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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It's pretty hard to review a short story collection, even harder to review a collection of fairy tales. Do you review based on enjoyment of any individual tale? The sum total? The breadth and depth of the collection itself? I've decided to rate on general enjoyment - which will combine all these categories as best I can.
I think that as a beginner's look at Russian (and some Ukrainian and Belarusian, Belaruthian?) folk tales this collection works really well. It manages to present a very wide array of the kind of folk and fairy tales (here no distinction is made) that exist in the Russian 'canon.' There are of course the classic ones such as Marya Morevna, Ivan and the Firebird, and Vasilisa the Fair. However there are also smaller anecdotes and little animal stories that one is not likely to realize through pop-culture osmosis outside the Russian-speaking sphere.
Being a book meant for laypeople however, it doesn't give the best context for the actual stories themselves. I found the afterword confusing and lackluster at best. It also presented a very isolationist idea of Russian folklore, separate and disconnected from a great deal of western folklore. Perhaps this is merely because I saw so many parallels in story and language between these Russian folk tales and Hungarian ones presented in the (famous?) Hungarian folk tales series, but I found this difficult to believe. And I, of course, took some umbrage with the idea of Russian folk canon as being uniquely colorful and well-founded. I can see why academics would believe this of course, because secular storytelling remained so long in the hands of oral storytellers and in the area of folk tale. However I also find this reading simplistic, and would rather not see it in a popular volume of folk tales.
I also wish there had been more of a sense of organization among the tales. I have to admit the first folk tale seemed very arbitrarily chosen. This same sense prevailed for a great deal of the volume. I did recognize at some points the basic structure of an organization - and its possible that there is a kind of overarching foundation that I am missing. However, if so I wish they had stated it explicitly in the afterword. As it is I cannot come to any specific conclusions about organizing.
Overall however I enjoyed this volume, and finished it relatively quickly. I look forward to digging more into this subject.
Being a book meant for laypeople however, it doesn't give the best context for the actual stories themselves. I found the afterword confusing and lackluster at best. It also presented a very isolationist idea of Russian folklore, separate and disconnected from a great deal of western folklore. Perhaps this is merely because I saw so many parallels in story and language between these Russian folk tales and Hungarian ones presented in the (famous?) Hungarian folk tales series, but I found this difficult to believe. And I, of course, took some umbrage with the idea of Russian folk canon as being uniquely colorful and well-founded. I can see why academics would believe this of course, because secular storytelling remained so long in the hands of oral storytellers and in the area of folk tale. However I also find this reading simplistic, and would rather not see it in a popular volume of folk tales.
I also wish there had been more of a sense of organization among the tales. I have to admit the first folk tale seemed very arbitrarily chosen. This same sense prevailed for a great deal of the volume. I did recognize at some points the basic structure of an organization - and its possible that there is a kind of overarching foundation that I am missing. However, if so I wish they had stated it explicitly in the afterword. As it is I cannot come to any specific conclusions about organizing.
Overall however I enjoyed this volume, and finished it relatively quickly. I look forward to digging more into this subject.
Too weird. Even for me, who lives for weird.
I have to think a lot gets lost in translation. It just has to. I mean, they got married, and chewed bread for the rest of their lives? Do what?
And then the fairy tales aren't even well thought out. "They did this and this. And then something happened, and she turned into a dove."
"Something happened"? Literally? That's your great plot twist?
No. No, no, no.
I have to think a lot gets lost in translation. It just has to. I mean, they got married, and chewed bread for the rest of their lives? Do what?
And then the fairy tales aren't even well thought out. "They did this and this. And then something happened, and she turned into a dove."
"Something happened"? Literally? That's your great plot twist?
No. No, no, no.
This is the first book that made me fall in love with the Pantheon Fairy Tale Library.
It's a collection of Russian Folk Tales, with a decent index and cute illustrations that go along with the stories.
It's a collection of Russian Folk Tales, with a decent index and cute illustrations that go along with the stories.
I feel bad rating a book filled with fairy tales from a whole culture at 3-stars, but it’s not because of the stories themselves, which were really interesting. It’s because of the translation of them and the awkward way they’re written. The end of the book has a fairly good explanation for this: when they were being collected by Afanas’ev, he was inspired by the Brothers Grimm. They have a particular way of telling stories, which I don’t like, and so this book has much the same feel. I’d love to read these fairy tales with a more smooth narrative style, so I’ll keep an eye out for a book like that
I love fairy tales and this was a great book full of interesting, funny and sometimes tragic stories.
2.5 rounded up to 3
This is a big book and many of its tales are fun. I once narrated one of the tales to my English Teacher back in school and it had our class rolling with laughter.
So, when I decided to go through the whole of it this time without skipping any tales, it was harder to do than I had thought.
I am usually fine reading a book of this size or bigger but here the stories tend to repeat the essence and some of them come off as more rambling.
If the book was shorter or with more variety of tales and with better editing then this would have been a precious piece to hold.
This is a big book and many of its tales are fun. I once narrated one of the tales to my English Teacher back in school and it had our class rolling with laughter.
So, when I decided to go through the whole of it this time without skipping any tales, it was harder to do than I had thought.
I am usually fine reading a book of this size or bigger but here the stories tend to repeat the essence and some of them come off as more rambling.
If the book was shorter or with more variety of tales and with better editing then this would have been a precious piece to hold.
adventurous
dark
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Recuerdo que en mi infancia vi algunas adaptaciones de cuentos rusos y esos dibujos se me hacían hermosos y ahora como quería leer algo distinto y no soy de leer cuentos le di la oportunidad a este libro que recopila las historias mas populares de dicho lugar.
No se como sentirme al respecto porque muchas de estas historias no se las leería a mis hijosen dado caso que los tenga esto basado en mi propia manera de ser claro esta, pero en general hay historias buenas y otras que pasaron sin pena y gloria al momento de leerlas, lo cual resulta en una verdadera lástima.
No se como sentirme al respecto porque muchas de estas historias no se las leería a mis hijos
'Fairy tales fulfill the role of a social utopia.'
Beautifully told tales, if a little repetitive with similar morals;
Not this is the miracle of miracles,
That the muzhik fell from heaven;
But that is the miracle of miracles:
That he had climbed into heaven.
Beautifully told tales, if a little repetitive with similar morals;
Not this is the miracle of miracles,
That the muzhik fell from heaven;
But that is the miracle of miracles:
That he had climbed into heaven.