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crystal_reading's review
4.0
Wow - these are seriously creepy. Definitely for scare tactic discipline.
avanders's review
5.0
This is a great collection of Grimm tales, presented as they originally were by the Brothers Grimm (as opposed to modified to be read to children as moral stories at night).
whatathymeitwas's review
2.0
Easy, quick read. It had a few tales in it that I've never, somehow, come across. Aimed to highlight the "darker" and more vicious fairy tales in their original formats before they were edited to be more child friendly.
vasha's review
4.0
Some of these excerpts from Grimm's fairy tales are stories familiar to English-speaking readers, though with all the crude and violent parts left in: Cinderella (Aschenputtel), Rapunzel, The Goose Girl, etc. There are also less-familiar fairy tales and other sorts of tales too. It's all good stuff! One or two stories read less smoothly than the rest, but most of them were fun and dramatic.
I noticed that they fell into a few categories with regard to their structure and their themes. Overwhelmingly the commonest was the one I call the "recognition of the bride" plot. In "The Goose Maid", "The Girl Without Hands", "Allerleirauh", "Aschenputtel", and "Little Brother and Little Sister", in the first part the heroine gets into a situation where she's in trouble, disguised, or hidden, and the bridegroom has to find and recognize her before they can get married; sometimes he has to distinguish her from a false bride. There are many possible variants on this: possibly the most complex here is "Little Brother and Little Sister", which has two recognition plots, the first one anticlimactic, and the role of the "bride" is doubled between the sister and the brother. "The Juniper Tree" has a captivity-release/recognition structure ending with the child being recognized by his father and the family being reunited. "Rapunzel" initially seems like it will follow this pattern, but it doesn't.
"The Three Snake Leaves" and "The Crows" are moral tales based on reversal: the contrasting fates of good and bad protagonists. "Fowler's Fowl" and "The Robber Bridegroom" are tales of a brave heroine who goes into a bad husband's house and draws him out of it to his doom. "The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn How to Shudder" and "Hans My Hedgehog" are stories of intrepid fools who seek their fortune and find it. "Prudent Hans" and "The Three Army Surgeons" are mocking jokes. And finally, perhaps most startling of all, we have "The Dog and the Sparrow" and "The Death of the Little Hen", in which an animal tale is an opportunity to let loose a sheer torrent of destruction.
I noticed that they fell into a few categories with regard to their structure and their themes. Overwhelmingly the commonest was the one I call the "recognition of the bride" plot. In "The Goose Maid", "The Girl Without Hands", "Allerleirauh", "Aschenputtel", and "Little Brother and Little Sister", in the first part the heroine gets into a situation where she's in trouble, disguised, or hidden, and the bridegroom has to find and recognize her before they can get married; sometimes he has to distinguish her from a false bride. There are many possible variants on this: possibly the most complex here is "Little Brother and Little Sister", which has two recognition plots, the first one anticlimactic, and the role of the "bride" is doubled between the sister and the brother. "The Juniper Tree" has a captivity-release/recognition structure ending with the child being recognized by his father and the family being reunited. "Rapunzel" initially seems like it will follow this pattern, but it doesn't.
"The Three Snake Leaves" and "The Crows" are moral tales based on reversal: the contrasting fates of good and bad protagonists. "Fowler's Fowl" and "The Robber Bridegroom" are tales of a brave heroine who goes into a bad husband's house and draws him out of it to his doom. "The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn How to Shudder" and "Hans My Hedgehog" are stories of intrepid fools who seek their fortune and find it. "Prudent Hans" and "The Three Army Surgeons" are mocking jokes. And finally, perhaps most startling of all, we have "The Dog and the Sparrow" and "The Death of the Little Hen", in which an animal tale is an opportunity to let loose a sheer torrent of destruction.
lasairfiona's review
5.0
This was given to me and I have read it over and over. The dark tales are told fluidly without losing any of it's dark side. I like these better than some of the original material. The stories are the same but the way they are told are a bit more smooth and modern. This is the book that got me really hooked on dark fairy tale and other horror. I love that fairy tales were meant for adults. These stories don't hold back and they shouldn't.
The only think I dislike is a nasty typo/ missed edit that leads to an odd plot hole in the Aschenputtel story. However, I have a very old edition. If it has been republished in the last 5-7 years, I hope they fixed it.
The only think I dislike is a nasty typo/ missed edit that leads to an odd plot hole in the Aschenputtel story. However, I have a very old edition. If it has been republished in the last 5-7 years, I hope they fixed it.
pussreboots's review
2.0
The brothers Grimm collected and published over two hundred fairy tales. Grimm's Grimmest has nineteen of the most bloody of them with gory illustrations by Tracy Arah Dockray.
My two favorites were "Hans my Hedgehog" and "Rapunzel". "Hans My Hedgehog" has made me rethink Sonic the Hedgehog. The illustration on page 39 really looks like him except with less sexy shoes.
"Rapunzel" caught my attention because the first two pages are recreated so closely and so well at the start of Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale, Nathan Hale and Dean Hale. I actually read this collection for this one story because I couldn't remember the original very well.
The rest of the stories are bloody, violent and often times nonsensical. The high amount of nonsense bothers me more than the grim nature of the stories.
My two favorites were "Hans my Hedgehog" and "Rapunzel". "Hans My Hedgehog" has made me rethink Sonic the Hedgehog. The illustration on page 39 really looks like him except with less sexy shoes.
"Rapunzel" caught my attention because the first two pages are recreated so closely and so well at the start of Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale, Nathan Hale and Dean Hale. I actually read this collection for this one story because I couldn't remember the original very well.
The rest of the stories are bloody, violent and often times nonsensical. The high amount of nonsense bothers me more than the grim nature of the stories.
danielle_2910's review
3.0
3/5 - A lovely collection of Grimm's Fairy Tales, each one more unusual than the last. Some of them carry strong morals such as; do not be greedy, be kind to those lower than you, and be careful what you wish for. Others, however, contain stranger storylines which seem to make little sense and are hard to interpret.
Many of the stories do, however, contain light gore, murder, and cannibalism so maybe keep that in mind if you are thinking of picking it up.
Many of the stories do, however, contain light gore, murder, and cannibalism so maybe keep that in mind if you are thinking of picking it up.
redmoon's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
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