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blueyorkie's review against another edition
3.0
I love storytelling. I knew Grimm's Tales were far from cute Disney adaptations and often amoral.
However, despite all the assets I had in hand, these Tales bothered me a lot. First, blame it on their often vain appearance, without moral, lesson or teaching. I then read in the preface that their goal was not to educate or enlighten children but to show them that life will make up of trials, which will have overcome with the help of good people, luck or persistence. Interesting, but I didn't get it at all.
The harsh and often dull style didn't appeal to me, nor did the countless repetitions: how often will a character find himself alone in the forest at night? Be afraid of wild animals. And climb a tree to sleep? Knowing that, unless I am mistaken, there were lynxes in Brothers Grimm's Germany and that lynxes can climb trees. These Tales have many other repetitions: repeating words, sometimes entire paragraphs, repeating the horrible tortures and unworthy parents who abandon/sell/hurt their children, repeating the magic hat/horse/boots that make up the teleport or turning everything into gold.
Finally, the silly and cutesy side annoyed me. That's no happy ending to a marriage if it is incestuous or if the spouses have known each other for a quarter of an hour. A gaggle of semi-blind or idiotic characters who no longer recognize their relatives after a few months. Ridiculous turns of phrases like 'Little mirror darling' or Jeannot and Margot, who have always called (at least with me) Hansel and Gretel.
Far from me pretending to judge the Brothers Grimm negatively, the Tales have rocked and will rock children's generations (unless they give them nightmares). They are part of our shared cultural heritage as a legacy of popular myths and traditions. It's just that they stayed close to me, except for some funny moments, for example, in front of Cinderella's stepmother, who cuts off her daughters' feet or the tale that ends in a snub because the narrator has forgotten the rest of the story.
However, despite all the assets I had in hand, these Tales bothered me a lot. First, blame it on their often vain appearance, without moral, lesson or teaching. I then read in the preface that their goal was not to educate or enlighten children but to show them that life will make up of trials, which will have overcome with the help of good people, luck or persistence. Interesting, but I didn't get it at all.
The harsh and often dull style didn't appeal to me, nor did the countless repetitions: how often will a character find himself alone in the forest at night? Be afraid of wild animals. And climb a tree to sleep? Knowing that, unless I am mistaken, there were lynxes in Brothers Grimm's Germany and that lynxes can climb trees. These Tales have many other repetitions: repeating words, sometimes entire paragraphs, repeating the horrible tortures and unworthy parents who abandon/sell/hurt their children, repeating the magic hat/horse/boots that make up the teleport or turning everything into gold.
Finally, the silly and cutesy side annoyed me. That's no happy ending to a marriage if it is incestuous or if the spouses have known each other for a quarter of an hour. A gaggle of semi-blind or idiotic characters who no longer recognize their relatives after a few months. Ridiculous turns of phrases like 'Little mirror darling' or Jeannot and Margot, who have always called (at least with me) Hansel and Gretel.
Far from me pretending to judge the Brothers Grimm negatively, the Tales have rocked and will rock children's generations (unless they give them nightmares). They are part of our shared cultural heritage as a legacy of popular myths and traditions. It's just that they stayed close to me, except for some funny moments, for example, in front of Cinderella's stepmother, who cuts off her daughters' feet or the tale that ends in a snub because the narrator has forgotten the rest of the story.
diana_raquel's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
*2.8 stars*
"I'm Death, and I make sure that everyone is equal."
Grimms' Fairy Tales is a German collection of fairy tales by the Grimm brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm, first published in 1812. This first edition only contained 86 stories, and by the seventh edition in 1857, it had 210 unique fairy tales. The first volumes were much criticized because, although they were called "Children's Tales", they were not regarded as suitable for children, both for the scholarly information included and the subject matter. Because of that, many changes were made through the editions, like, for instance, changing characters and erasing sexual references, but, in many respects, violence, particularly when punishing villains, was increased.
However, these tales weren't and aren't meant for children. They don't have the feel of fairy tales to them. Even with the changes, the tales often include dark themes such as violence, murder, kidnapping, etc. But, even so, these tales became popular amongst all generations, and it's very clear their influence in popular culture.
I found a lot of stories that I already knew because of the constant adaptations, so it was interesting to see the original story and compare it with the adaptations. And, for the most part, I found the stories to be interesting, even if for the most part they have toxic and sexist messages about gender roles, physical appearances, and social roles. Many of these messages, at first, seem harmless, but in reality, they are harmful in the long run.
Another problem that I found was the repetitiveness. At a certain point, the tales became very formulaic and repetitive, even going so far as to maintain the same story structure with the same plot, only changing characters. And that was one of my main problems with this book.
At times I really wanted to give up and DNFing this book. But, then, I would have a story about animals, and I would continue. That's the real reason why I'm not giving a lower rating. I really liked the stories with animals (even, though, some of them were really sad), and I have to admit that even some stories with humans were amusing/funny, which helped at times.
Honestly, I don't know to whom I would recommend this book, but I would recommend that if you do decide to read this book, don't read everything at once as I did, it only ruins the experience.
"I'm Death, and I make sure that everyone is equal."
Grimms' Fairy Tales is a German collection of fairy tales by the Grimm brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm, first published in 1812. This first edition only contained 86 stories, and by the seventh edition in 1857, it had 210 unique fairy tales. The first volumes were much criticized because, although they were called "Children's Tales", they were not regarded as suitable for children, both for the scholarly information included and the subject matter. Because of that, many changes were made through the editions, like, for instance, changing characters and erasing sexual references, but, in many respects, violence, particularly when punishing villains, was increased.
However, these tales weren't and aren't meant for children. They don't have the feel of fairy tales to them. Even with the changes, the tales often include dark themes such as violence, murder, kidnapping, etc. But, even so, these tales became popular amongst all generations, and it's very clear their influence in popular culture.
I found a lot of stories that I already knew because of the constant adaptations, so it was interesting to see the original story and compare it with the adaptations. And, for the most part, I found the stories to be interesting, even if for the most part they have toxic and sexist messages about gender roles, physical appearances, and social roles. Many of these messages, at first, seem harmless, but in reality, they are harmful in the long run.
Another problem that I found was the repetitiveness. At a certain point, the tales became very formulaic and repetitive, even going so far as to maintain the same story structure with the same plot, only changing characters. And that was one of my main problems with this book.
At times I really wanted to give up and DNFing this book. But, then, I would have a story about animals, and I would continue. That's the real reason why I'm not giving a lower rating. I really liked the stories with animals (even, though, some of them were really sad), and I have to admit that even some stories with humans were amusing/funny, which helped at times.
Honestly, I don't know to whom I would recommend this book, but I would recommend that if you do decide to read this book, don't read everything at once as I did, it only ruins the experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Abandonment, Animal death, Child death, and Rape
Minor: Antisemitism
thiefofcamorr's review against another edition
4.0
It took me ages to read but I'm glad I finally finished and read it all. I was surprised by how many of the stories I actually knew.
delaney_de_spain's review against another edition
4.0
Good collection, but I noticed that my copy has The Princess in Disguise and my niece’s does not… Like… when did that happen?
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