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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
In her Book of Fairy Tales, Carter has attempted what the Bro's Grimm did many a generation ago, and compile a compendium of folk and fairy tales from across a variety of cultures and countries. Ranging from Inuit to Hillbilly Carter doesn't edit, tone-down or Hollywoodise anything (the Inuit tales stand out as the most strange)
In confession I must disclose that for me the tales ranged from, 'I can't follow this' to 'I'm following this but WTF?' to 'GREAT'
Essentially this is an awesome book, but I would struggle to sell it as a straight read. Probably best as a coffee table book for the occasional pickup and journey into the land of the strange...
In confession I must disclose that for me the tales ranged from, 'I can't follow this' to 'I'm following this but WTF?' to 'GREAT'
Essentially this is an awesome book, but I would struggle to sell it as a straight read. Probably best as a coffee table book for the occasional pickup and journey into the land of the strange...
I liked these fairy tales from around the world. A good, comprehensive collection. I liked some of the stories more than others, of course, but would recommend for anyone interested in fairy tales from around the world.
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
dark
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a fantastic collection of 'fairy' tales from around the world that keep to the origins and original style and detail of the stories giving them a darker, quirkier and more realistic edge than the disney-fied versions we're more familiar with. Angela Carter brings these tales top life through her introduction and associated notes without overbearing or overwhelming the reader with her own views, which allows the reader to form their own views on each tale and the collection as a whole. An utterly superb collection that can be revisited again and again.
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I normally love short stories, and fairy tales, but I struggled a little with this one. The book is a collection of stories from all over the world, all of which based around a female character. The stories are grouped into the following:
Brave, Bold and Wilful
Clever Women, Resourceful Girls and Desperate Stratagems
Sillies
Good Girls and Where it Gets Them
Witches
Unhappy Families
Moral Tales
Strong Minds and Low Cunning
Up to Something – Black Arts and Dirty Tricks
Beautiful People
Mothers and Daughters
Married Women
Useful Stories
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed most of the stories – they were interesting, funny and weird, so far so good. The Icelandic stories tended to involve the women making themselves appear as men with penises made out of bits of seal, and there were quite a few stories involving jealous step mothers and step fathers, and cannibalism… These are proper folk fairy stories that have been handed down from generation to generation.
I could see the roots of Grimm’s Fairytales and Mother Goose in these stories, and there were several stories based around the Cinderella theme, Rumpelstiltskin and elements of Snow White. My only issue was that there were many stories that I felt like I had read over and over again by the time I had finished the book. Some were written in slang and in dialect, which made them a little harder to get through (although this wasn’t a problem).
The book left me wanting more… I wanted to read about the origins of these stories and why the details changed form region to region. These are most definitely not children’s stories, there are blatant sexual themes in some of them. I have picked up another Angela Carter book to add to the pile as I want to see how these stories affected her writing… watch this space!
Brave, Bold and Wilful
Clever Women, Resourceful Girls and Desperate Stratagems
Sillies
Good Girls and Where it Gets Them
Witches
Unhappy Families
Moral Tales
Strong Minds and Low Cunning
Up to Something – Black Arts and Dirty Tricks
Beautiful People
Mothers and Daughters
Married Women
Useful Stories
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed most of the stories – they were interesting, funny and weird, so far so good. The Icelandic stories tended to involve the women making themselves appear as men with penises made out of bits of seal, and there were quite a few stories involving jealous step mothers and step fathers, and cannibalism… These are proper folk fairy stories that have been handed down from generation to generation.
I could see the roots of Grimm’s Fairytales and Mother Goose in these stories, and there were several stories based around the Cinderella theme, Rumpelstiltskin and elements of Snow White. My only issue was that there were many stories that I felt like I had read over and over again by the time I had finished the book. Some were written in slang and in dialect, which made them a little harder to get through (although this wasn’t a problem).
The book left me wanting more… I wanted to read about the origins of these stories and why the details changed form region to region. These are most definitely not children’s stories, there are blatant sexual themes in some of them. I have picked up another Angela Carter book to add to the pile as I want to see how these stories affected her writing… watch this space!
adventurous
challenging
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Not actually fairy tales WRITTEN by Angela Carter, just edited by her. Misleading and disappointing but that'll teach me I suppose. Decent collection though, some really good ones some really bad ones, some in-between and some that make no sense