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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
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