"A milestone, a tour de force, a joy to see...27 stories from the Grimm brothers' collection including] some familiar tales and others that are le...
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reviews
Nov 14, 2010
Catherine
rated it: 
Published 1973.
So, there is a reason why the modern world needs Disney versions of classic tales - the originals are down right psycho!
In this collection of Grimm translated by Segal and Jarrell, there are a few well known tales (Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, and Snow White) and many obscure ones. Basically, there is much more cutting people up into pieces (Fitcher's Feathered Bird, The Juniper Tree, etc.)than THIS reviewer can stand!
The other major issue More...
So, there is a reason why the modern world needs Disney versions of classic tales - the originals are down right psycho!
In this collection of Grimm translated by Segal and Jarrell, there are a few well known tales (Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, and Snow White) and many obscure ones. Basically, there is much more cutting people up into pieces (Fitcher's Feathered Bird, The Juniper Tree, etc.)than THIS reviewer can stand!
The other major issue More...
Jul 11, 2011
Cheryl in CC NV
rated it: 
Best for scholars and completists, not so much for children. Some of the tales were all too familiar, others were brand-new (at least to me, and I've read quite a bit). I did like some little bits, as for example the variation of the chant the fisherman uses to call the flounder, or the revelation that the dwarfs kept their cottage quite tidy and did cook, so didn't need Snow White but took her in out of kindness. It was interesting that some of the translations revealed a graceful and poetic
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Aug 09, 2011
Gary
rated it: 
The most beautiful illustrations! I had the pleasure some years ago, when out of sheer luck I saw an exhibit of Sendak's pen and ink illustrations for this book at the Goethe House, across from the Metropolitan Museum, NYC. Exquisite, delicate, deep and hilarious.
Mar 04, 2010
Anne
rated it:
What German parents (including my 2nd-generation parents) give the kiddies to read for fun. This is for children who display an early distaste for fluff, and looooove seeing the wicked get punished. Some weird moral twists, particularly in some of the lesser-known tales such as "Many-Fur," wherein: a princess who looks like her beautiful dead mother runs away and disguises herself in dead animal skins when her father, the king, decides he wants to marry her (?!?!!), then returns inco
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Sep 28, 2011
Douglas
rated it: 
A choice selection of Grimm tales, well translated – with all the weird violence intact. Sendak’s illustrations are fascinating. I picked this up for two bucks at a local used bookshop and consider it one of my best finds of the year.
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Jul 16, 2011
Marissa
rated it:
These stories are gory, trippy, and fun, but by modern standards some of them seem more like synopses than stories. Reworking these straight translations would make for a good writing exercise.
Mar 04, 2010
Claudia
rated it:
Seriously, there's nothing like reading Grimm's tales. Especially when they've been directly translated from German rather than being retold. They certainly have the power to put you in a whole different head space. Enjoyed this book immensely.
Mar 04, 2010
Eddie
rated it:
There are few better combinations than a well-translated and complete Grimm's tale and an illustration by Maurice Sendak. Each Sendak illustration in this collection (there's about one illustration per tale) is a tale in itself, dense with detail but balanced, simultaneously innocent and menacing, and saturated with narrative suggestion.
This is a reissue of a classic collection. The book is well designed too, short and sturdy with clear text and the illustrations look almost like etc
This is a reissue of a classic collection. The book is well designed too, short and sturdy with clear text and the illustrations look almost like etc
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Mar 04, 2010
Lars
rated it:
Wow. And I mean, wow. I had to drop all the things I thought about these stories, some of which ("Hansel and Gretel," "Snow White," Rapunzel") I thought were etched into memory. Stark. Eerie. Bloody. Matter-of-fact and bizarre at the same time, a paradox emphasized and reinforced in Sendak's splendid illustrations. Here's what it made me think about successful narrative: A good story is about events that we can never really understand served up in a structure that
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Jan 29, 2012
Lesley
rated it:
Some of these classic fairytales are just plain awful and difficult to swallow. Others are enchanting. The pictures drawn by Sendak give a different image to the stories. All the women are very chunky!
Mar 04, 2010
Liza
rated it:
This is one of my favorite things to pull off my bookshelf. It's part of a set of two... illustrated and translated by Maurice Sendak.
WELL worth picking up. Includes a lot of rarely found stories.
WELL worth picking up. Includes a lot of rarely found stories.
Mar 04, 2010
Elyssa
rated it:
My mother bought an early edition of this book for me when I was in 2nd grade and I read it at least 50 times. I'm looking forward to revisiting it with my son.
Mar 04, 2010
I read this too may times to count before i was even 10 years old. But now I can't remember the stories, so I will definitely read it again.
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