stories had happy endings and even those that did were not exactly what I would have called pleasant I have no problem with realistic endings so this didn't bother). One to read first before reading out loud to your six year old.

My favourite stories were "Bearskin" and "One Eye, Two Eyes and Three Eyes". I'd never heard of either and I was well entertained by the stories. ...more

3

Nov 04, 2016

3.5..........I had been wanting to read Grimm's Fairy Tales for a long time because I kept hearing that Disney really cleaned up these original, gruesome stories. I was actually surprised that it wasn't as macabre as I thought they would be. (then again I am into horror so I guess these would be pretty tame in comparison) They did seem to like the eye plucking thing though. ICK. Some of them weren't even scary at all, just fairy tales. Now this wasn't the complete works of the Brothers Grimm so 3.5..........I had been wanting to read Grimm's Fairy Tales for a long time because I kept hearing that Disney really cleaned up these original, gruesome stories. I was actually surprised that it wasn't as macabre as I thought they would be. (then again I am into horror so I guess these would be pretty tame in comparison) They did seem to like the eye plucking thing though. ICK. Some of them weren't even scary at all, just fairy tales. Now this wasn't the complete works of the Brothers Grimm so maybe they have other gruesome stories that I didn't catch. Either way I still liked it and I liked hearing the original Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood and other stories. But what can I say, I grew up with Disney so I'll always default to the Happiest Place on Earth. :) Lol! ...more

4

May 01, 2018

Ahhh... Classic fairy tales... They are so magical!!!
I was amazed by many in this collection, which I didn't know about. Some of them were very very very creepy...
I really loved the ones I knew already, like Snowdrop (aka Snow-white) which is my favorite tale of all time, and little red riding hood etc. It's so nice to finally read the authentic story!
There were stories similar to some Persian tales that I recently read and some which reminded me of others, but, that's the magic of storytelling! Ahhh... Classic fairy tales... They are so magical!!!
I was amazed by many in this collection, which I didn't know about. Some of them were very very very creepy...
I really loved the ones I knew already, like Snowdrop (aka Snow-white) which is my favorite tale of all time, and little red riding hood etc. It's so nice to finally read the authentic story!
There were stories similar to some Persian tales that I recently read and some which reminded me of others, but, that's the magic of storytelling! It is told, travelling across countried, transforming into another story and so on...
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2

Jul 29, 2015

Dear my future kids,

Mum is likely to read you this kind of gore fairy tales because to be completely honest with you, fairy tales aren't as sweet as what disney showed you. I know, sweethearts, beautiful lies, truth hurts.

Yours truly,
Mum.

4

Jul 18, 2016

32 original-style tales with lots of matter-of-fact violence and magic. Each one has a cautionary moral.
Favorite has to be The Three Spinsters, with no real violence and one naughty girl who profits from a life lesson.

5

Feb 26, 2016

I love traditional tales, portuguese, english, german, russian, etc. And it's quite interesting to see that same tales that are told here have similar versions across the world. Usually my favourite stories are not the most known ones. Bellow it's a list of my favourites of this book.

The Twelve Brothers, The Valiant Little Tailor, Old Mother Frost, The Godfather Death, The Golden Bird, The Feather Bird, The Six Swans, Briar Rose, King Thrush-Beard, The Twelve Hunters, Snow-White and the Seven I love traditional tales, portuguese, english, german, russian, etc. And it's quite interesting to see that same tales that are told here have similar versions across the world. Usually my favourite stories are not the most known ones. Bellow it's a list of my favourites of this book.

The Twelve Brothers, The Valiant Little Tailor, Old Mother Frost, The Godfather Death, The Golden Bird, The Feather Bird, The Six Swans, Briar Rose, King Thrush-Beard, The Twelve Hunters, Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Knapsack, the Hat, and the Horn, Roland, The Juniper Tree, The Little Farmer, Jorinde and Joringel, Catherine and Frederick, The Two Brothers, How Six Traveled Through the World, The Queen Bee, The Clever Grethel, The Two Wanderers, Bearskin, The Jew Among Thorns, The Goose Girl, The Three Army Surgeons, The Shoes Which Were Danced to Pieces, The Six Servants, The Old Woman in the Wood, Simeli Mountain, Snow-White and Rose-Red, The Nix in the Pond, The Goose-Girl at the Well, The Hare and the Hedgehog, The Master-Thief, The Boots Made of Buffalo-Leather. ...more

5

Nov 28, 2017

I honestly love fairy tales so much. Like, soooooooooo much. And this book was no exception. I feel like most variations of fairy tales today are filled with plot holes. *cough, cough* Cinderella *cough, cough* But for once I found a version of Cinderella that I could enjoy! These fairy tales have far fewer plot holes. I recommend to everyone, because honestly, who doesn't like fairy tales?

(Yes, I recognize that many people don't like fairy tales, but it seemed like a good way to end this I honestly love fairy tales so much. Like, soooooooooo much. And this book was no exception. I feel like most variations of fairy tales today are filled with plot holes. *cough, cough* Cinderella *cough, cough* But for once I found a version of Cinderella that I could enjoy! These fairy tales have far fewer plot holes. I recommend to everyone, because honestly, who doesn't like fairy tales?

(Yes, I recognize that many people don't like fairy tales, but it seemed like a good way to end this review. Anyway, I feel like at least most people should know the better version of fairy tales because the Disney versions are honestly quite bad, especially in comparison to these.) ...more