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2nd out of 7 books
—
22 voters
Grimm's Fairy Tales
With the words “Once upon a time,” the Brothers Grimm transport readers to a timeless realm where witches, giants, princesses, kings, fairies, goblins, and wizards fall in love, try to get rich, quarrel with their neighbors, and have magical adventures of all kinds—and in the process reveal essential truths about human nature.
When Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm set out to collec...more
When Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm set out to collec...more
Paperback, 508 pages
Published
November 1st 2003
by Barnes & Noble Classics
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I was originally was going to give this a 3 because it is uneven strange, and sometimes surprisingly amoral, but then i realized how much I acutally had to say about it, and just how much I enjoyed reading these goofy stories. So bear with me while i recount some of the best and worst stories and some of the strange themes of grimm's fairy tales. (I have to admit, I write these reviews almost entirely for myself)
Some themes/things you should know:
-If you are an evil stepmother or witch, and you...more
Some themes/things you should know:
-If you are an evil stepmother or witch, and you...more
Argh, I forgot I was reading this.
Okay, I don't know if you know this, but I really, really like fairy tales. Not the happy princess/prince kind, but the ones that have a deep message behind them. I love it when they have something dark, creepy, and completely bizarre and crazy in them. It just makes them so magical. They're like a happy dream that can turn into a nightmare any second.
Okay, from what I read, there were a few that I really enjoyed. The problem is that... I don't remember which o...more
Okay, I don't know if you know this, but I really, really like fairy tales. Not the happy princess/prince kind, but the ones that have a deep message behind them. I love it when they have something dark, creepy, and completely bizarre and crazy in them. It just makes them so magical. They're like a happy dream that can turn into a nightmare any second.
Okay, from what I read, there were a few that I really enjoyed. The problem is that... I don't remember which o...more
1 like · like · see review
Apr 03, 2013
Nicholas
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
classic-literature,
reviewed
So I imagine that everyone comments on this, but first off it's worth saying that this collection of tales is a real eye-opener when set beside the Disney canon. I was aware of the major differences in some of the stories, like Cinderella with the fur slipper instead of glass and the sisters doing some fairly terrible things to themselves but I never imagined for example that Disney deleted Snow White's sister from the story altogether.
In terms of writing style, most of these tales are short an...more
In terms of writing style, most of these tales are short an...more
This book is an obvious classic and a must have for people who are buffs of the classics. My review of this book will be brief, but hopefully will offer insight.
First off, to those of you complaining about how "Repetitive" the stories get... you clearly weren't paying much attention to the Notes in the book and the Biography about the Grimm brothers that the book generously provided. The reason the stories seem repetitive is the Grimm brothers were COLLECTING tales, from people... many, many d...more
First off, to those of you complaining about how "Repetitive" the stories get... you clearly weren't paying much attention to the Notes in the book and the Biography about the Grimm brothers that the book generously provided. The reason the stories seem repetitive is the Grimm brothers were COLLECTING tales, from people... many, many d...more
Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel: these stories, plus numerous less well-known ones, make up this compendium of fairytales, collated originally by the German brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Like numerous new Kindle owners, I downloaded this for free to try out my ereader and to revisit a lingering fascination with these old fairytales, stripped of their Disney gloss and trendy YA makeovers.
The stories themselves are a bit hit and miss - short, with little ex...more
The stories themselves are a bit hit and miss - short, with little ex...more
Grimm Cinderella
Tags; Cinderella, electronic format, Project Gutenberg
Summary
Grimms’ version of Cinderella is so different from what I am used to. It seemed darker and a little scary at times. Also, in this version the father never dies, which I thought was a happy thing; but the father never stuck up for his daughter. Also, there is no fairy godmother, but birds that help Cinderella get to the ball. The ball last for three days in this version and not just one night. Each night she leaves him t...more
Tags; Cinderella, electronic format, Project Gutenberg
Summary
Grimms’ version of Cinderella is so different from what I am used to. It seemed darker and a little scary at times. Also, in this version the father never dies, which I thought was a happy thing; but the father never stuck up for his daughter. Also, there is no fairy godmother, but birds that help Cinderella get to the ball. The ball last for three days in this version and not just one night. Each night she leaves him t...more
There are 28 stories in this collection. Many were familiar stories and some were unknown to me. I was surprised quite a bit by Hansel and Gretel because it was vastly different from the story I grew up hearing. There was no trail of breadcrumbs, no cottage made of sweets, and no witch being shoved into the oven at the end. Instead we get a story about Hansel turning into a fawn and outwitting a king and his huntsmen. Not at all what I was expecting. Ashputtel (Cinderella) had many similarities...more
(I read Hansel and Grethel for my Folklore book review.)
