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DNF @ 46%I give up. I tried so hard to like this collection and I thought that it would be a home run for sure but this turned out to be so far from that. In the very lengthy introduction it mentions that the popular Grimm fairytales, which most of us are familiar with are actually extremely edited versions of the originals. Intrigued I started this book, however very quickly I realized that I *gasp* actually prefer the edited mainstream versions (blasphemy I know).I am far from an expert in fai...
Major props to Jack Zipes for this translation, which is the best/most accurate translation of the original German I've ever read. It's far better than, for example, the mysterious edition published in 1869.
my becoming-a-genius project, part 15!the background:i have decided to become a genius.to accomplish this, i'm going to work my way through the collected stories of various authors, reading + reviewing 1 story every day until i get bored / lose every single follower / am struck down by a vengeful deity.in this case, i'm out of collected stories and really want to read some fairytales but this has 150 stories in it and i will NOT be reading the same book for 5 months so...5 stories a day it is. i...
Once upon a time there were two brothers who gathered together a number of folk and fairy tales and published them in a book. These stories were filled with polymorphism, animals, and inanimate objects acting as if they were human, damsels in distress, princesses treated like livestock and given away as prizes, reneged promises, and a vast number of incidents in which child protective services would need to be called. This book was filled with wisdom and foolishness, partial stories and familiar...
This no doubt was enjoyable having been taken back to my childhood stories but I had so many issues with this book.1. WHY THE HELL WERE GIRLS PRIZE IN EVERY STORY2. The greatest thing was marriage and for being married you always got the kings daughter in return even if she disliked she was made out the bad guy - girl3. The biggest insult was to be called ugly and if you were ugly no matter the riches or knowledge you had you were useless 4. Why were the youngest always the good children the old...
I've read several versions of Grimm's fairy tales, starting with the sanitized version as a child, then the 1825 version as a teenager (thinking that they were the originals) and now, I've finally had the chance to read the originals, or at least as close as one can get to the originals. I love the bizarre morals, the stories about tricking the devil, the antics the characters get up to, particularly in 'The Devil and the Blacksmith," and that the stories are so gritty. They are really quite del...
You know all those moments in which the prince--or the monster--or the monster prince-- falls asleep with his head on the princess's lap?In the original version of the story, she's lousing him.Yep. Lousing.As in head-lice.Ah, the romance. You may think you know Grimms’ Fairy Tales, but if you’ve been reading them in English, I can guarantee you’ve never encountered them like this. The Grimms actually published seven different versions of the stories, starting in 1812/1815 and culminating in the
These are not the sanitised (or Disneyfied) fairy tales we have come to love as children: these are politically incorrect, sexually explicit and gloriously gory folktales told around a roaring campfire in a German forest, as a group of frightened peasants huddled around expecting the forest sprites to appear any moment and devour them - or worse. However, for an Indian who has been fed on a diet of Hindu mythology during childhood of Narasimha disembowelling Hiranyakashipu, Bheema tearing Jarasa...
Fabulous volume. I am very grateful to Jack Zipes for undertaking such a task. The earliest run of this book is the best. The deckle edge pages were changed when the publisher went back to print. Pretty unfortunate for book collector's. Illustrations are magnificent. It would be nice if a special collector's volume was issued. I would definitely buy it.
People often ask me which edition of Grimm they should pick up. THIS ONE.
I grew up reading these! I had this really old purple hardback that was falling apart. Unfortunately, my parents threw it away when we moved. Even falling apart, it still had sentimental value and I wish they would have kept it. I want to share a quote from Criminal Minds about fairy tales I really like; No, actually most fairy tales in their original form were gruesome to the extreme. In Cinderella the stepsisters had their feet mutilated to fit in the shoe and her eyes were eventually picked o...
Yay!!
IF YOU LOVE FAIRY TALES OR IF YOU HAVE A SCHOLARLY INTEREST IN FAIRY TALES THEN THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU. JACK ZIPES WNET AHEAD AND TRANSLATED THE FIRST TWO VOLUMES OF THE FAIRY TALES THAT THE GRIMM BROTHERS COLLECTED, IN THIER ORIGINAL FORM UNEDITED AND THAT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE. THE GRIMM BROTHERS WENT ABOUT THE GERMAN COUNTRY SIDE COLLECTING ORAL FAIRY TALES AND AS THEIR WORK BECAME MORE POPU8LAR AND ACCEPTED THEY ALSO MODIFIED THE FAIRY TALES MAKING THEM MORE PALATABLE TO THE READING AUDIENCE OI...
My favorite intro to to one of these tales: "In the days when wishing still helped..."Really glad I read this, but also really kind of exhausted. I thought that reading many brief tales would go by quickly. I was really surprised at what a slog this became. Some of these tales are confusing. Some are repetitive in a way that was probably a delight when these were passed down orally, but are unbearable to read. And some are downright acid-trips.As others have mentioned, some of these original sto...
Read the fairy tale about a frog prince that is not kissed by the princess but tossed against the wall with the intent to kill, except the violence turns him into a prince (and then they marry). Cinderella’s stepsisters, urged by their mother, cut off parts of their feet to get the golden slipper on, but the prince notices “blood streaming out of the slipper” and knows of each girl’s deception. Snow White ends up in a glass coffin that a prince finds in the woods and who falls in love with her;
The Cool Kids' GrimmFrom 1812 to 1857, Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm (mainly Wilhelm from 1816 onward) published seven editions of their now world-famous fairy tales. The seventh edition is the most well known and widely read, providing the source material for Disney, etc. — it is also, compared to the first, a highly edited, polished, and sanitized version. (Apparently Wilhelm was like neurotic Goodreads users, like me, who obsessively tinker with their reviews). This edition, for the first time, compi...
(I got an ARC courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)Though it took me quite some time to finish this book, it wasn't for want of interest.It contains both volumes of the tales gathered by the brothers Grimm, published around 1812-1815. I applied for the ARC out of curiosity, and was surprised at some of those stories, at the way the ones I remembered from my childhood was really edulcorated versions: both because of the editing performed by recent publishers, and because of th...
I’m not sure what I expected when I began this translation of the original compilation of folk tales. I guess I anticipated some surprises, stories which I had never heard before. And there were a few of those, but mostly what surprised me was how many of these tales were familiar to me!Virtually everyone knows about Cinderella, Beauty & the Beast, Rapunzel, Rumplestiltskin, and Hansel & Gretel. It was fun to see the older versions, un-Disneyfied and unadorned. But what a walk down memory lane,
Had this one next to my bed since may when my lovely other half bought me it for my birthday. It’s beautifully illustrated! There’s a good segment at the start providing the history of the Grimm brothers which was quite interesting.I love Grimm stories in their purest form. They’re dark, strange, and leave you with the weirdest morals..It’s great to dip in and out of. I can’t wait to have kids and introduce them to these classic tales.
This book is a classic and it contains 156 stories, many that I remember from childhood. I enjoyed this translation and I love the book. It is exquisite. I read through some of the other reviews and I'm not sure what others had hoped to find in this translation but you have to keep in mind that these stories were written in 1812 through 1815. I found the collection to be fun and it was an enjoyable read. I intend to keep this collection close by so that many of the stories can be re-read when th...