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cknath's review
4.0
A fascinating look at the Grimm brothers, historical events, the roles women played in the fairy tale collections. Well written.
doriastories's review
5.0
This wonderfully written little book has completely blown away my (mis)perceptions regarding the Brothers Grimm and their famous collection of folk tales. My only complaint is that Paradiz's tiny tome is just too small; upon finishing it, I wanted more!
This is such an important book, drawing attention to the long-neglected true history of the Grimm brothers' collection. Rather than having been the product of painstaking travels and collecting of tales from German peasants from all around Germany, the famous Grimm volumes of folktales were almost entirely made up of stories collected by bourgeois and upper-class educated German women, who generously told and transcribed the tales that they had grown up hearing and telling. These tales had always been passed from woman to woman, largely ignored by educated men, until the time when Napoleon's incursions into the German homeland humiliated the pride of German men, and gave rise to the nascent German nationalism that fueled the wars and empire-building of the next two centuries.
It was this desire to recover and preserve that which was perceived (sometimes inaccurately) to be innately and "purely" German, which spurred scholars such as the Grimm brothers to turn their attention to the long-ignored old wives' tales, and publish them under the auspices of male-dominated scholarly practice. The women who helped them in this arduous process did so willingly and even eagerly, and did not object to the fact that their efforts and contributions went unmentioned when it came time for the volumes of stories to be published.
Now, Paradiz tells the story behind the stories; the tale of how the Grimm brothers came to take credit for the years-long undertaking, a labor of love, and how the false tale of their volumes' supposed creation and authorship came to be promulgated in the centuries after they died. A ground-breaking work for literary, folkloric and feminist studies, yet also an easy read, with clear language, including many excerpts from letters to and from the Brothers Grimm.
This is such an important book, drawing attention to the long-neglected true history of the Grimm brothers' collection. Rather than having been the product of painstaking travels and collecting of tales from German peasants from all around Germany, the famous Grimm volumes of folktales were almost entirely made up of stories collected by bourgeois and upper-class educated German women, who generously told and transcribed the tales that they had grown up hearing and telling. These tales had always been passed from woman to woman, largely ignored by educated men, until the time when Napoleon's incursions into the German homeland humiliated the pride of German men, and gave rise to the nascent German nationalism that fueled the wars and empire-building of the next two centuries.
It was this desire to recover and preserve that which was perceived (sometimes inaccurately) to be innately and "purely" German, which spurred scholars such as the Grimm brothers to turn their attention to the long-ignored old wives' tales, and publish them under the auspices of male-dominated scholarly practice. The women who helped them in this arduous process did so willingly and even eagerly, and did not object to the fact that their efforts and contributions went unmentioned when it came time for the volumes of stories to be published.
Now, Paradiz tells the story behind the stories; the tale of how the Grimm brothers came to take credit for the years-long undertaking, a labor of love, and how the false tale of their volumes' supposed creation and authorship came to be promulgated in the centuries after they died. A ground-breaking work for literary, folkloric and feminist studies, yet also an easy read, with clear language, including many excerpts from letters to and from the Brothers Grimm.
erinbrenner's review
4.0
Clever Maids is an interesting well-paced book, accessible for the general reader. I worried that Paradiz was going to go overboard with her feminist theory, but instead she presents well-researched facts and doesn't take away from the Grimm brothers anything they truly earned.
lewfode's review
4.0
This was a really interesting look at how Grimm's fairy tales were written. Most of the women who originally told the stories were actually middle to upper-class friends of the Grimms, not the peasants who are associated with the fairy tales. I liked how most chapters included a summary of a tale and compared the story to the circumstances of the Grimms and their friends during that time. It was also interesting to read the author's thoughts on how the tales reflected societal values, chiefly for women, and not just working class women, but mid to upper class women too. A good book.
booksandbosox's review
3.0
People worldwide know the tales of the Brothers Grimm. But many do not know the stories behind these tales. Paradiz has carefully researched the lives of the Grimm brothers (who even knew there were more than just Jacob and Wilhelm) and illustrates to readers that the true authors of the Grimms' tales are the women of their lives.
