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Grimm's Grimmest

by Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm, Tracy Arah Dockray (Illustrator), Maria Tatar (Introduction)

3.99 of 5 stars 3.99 · rating details · 627 ratings · 63 reviews

Murder, kidnapping, cruel punishment, and violent revenge -- these are not the bedtime stories mummy used to read. Grimm's Grimmest presents nineteen of the original, unsanitized, unholy tales as they were first collected by the Brothers Grimm -- all fiendishly illustrated in full color. Grimm's Grimmest has the irresistible look and feel of a creaky old leatherbound volum...more

Hardcover, 144 pages

Published September 1st 1997 by Chronicle Books (first published January 1st 1997)

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Jun 28, 2011 Tigerlily rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fairytale enthusists, bloodthirsty people

Shelves: fairytales

I loved this particular collection of Grimm tales and the illustraitions as well. Short descriptions or summaries or whatever I felt like writing for each of the stories below.
----------------there may be spoilers-------------
The Juniper Tree: This particular story I had actually read before, but I liked this version better.
The Three Army Surgeons: Sortof funny, sortof creepy. I think that the moral was 'Don't do stupid things to impress people, especially if they involve maiming yourself'.
Th...more

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May 28, 2011 Vasha7 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Some of these excerpts from Grimm's fairy tales are stories familiar to English-speaking readers, though with all the crude and violent parts left in: Cinderella (Aschenputtel), Rapunzel, The Goose Girl, etc. There are also less-familiar fairy tales and other sorts of tales too. It's all good stuff! One or two stories read less smoothly than the rest, but most of them were fun and dramatic.

I noticed that they fell into a few categories with regard to their structure and their themes. Overwhelmin...more Some of these excerpts from Grimm's fairy tales are stories familiar to English-speaking readers, though with all the crude and violent parts left in: Cinderella (Aschenputtel), Rapunzel, The Goose Girl, etc. There are also less-familiar fairy tales and other sorts of tales too. It's all good stuff! One or two stories read less smoothly than the rest, but most of them were fun and dramatic.

I noticed that they fell into a few categories with regard to their structure and their themes. Overwhelmingly the commonest was the one I call the "recognition of the bride" plot. In "The Goose Maid", "The Girl Without Hands", "Allerleirauh", "Aschenputtel", and "Little Brother and Little Sister", in the first part the heroine gets into a situation where she's in trouble, disguised, or hidden, and the bridegroom has to find and recognize her before they can get married; sometimes he has to distinguish her from a false bride. There are many possible variants on this: possibly the most complex here is "Little Brother and Little Sister", which has two recognition plots, the first one anticlimactic, and the role of the "bride" is doubled between the sister and the brother. "The Juniper Tree" has a captivity-release/recognition structure ending with the child being recognized by his father and the family being reunited. "Rapunzel" initially seems like it will follow this pattern, but it doesn't.

"The Three Snake Leaves" and "The Crows" are moral tales based on reversal: the contrasting fates of good and bad protagonists. "Fowler's Fowl" and "The Robber Bridegroom" are tales of a brave heroine who goes into a bad husband's house and draws him out of it to his doom. "The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn How to Shudder" and "Hans My Hedgehog" are stories of intrepid fools who seek their fortune and find it. "Prudent Hans" and "The Three Army Surgeons" are mocking jokes. And finally, perhaps most startling of all, we have "The Dog and the Sparrow" and "The Death of the Little Hen", in which an animal tale is an opportunity to let loose a sheer torrent of destruction. (less)

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Feb 16, 2013 Jody rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book because my curiosity about Grimm's fairytales was piqued by the book "A Tale Dark & Grimm." I had heard all the old standards, but very few that were referenced in the above mentioned book. Grimm's Grimmest has some weird stuff in it. At times I laughed, especially at the endings, even though the stories aren't really funny. It's more laughing at the extremely strange. Lots of getting hacked to pieces and eaten in this book. The stories you thought you knew have very differe...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Claudia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not comprehensive collection but a great intro that gives a very comprehensive background of Grimm and how they're stories morphed. It's more than just Disney at work here. The Grimm brothers themselves started censoring themselves within the 2nd edition! If you want to all the original stories, go grab the original first edition. I found this book a great taste of a variety of imaginative and colorful tales. Nicely illustrated for further attention grabbing and visualization. Given the sparse l...more