Hansel and Grethel tells the story of a brother and sister who are left to die in the woods numerous times by their evil stepmother and father. The evil stepmother convinces her husband that it is better for the two children to die then to have the entire family die of starvation. Hansel and Grethel overhear the conversation and Hansel decides to take action. They are both lead into the woods by their parents and told to rest. The evil ste...more
Hansel and Grethel tells the story of a brother and sister who are left to die in the woods numerous times by their evil stepmother and father. The evil stepmother convinces her husband that it is better for the two children to die then to have the entire family die of starvation. Hansel and Grethel overhear the conversation and Hansel decides to take action. They are both lead into the woods by their parents and told to rest. The evil ste...more
Ah, remember these fairy tales before Disney watered them down? Remember Cinderella's step-sister hacking heels and toes off respectively to get their feet into the glass slipper? Remember Rapunzel's prince being blinded? Remember the Shoemaker and the Elves without singing Muppets? I do now! Grimm's Fairy Tales is definitely not something I'd read to kids. There's blood, sex, and violence embeded with the tales. I, however, find them to be a refreshing breather from the crap Disney crams down...more
Reading "Grimm's Fairy Tales" has long been on my list of must read books, because it is such a classic and has inspired so many films, both Disney and otherwise. The edition I read, courtesy of Barnes & Noble, had all the stories except for the two most controversial ones due to their anti-semitic bent and the fact that Hitler used them as part of his oratory against the Jewish people. Not needing to read these two missing stories, I rather enjoyed this collection of the Grimm's Brother's F...more
I wanted to like this collection more than I did. I'd started reading these as a child, but got overwhelmed by the sheer number of them, and the repetitiveness, and as an adult I still found it hard to push my way through. Since the two brothers went around collecting popular folklore stories, it makes sense that so many of them have similar themes (or, often, pretty much the same story, just with a different spin), as these would have been stories that were passed down between families, and the...more
I picked this up to read the “original” Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Snow White, etc., and that was more or less what I got, along with 120 or so other, very similar tales. Many versions exist of fairy tales today, but the originals are much more violent and the themes of morality really beat you over the head—characters who don’t exhibit good Christian traits such as honesty, empathy toward the poor/innocent, good work ethic, etc., generally end up dead in some really violent manner like behead...more
Reading all of the stories contained in this edition was one of the more difficult things I have ever done. Under 600 pages I thought I would be through this in a week, easy, but the repetition of the stories and the sometimes staggering language it is written in made me want to put the book down every four pages. I don't think I am physically or mentally capable of reading another story about a dude that goes around and collects giant humans to exploit their skills and win a princess. If you're...more
Fairy tales with the horrible bits left in! To be honest they weren't exactly as gruesome as I expected, but then again I have high expectations in the gruesome terms. The mixture of fairy tales range from the bizarre to the hilarious.
Some classic stories are a little different in the Grimm version. Hansel and Grethel use breadcrumbs to return home after their parents try to lose them in the woods and Cinderella's step-sister cuts her big toe off to fit the shoe.
Some names and scenarios appear...more
Some classic stories are a little different in the Grimm version. Hansel and Grethel use breadcrumbs to return home after their parents try to lose them in the woods and Cinderella's step-sister cuts her big toe off to fit the shoe.
Some names and scenarios appear...more
It is really interesting to read the origins of our current day fairy tales which all have sweet happy endings. This is one book that I felt I had to buy since I consider myself a writer. I especially love re-telling fairy tales so this was a must have. I love the Barnes and Noble edition, it has nice paper and is lightweight so I can carry it around to read and take notes in.
Much more engaging than Andersen's tales! (I never fell asleep while reading this collection.) However, I have two major complaints regarding the book itself and not the tales: nobody proofread it, and it is not the original edition the Grimms first published. Too many missing quotation marks and periods I'm pretty sure you shouldn't start a new sentence in the middle of a previous sentence Also, random words starting a new sentence in the same previous sentence are helpful in demarcation of new...more
Spoiler Alert:
Everyone lives happily ever after ... except for those who were torn to shreds. Yikes!
I read these because I wanted to see how they have changed over the years ... and thank goodness they've changed! Not so much because kids can't handle a bit of gore ... but because they usually can't handle being bored. Reading them all at once makes the common story lines stand out and can cause one to wonder if they've accidentally read something twice.
On to the annotated edition!
Everyone lives happily ever after ... except for those who were torn to shreds. Yikes!
I read these because I wanted to see how they have changed over the years ... and thank goodness they've changed! Not so much because kids can't handle a bit of gore ... but because they usually can't handle being bored. Reading them all at once makes the common story lines stand out and can cause one to wonder if they've accidentally read something twice.
On to the annotated edition!
A reader searching for the Great and All-Encompassing fable will not find it in the comprehensive Grimms' Fairy Tales. A majority of the stories are less than five pages long, and are vastly different than fables from the Grimm brothers' contemporaries and, later, Disney. Almost every tale begins with "once upon a time," ends with good triumphing (and bad repenting), and contains some element of magic. My two favorite quotes from the entire collection come from "The Old Woman in the Wood" and Th...more
Some real crackers in there, and some less familiar ones too. The deserving stories are the most famous- Hansel and Grethel, Little Snow White, Little Red-Cap (aka Riding Hood), Cinderella, Briar Rose (i.e. Sleeping Beauty), Rapunzel, The Frog Prince, The Travels of Tom Thumb, Rumpelstiltskin etc. Of the lesser tales, perhaps the one that most stands out is The Valiant Little Tailor, a kind of Mario Bros. figure who trundles across the page energetically beating baddies bigger than him.
