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rol's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
Encantadores cuentos con un sentido innato de lo maravilloso. Me hubiera gustado una selección más amplia. Supongo que son los límites de la presente edición. Precioso bocado que te deja con ganas de más
kitsuneheart's review against another edition
2.0
Eh...I'm not so much a fan of this collection. While Jacobs does write fairly well, I felt like I was hearing a few stories over again. In particular, I'm certain there were at least three stories of giants with some variant on the "grind your bones to make my bread" speech. There's also the complication of many of these fairy tales just being adaptations from Andersen and Grimm, so they don't feel particularly English. I'd say, if you were spending money (and really, do not, Grimm, Andersen, and Jacobs are all in the public domain, so just download ebook versions of their collections), you should get Jacobs after getting Andersen and Grimm, and also after getting stories from ore distant countries.
I listened to a free audio production from Librivox, which was fairly well done, so if you like audiobooks, go download this one.
I listened to a free audio production from Librivox, which was fairly well done, so if you like audiobooks, go download this one.
scribesprite's review against another edition
3.0
Jacobs mentions at the beginning that the tales in this book should be read out loud but I think parents should probably read the tales before they go and blab it to their kids. Not to say that their are a whole bunch of brutal killings but its not all sunshine and daisies all the time neither. I know that fairy tales are really not as sugary sweet as they are in Disney or any of the retellings that I love.
There is a repetivness to the tales. There were more Giants than I expected and can recall only one fairy story. Lots of Jacks too, and royalty (kind of knew that though).
Some of the tales were very familiar (ex. Jack and the Beanstalk and The Three Little Pigs) though they were a tad altered occasionally. But there were new ones I hadn't heard of before, but I'm no fairy tale expert. I pretty much stick to the Disney movies and book retellings that are out there.
One of my favorites that I never heard of before was Nix Nought Nothing. Now that I think is just screaming for a retelling. And Earl Mar's Daughter sounds like it could be really something. But that is the thing. I thought some of the tales were silly, some were interesting, some boring, and some were good but in the ones I believed were good I felt should have been full blown stories.
I did learn why some parents read fairy tales to their childs before bed. Almost evey time I started reading the tales I'd start getting sleepy. I'd be reading it in the middle of the day and I'd start nodding off. I don't know why because sometimes I was actually interested in the tales and there is no way I was too tired since I'm on vacation. It makes no sense.
In any case not bad.
There is a repetivness to the tales. There were more Giants than I expected and can recall only one fairy story. Lots of Jacks too, and royalty (kind of knew that though).
Some of the tales were very familiar (ex. Jack and the Beanstalk and The Three Little Pigs) though they were a tad altered occasionally. But there were new ones I hadn't heard of before, but I'm no fairy tale expert. I pretty much stick to the Disney movies and book retellings that are out there.
One of my favorites that I never heard of before was Nix Nought Nothing. Now that I think is just screaming for a retelling. And Earl Mar's Daughter sounds like it could be really something. But that is the thing. I thought some of the tales were silly, some were interesting, some boring, and some were good but in the ones I believed were good I felt should have been full blown stories.
I did learn why some parents read fairy tales to their childs before bed. Almost evey time I started reading the tales I'd start getting sleepy. I'd be reading it in the middle of the day and I'd start nodding off. I don't know why because sometimes I was actually interested in the tales and there is no way I was too tired since I'm on vacation. It makes no sense.
In any case not bad.
princessleia4life's review against another edition
4.0
Like the Grimm brothers and Has Christian Anderson better.
innaronz's review against another edition
5.0
This is an extensive collection of English fairy tales, compiled in a simple, but at the same time poetic and authentic language. I recommend this storybook to everyone who wants to get acquainted with the folklore of England.
absentminded_reader's review against another edition
4.0
There were many wonderful fairy tales included in Jacobs' collection (which is actually two books compiled as one), but my reading spurts would be stopped cold by the occasional klunker. In the end, however, I enjoyed the book, most especially because of the footnotes from the author at the end of the book. Sometimes he'd admit he had no idea what particular expressions meant, including them in 1890 for their flavor. Sometimes he'd admit a story was an amalgamation of different stories taken from various sources. I enjoyed reading his occasional comments on the Grimm brothers as peers. Even though their work preceded him by decades, they were writing in the same era. And then he'd write dissertations on the folktale's origins as he did for "Childe Rowland", a story so well known in Shakespeare's day that it was referenced in King Lear, where Jacobs discussed how the themes of the tale inspired Milton, how the original people of the mounds were the originators of all things fae.
In the end, I found more than a handful of unknown fairy tales that entertained and delighted. Fairies got up to no good; evil step mothers reined unholy terror on their poor stepdaughters; clever children were very clever indeed; predecessors to famous tales like Jack and the Beanstalk, Rumpelstiltskin, the Three Bears (without Goldilocks), and Sleeping Beauty had an otherworldly feel due to their originality; and delightfully, thieves were allowed to be thieves—even heroes—without any sententious messages on the evils of crime. Although I was not a fan of the silly, repetitious folktales peppered throughout the collection, the longer folktales didn't disappoint.
There is apparently an edition out there of this book illustrated by Arthur Rackham. Whether they are original illustrations or those borrowed from other books, I hope to one day add it to my paper book collection.
In the end, I found more than a handful of unknown fairy tales that entertained and delighted. Fairies got up to no good; evil step mothers reined unholy terror on their poor stepdaughters; clever children were very clever indeed; predecessors to famous tales like Jack and the Beanstalk, Rumpelstiltskin, the Three Bears (without Goldilocks), and Sleeping Beauty had an otherworldly feel due to their originality; and delightfully, thieves were allowed to be thieves—even heroes—without any sententious messages on the evils of crime. Although I was not a fan of the silly, repetitious folktales peppered throughout the collection, the longer folktales didn't disappoint.
There is apparently an edition out there of this book illustrated by Arthur Rackham. Whether they are original illustrations or those borrowed from other books, I hope to one day add it to my paper book collection.
wandererzarina's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0