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Dec 09, 2010 Cami rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-and-supernatural

So.
This is a small collection of some of the Grimm Brothers' more bloody and vile tales. Some of them are a bit hard to read and it's definitely hard to see the value in such tales.
The introduction was somewhat interesting, containing thoughts on the fine line these tales walked between adult entertainment and children's tales.
Since these tales have been told over and again, I expected the illustrations to hold some good merit, but they were as crude in one sense of the word and some of the acti...more

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May 13, 2013 Angela rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Scary Story Lovers

Shelves: childrens-materials, 6th-grade-age, ages-11-and-up, animals, best-chapter-books, fairy-tales, fantasy, folktales-for-kids, for-boys, kids, monsters

For grades 6 and up, ages 11 and up

Review:
Not the Grimm's fairytales that you may know, but they are closer to the original stories. Murder, gruesome punishments, and violent revenge are the foundation of these 19 familiar stories. Great for those kids who think that fairytales are all sparkles and fairy dust. These are the stores that the Grimm Brothers wrote down from the scared storytellers in those villages that sat near the edge of the dark forest. May not be really good for bedtime, but st...more

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Oct 08, 2008 Erica rated it 4 of 5 stars

I purchased this book to get an understanding of where some of our fairy tales came from and the lessons and morals that were told long before my time. The Grimm’s Grimmest is an exact translation of the original short stories published in German.

They are gruesome and living in the world we live in today I cannot imagine how these stories did not give little children nightmares. Were they really written for adolescent adults filled with such idiosyncrasies? Or were they, as you will understand...more I purchased this book to get an understanding of where some of our fairy tales came from and the lessons and morals that were told long before my time. The Grimm’s Grimmest is an exact translation of the original short stories published in German.

They are gruesome and living in the world we live in today I cannot imagine how these stories did not give little children nightmares. Were they really written for adolescent adults filled with such idiosyncrasies? Or were they, as you will understand when you read them, actually meant to scare little girls? Did they portray these stories as to have actually happened to dissuade young woman from wrongdoing?

These stories are graphic and hard to read. They feel more like a play by play rather than an actual story (and then she did this and then he did that and then she said this and then it was over...) Yet to that effect, I still find them very interesting and intriguing. I am trying hard to figure out the moral of some of the stories, as in the three surgeons. What is the point or purpose and who is supposed to learn the lesson? The maid at the inn, the 3 men who remove their limbs or the inn keeper who loses all his money in the end in order to keep the 3 surgeons from burning down his roof. This story's plan eludes me.

And as I read the book, I realize increasingly that these stories were created about evil woman. They all center on a woman or a little girl who has been evil or committed some sort of malevolence and ultimately meets a sorted and twisted fate because of this iniquity. I have yet to read a story that is meant to teach a man a lesson and it actually seems as though the men in the story who do wrong are not punished at all.

In the Juniper Tree and Ashenputtel, for reference, each father ignores the ill treatment their children receive from their stepmothers. They turn their heads; do nothing to protect their children; allow it to continue with their knowledge and in the end are nearly forgiven for such ignorance and permitted to continue through life as if nothing ever happened. The stepmothers (or in Ashentputtel; the Step sisters) meet whatever sorted and twisted fate the brothers had in store for them. These stories go to show how the world, in general, treated woman in those times.

Ultimately, I like the stories. I wouldn’t, however, read them to my son at bed time and will probably put this book away until he is 18.
(less)

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Mar 06, 2008 Juushika rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: status-owned

This volume collects a number of fairy tales recorded by the brothers Grimm, translated and illustrated to preserve all of the macabre aspects. Murder and mutilation to incest and cannibalism, there is a little bit of everything grotesque in these stories, which range from well-known tales such as Cinderella to lesser known stories such as Hans My Hedgehog. Tatar's short introduction makes up the sole elaboration and explanation of the textsthere is little commentary, little history, and little...more This volume collects a number of fairy tales recorded by the brothers Grimm, translated and illustrated to preserve all of the macabre aspects. Murder and mutilation to incest and cannibalism, there is a little bit of everything grotesque in these stories, which range from well-known tales such as Cinderella to lesser known stories such as Hans My Hedgehog. Tatar's short introduction makes up the sole elaboration and explanation of the textsthere is little commentary, little history, and little to put the grotesque elements in perspective. As such, this is a fine introductory text to the Grimm's stories as they originally appearedthe collection isn't huge, but it's large enough for the casual reader, and the illustrations pick out some of the best moments. However, this is not a complete collection and contains no history or commentary, so it may disappoint the reader that is already familiar with the grotesque aspects and/or is looking for a more detailed or more useful text.