Not quite what I expected but still a decent read. It is clear that Paradiz is knowledgeable about the Grimm family's history, and most likely many things German. I was very intrigued to learn that most of the stories contributed to the Grimm anthologies were told to the brothers by neighborhood women. There were a few too many members of the Grimm social circle for me to keep them straight, but this was a short read so that wasn't so much of a problem. I would have liked to have each woman fleshed out a big more, but I was glad for the biographical information Paradiz did provide. Also not too much detail is given as to why these women are largely uncredited for their contributions or about what happens after the publication of the Grimms' books. So, I craved a little more, but still an interesting read.
Not quite what I expected but still a decent read. It is clear that Paradiz is knowledgeable about the Grimm family's history, and most likely many things German. I was very intrigued to learn that most of the stories contributed to the Grimm anthologies were told to the brothers by neighborhood women. There were a few too many members of the Grimm social circle for me to keep them straight, but this was a short read so that wasn't so much of a problem. I would have liked to have each woman fleshed out a big more, but I was glad for the biographical information Paradiz did provide. Also not too much detail is given as to why these women are largely uncredited for their contributions or about what happens after the publication of the Grimms' books. So, I craved a little more, but still an interesting read.
lmckensie's review
4.0
Such a fascinating read!
My interest in the sources of the Grimm's fairy tales was piqued last year when I took a class on German fairy tales. Few people are aware that the vast majority of the Grimm's tales were a) not written by them, merely transcribed, and b) that the majority of the tales were actually collected from middle-class German women. (I had no idea before I took the class.) This short history of the collection of the tales and the various women with whom the Grimms worked provided wonderful insight into the erasure of the female voices behind these well-beloved stories and the constructed image of the Volk storyteller ideal to which the Grimms clung so tightly in their editorial notes.
I actually found this while researching for one of my own writing projects--a fairy tale retelling of two of the slightly lesser-known Grimm tales. Clever Maids drew me in because it provided some of the background of the tales that I was seeking, but perhaps most importantly, it gave me a sense of the social constraints placed on middle-class women in 19th century Germany as well as the ways in which they interacted with one another.
All in all, a really compelling and illuminating read that I would recommend to anyone with a desire for deeper understanding of how the Grimms' Fairy Tales that currently pervade our culture came to be.
My interest in the sources of the Grimm's fairy tales was piqued last year when I took a class on German fairy tales. Few people are aware that the vast majority of the Grimm's tales were a) not written by them, merely transcribed, and b) that the majority of the tales were actually collected from middle-class German women. (I had no idea before I took the class.) This short history of the collection of the tales and the various women with whom the Grimms worked provided wonderful insight into the erasure of the female voices behind these well-beloved stories and the constructed image of the Volk storyteller ideal to which the Grimms clung so tightly in their editorial notes.
I actually found this while researching for one of my own writing projects--a fairy tale retelling of two of the slightly lesser-known Grimm tales. Clever Maids drew me in because it provided some of the background of the tales that I was seeking, but perhaps most importantly, it gave me a sense of the social constraints placed on middle-class women in 19th century Germany as well as the ways in which they interacted with one another.
All in all, a really compelling and illuminating read that I would recommend to anyone with a desire for deeper understanding of how the Grimms' Fairy Tales that currently pervade our culture came to be.
sandyd's review
3.0
Moderately interesting historical work on the Grimm brothers - and more on their "contributors" - basically, female family friends & acquaintances who collected or told them the stories they heard from their nursemaids, housekeepers, mothers, etc.
Some interesting history on the Napoleonic Wars, the German empire, and just how powerless women were there in the late 1700's-early 1800's. Paradiz draws some rather heavy handed but convincing parallels between the voiceless female "collaborators" and the powerless women & girls in several of the Grimm's fairy tales. Well damn, they really shouldn't be called the Grimm's fairy tales so much as the Wild sisters', the Haxthausen girls', and the Hassenpflugg's, but now they're "Grimm's Fairy Tales" for posterity.
Some interesting history on the Napoleonic Wars, the German empire, and just how powerless women were there in the late 1700's-early 1800's. Paradiz draws some rather heavy handed but convincing parallels between the voiceless female "collaborators" and the powerless women & girls in several of the Grimm's fairy tales. Well damn, they really shouldn't be called the Grimm's fairy tales so much as the Wild sisters', the Haxthausen girls', and the Hassenpflugg's, but now they're "Grimm's Fairy Tales" for posterity.
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