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jasmiinaf's review against another edition
5.0
I just love fairy tales! And this leather bound copy is just amazing... The most beautiful book I have ever owned. I loved all the stories, but my favorite was Beauty and the Beast. I haven't read any of these stories before and it was fun to see how different the original stories are from the things I've seen in the movies.
toriedawn1's review against another edition
2.0
I am only reviewing the Beauty and the beast story however have also read most of the others. In my opinion Andrew Langs collection of stories, though vast and diverse is a collection of sub par versions. Not a single story I read seemed the best of its kind, they seemed to lack the level of feeling I would expect in a fairytale.
Now onto beauty and the beast. It was such a waste of my time to read this book. I have read many retellings of beauty and the beast, some similar to the original, some barely recognizable, this is the first version that I have read tbat felt like blatant plagiarism. This book is an almost exact replica of Villeneuve's original story, it reminded me of the people who wrote essays in school but just copied someone elses, only changing the way it was worded. There is a section of the original version that has been removed in Andrew Lang's retelling but that appears to be the only noticeable difference. I wouldnt bother with this retelling if you can access the original version instead. What I would say is he does simplify the language, there are many better versions out there with easier language than the original, so id much rather read one of them. In theory this book should recieve the same star rating as the original but most I can manage is 2 stars as I dont like being tricked into reading what amounts to a different translation.
Now onto beauty and the beast. It was such a waste of my time to read this book. I have read many retellings of beauty and the beast, some similar to the original, some barely recognizable, this is the first version that I have read tbat felt like blatant plagiarism. This book is an almost exact replica of Villeneuve's original story, it reminded me of the people who wrote essays in school but just copied someone elses, only changing the way it was worded. There is a section of the original version that has been removed in Andrew Lang's retelling but that appears to be the only noticeable difference. I wouldnt bother with this retelling if you can access the original version instead. What I would say is he does simplify the language, there are many better versions out there with easier language than the original, so id much rather read one of them. In theory this book should recieve the same star rating as the original but most I can manage is 2 stars as I dont like being tricked into reading what amounts to a different translation.
paperrhino's review against another edition
4.0
A great collection of fairy tales both will known and obscure. As with Anderson and Grimm (in fact many come from Grimm and other well known sources like 1001 Arabian Nights) many are pretty violent and probably not suitable for young children.
therhinelady's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
chelsbells1994's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.25
alysian_fields's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
4.25
chandraleereads's review against another edition
3.0
It was very fun to listen to all these different fairytales (with which I had varying levels of familiarity)! Like is often the case with collections of stories I liked some more than others.
penguin_84's review against another edition
It was a bunch of fairy tales and half of them I’d already read before