Stepping far away from the singing mice and innocent maidens that fill modern conceptions of traditional fairy tales, Grimm's Grimmest presents original Grimm stories, translated into English, presented with illustrated plates (color and black and white), which preserve and even flaunt their more gruesome aspects. A stepmother feeds a murdered child to his father; Cinderella's step sisters cut off their toes to try and fit their feet in the glass slipper; a father cuts off his daughters hands so that she cannot sin. The storytelling is simple and repetitive, the plots and premises are at the same time macabre and magical, and the stories resolve to conclusions that are logical, often vengeful, and not quite happy every after. The story selection is fairly wide, including both famous and lesser known tales, the illustrations are simple and grotesque much in the same way as the stories, and the book certainly delivers the gruesome aspects that it promises.

For the price and the claim, however, this book is little more than a brief introduction to the original Grimm stories. To be fair, there are a decent number of stories in this collection (19, to be precise), but this is a small fraction of the 200-some Grimm fairy tales that the brothers published during their lifetimes. And, although the eight-page introduction is interesting enough, it is limited in scope and depth; without footnotes, individual introductions, or commentary, there is no detailed information on the stories themselves or the Grimm brothers, their collecting and writing process, or the impact of the books or their grotesque elements. It should also go without saying that the stories are translations, not retellings, and so they are short, have repetitive narratives, and forgo characterization and description in favor of the plot. In short, while this is an adequate and brief introduction to the Grimm stories in their original form, but it is not complete, complex, or particularly informational, and readers who are already familiar with the original Grimm stories or who are looking for more detailed information will probably find this collection to be disappointing.

Personally, I appreciate this book for what it is: a short, simple, but entertaining collection of dark and twisted stories. It is a fast, approachable read, the illustrations encourage a bit of lingering on the "best" parts, and both the magical and gruesome aspects make for a good read. But on the whole, what the reader gets from this book will depend on what he wants from itthose looking for a short and simple set of original grim Grimm's stories will enjoy it; those looking for a broader collection, more detail, or an updated storytelling style will probably be disappointed.(less)

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Feb 28, 2011 Shikamaru rated it 5 of 5 stars

If there is one thing I love in my stories, its darkness. screw the happy, cheerful tales that give you a feeling of hope anf joy. I want tales about murder, canibalism, and giving birth to a hedgehog. Yeah, you heard right, a hedgehog. This book has a lot of that which makes it a great read (at least for me). The colored picture were good and the black and white pictures were ehhh. Overall i liked it.

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Dec 13, 2007 W.B. rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

The Brothers Grimm are way beyond good and evil. They satisfy in the way the best poetry does, and the images swirl up and dance with the amoral force and beauty of tornados on the open plains. About as fanciful (and as full of metamorphoses) as Ovid. This edition compiles the darker stories, the ones often Bowdlerized for children's books. Here they are presented as they were originally written and published. The introductory essay is brief, but presents a lot of interesting facts about the dif...more

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May 19, 2012 Elena rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have already read all of the Grimm fairytales several times. The selection of "grim" stories in this collection is really enjoyable for three and a half stars. The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous for the other star and a half. Definitely geared more towards adults. For the kids, you might want to stick more with Hans Christian Andersen -esq tales.

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Oct 09, 2011 Paty rated it 2 of 5 stars

Violent deaths, chopping off heads, unfaithful wives, and abusive step-mothers. A collection of horror stories is what I would call this. And I'm only halfway through the book.
I have to say that a few of the stories don't "flow" well, you could say they are not well written. If the brothers Grimm were around today, they would be in need of a serious editor.

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Aug 16, 2009 Sarah Sammis rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: released, read-in-2009

The brothers Grimm collected and published over two hundred fairy tales. Grimm's Grimmest has nineteen of the most bloody of them with gory illustrations by Tracy Arah Dockray.

My two favorites were "Hans my Hedgehog" and "Rapunzel". "Hans My Hedgehog" has made me rethink Sonic the Hedgehog. The illustration on page 39 really looks like him except with less sexy shoes.

