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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
The first edition of Grimm's fairy tales had never been translated into English until now. Great introduction and great read for those not only interested in fairy tales, but also poetry and history of language.
I have been wanting to read this for a long time and glad I finally had a chance. I am lover of fairy tales and grew up listening to these stories. It was wonderful to enjoy them all. I might actually buy a copy of this at some point, as I had borrowed it from the library. I love that the stories are not sugar coated. I am not a fan of abridged fairy tales. They are scary and wonderful and this is a true way to enjoy them!
I found most of the stories a bit short, boring and not worth writing about. I didn't enjoy probably 200 of the stories that were in this book. Some were okay but confusing as well. So that's why it took me so damn long to finish this book and so I gave it a 3.1 score out of 5.
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I wanted to like this collection more than I did. I'd started reading these as a child, but got overwhelmed by the sheer number of them, and the repetitiveness, and as an adult I still found it hard to push my way through. Since the two brothers went around collecting popular folklore stories, it makes sense that so many of them have similar themes (or, often, pretty much the same story, just with a different spin), as these would have been stories that were passed down between families, and the evolution of the spoken word story generally leads to changes in those stories.
It is a relief to read the non-diluted, Disney-fied versions, that's for sure. These stories are a whole lot more brutal and violent than the versions so many of us are used to, thanks to Disney and other productions that sugar-coat them.
While it is an interesting look into history and the old folk tales of the past, the part I found creepy and grim was the attitude towards women. Not only is it the evil stepmothers, or stepsisters, who are always cruel and end up dying some hideous death at the end of the story for their conniving ways, but the female leads themselves. So many of these stories are about finding a prince in order to get married and live "happily ever after." It's really an awakening to the attitudes of gender of the past, and reading all these stories it really gets to the point where it feels like that message is being beaten in. Not only does the sexism run wild, but I was shocked to discover the anti-Semitism of "The Jew Among Thorns," a story I was not at all familiar with.
Still, I did enjoy revisiting many of these stories, but the overwhelming themes about women either being evil and plotting, or objects to be won by handsome men of nobility, is really a hard thing for me to get by and I can't comfortably rate it higher than 3 stars.
It is a relief to read the non-diluted, Disney-fied versions, that's for sure. These stories are a whole lot more brutal and violent than the versions so many of us are used to, thanks to Disney and other productions that sugar-coat them.
While it is an interesting look into history and the old folk tales of the past, the part I found creepy and grim was the attitude towards women. Not only is it the evil stepmothers, or stepsisters, who are always cruel and end up dying some hideous death at the end of the story for their conniving ways, but the female leads themselves. So many of these stories are about finding a prince in order to get married and live "happily ever after." It's really an awakening to the attitudes of gender of the past, and reading all these stories it really gets to the point where it feels like that message is being beaten in. Not only does the sexism run wild, but I was shocked to discover the anti-Semitism of "The Jew Among Thorns," a story I was not at all familiar with.
Still, I did enjoy revisiting many of these stories, but the overwhelming themes about women either being evil and plotting, or objects to be won by handsome men of nobility, is really a hard thing for me to get by and I can't comfortably rate it higher than 3 stars.
I think my favorite part was seeing the evolution of so many classic fairytales... did the dancing princesses story really remain unchanged for so long? They got Frozen from that? Why do all these animals talk?
Fun, but not great for kids stories and exhausting to read as an adult.
Fun, but not great for kids stories and exhausting to read as an adult.
adventurous
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
mysterious
slow-paced