I am revisiting fairy tales just to see how much bullshit there is in them. I have never been a fairy-tale enthusiast (maybe the only part i like about them is the talking animals), but reading them now makes me dislike them even more. The way the female characters are formed, their roles, and the general sentiment about women is generally very negative. Now this is the kind of filth i would never want my children to lay their eyes on! We need a new generation of fairy tales that aren't for cave...more
I bought this for myself at Christmas with a gift card, and I started off loving it. These are the ORIGINAL fairy tales, not the morphed-Disney versions. Of course, Disney did give some happier ending than Grimm did ... :) Anyway, I love these stories and their moral virtues ... the stories of hard work, being faithful to one's parents, and good works despite strife leading to what a person deserves are all ever present lessons in these tales. The only problem is that the stories are very simila...more
This review is for the Barnes and Noble edition of the Grimm Tales.
These 120 tales were quite entertaining; however, after a period they get a bit old. You can predict that the Prince will marry the correct maiden, youngest siblings, soldiers, and tailors are good, and goldsmiths, the deformed, and older siblings are not to be trusted. The tales have a good rhythm going to them: you know anything advised against will happen, and that makes for a good story, but reading this many tales in one vol...more
These 120 tales were quite entertaining; however, after a period they get a bit old. You can predict that the Prince will marry the correct maiden, youngest siblings, soldiers, and tailors are good, and goldsmiths, the deformed, and older siblings are not to be trusted. The tales have a good rhythm going to them: you know anything advised against will happen, and that makes for a good story, but reading this many tales in one vol...more
I understand that most of these are supposed to be fantastical but I'm having trouble getting over the plot holes and inconsistancies in many. I also understand that most of the stories need to be taken into historical context and they don't make much sense if read completely independently of the environment that inspired them, but it seems to me that if a story developed over years it would be refined and would make more sense at the end after editing and whatnot. Oh well, I'm not even a quarte...more
Several double-ups and repeated storylines
I've been reading this out loud to Addie for the last 11 months or so, and we've finally finished it. It is pretty repetitive... I mean there are pretty much only a handful of different story templates, which are retold and combined with different names.
Some stories are pretty cool and, not surprisingly, these are the ones that generally do not follow a normal format. This book is a great insight into the minds of people from the place and time when it was written but not necessarily the most e...more
Some stories are pretty cool and, not surprisingly, these are the ones that generally do not follow a normal format. This book is a great insight into the minds of people from the place and time when it was written but not necessarily the most e...more
Great book of fairy tales! There are so many great stories in here that are well worth reading. Far too many to name. There are many similar themes and some ideas that are reused but there are many other "undiscovered gems" to be found here as well. My only complaint is with the physical copy of the book itself its a cheaper version and that shows in how easily its showing wear and tear already. If you want Grimm's Fairly Tales then pay the money for the hardcover, gold edged edition from Barnes...more
I thought this book was okay. It is a collection of fairy tales told by the Grimm brothers. These fairy tales are different than modern day fairy tales in that many of them contain a lot of violence to teach people the possible bitter consequences of doing something wrong.
I would recommend this book to people who like different types of fairy tales than modern day versions of them. People who enjoy reading about violence, heroes/heroines, and love may also enjoy reading this book.
I would recommend this book to people who like different types of fairy tales than modern day versions of them. People who enjoy reading about violence, heroes/heroines, and love may also enjoy reading this book.
This was a very interesting dive into the foundation of so many fairy tails upon which I was raised. I found many of the stories a little short and difficult to translate a moral or meaning from, like all of the modern counterparts include. Though I attribute this to either being lost in translation or altered for a new generation.
All in all I would suggest this to anyone, especially for reading to your children as their imaginations will soar with the wonders in these stories.
All in all I would suggest this to anyone, especially for reading to your children as their imaginations will soar with the wonders in these stories.
The introduction Elizabeth Dalton is what makes this book particularly endearing for me. Dalton does a great job of introducing the basics of classic fairy and folk tales, and uses two famous mythologists –the Marxist Jack Zipe and the more optimistic Bruno Bettelheim –makes it a interesting and informative introduction, which I consider absolutely necessary if you're going to enjoy the anthology of short stories for their worth. ...more
While I can appreciate the historical value and the roots of our modern day fairy tales, I couldn't wait for the book to end. It's worth reading a few note worthy stories and imagining oral story-telling vs written verse, but I started to get super bored after maybe 200 pages since all of the stories are so ridiculous and similar. For the history alone however, I believe it is one everyone should have on their bookshelves.
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Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm, German philologist, jurist and mythologist, was born at Hanau, in Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel). He is best known as the discoverer of Grimm's Law, the author of the monumental German Dictionary, his Deutsche Mythologie and more popularly, with his brother Wilhelm, as one of the Brothers Grimm, as the editor of Grimm's Fairy Tales.
(From Wikipedia.)
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Jan 06, 2013 04:53pm
Jan 06, 2013 05:15pm