"Rapunzel" caught my attention because the first two pages are recreated so closely and so well at the start of Rapunzel's Revenge...more

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Jan 10, 2013 Christopher H. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: faerie-folkloric, favorites, horror, my-western-canon, mythology-mythopoeia, read-in-2009

This is a fun book to dip into periodically. Professor Tatar has, in my opinion, done a wonderful job at presenting some of the Brothers Grimm's creepiest fairy/folk tales. The illustrations accompanying the tales are worth the price of the book as well. A good collection to own.

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Mar 10, 2011 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-books

So this is just some of the "darker" fairy tales, but it is one to get the kids excited. Also the illustration for the first story has a boy whose head has been cut off (it is tied back on, but still). I'd pair this with A Tale Dark and Grimm, for a sure fire hit.

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Feb 24, 2011 Becky rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: age-juvenile-fiction, attempts, children-s-lit, nonfiction, storytelling

Yikes! Here are the unsanitized versions. I only read "Aschenputtel" (Cinderella), complete with the toe-cutting and the eye-pecking-outs. I liked the tone, though -- could hear it as an oral story -- though who I'd tell these gory tales to, I'm not quite sure!

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Jun 19, 2012 Jennifer White rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love the original stories, from before they got Disney-fied and fluffy. They're bleak, grim, and entertaining as you can get. The illustrations in this book are well done and help make Grimm's Grimmest one of my favorite faerie tale collections.

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Jun 10, 2010 Kay rated it 3 of 5 stars

I've never read or even been told the complete versions of the more known fairytales by the Brothers Grimm but I have to say this book is definitely different from what my visions of fairytales are. If you enjoy gruesome twist it's a book to read.

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Jun 22, 2009 Fastmaren rated it 1 of 5 stars

I picked up this book out of curiosity but only read a few stories before enough was enough. Tales were gruesome and unnecessarily violent. I believe they were historically accurate to the original fairy tales but not uplifting to read at all.

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Mar 10, 2008 sweet pea rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-content, folktales

this is a rollicking romp through the worlds of the Grimm fairy tales. this collection features only those tales that support noble family values, such as murder, incest, cannibalism, mutilation, torture, and teenage pregnancy. in other words, it features the original non-sanitized versions of the tales in all their gory glory. along with pious maids waiting for their due, there are some wickedly feisty heroines who solve their problems themselves - often with gruesome outcomes for their adversa...more

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Aug 20, 2012 Casey rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Easy, quick read. It had a few tales in it that I've never, somehow, come across. Aimed to highlight the "darker" and more vicious fairy tales in their original formats before they were edited to be more child friendly.

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Jan 19, 2012 els rated it 4 of 5 stars

god, those fairy tales are really fucked up. they are the o.g versions not the cleaned up p.c versions so get ready. the author was right in the intro when comparing fairy tales less to parables and more to horror movies.

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May 26, 2009 Connie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I think this was cool to read, but only once. I can't understand why adults would ever want to read some of these, or any really, to kids. It would scare the crap out of them! It would not necessarily stop them, though. LOL

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Jan 21, 2013 Eryn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very good book and a great look into the original stories before Disney got a hold of them. Worth comparing to the stories you know and how they have metamorphized from their origins.

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Dec 09, 2007 Lasairfiona Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Dark and original Fairy tales

Shelves: iown, havereadmorethanonce

This was given to me and I have read it over and over. The dark tales are told fluidly without losing any of it's dark side. I like these better than some of the original material. The stories are the same but the way they are told are a bit more smooth and modern. This is the book that got me really hooked on dark fairy tale and other horror. I love that fairy tales were meant for adults. These stories don't hold back and they shouldn't.

The only think I dislike is a nasty typo/ missed edit that...more

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Jul 09, 2010 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, 2010

After I read The Book of Lost Things, I became extremely interested in the origins of fairy tales and the tales in their original form... then I remembered, I have Grimm's Grimmest (received as a present from someone in the office when I told them I liked Harry Potter and Halloween), so I decided to read it. This book tells the tales in their original, gory form. You see everything in here, girls getting their hands chopped off, stepmothers getting stones dropped on their heads, people magically...more

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May 23, 2008 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fairy-tales-and-folk-tales, horror

These rather gruesome tales are based on the third edition of Kinder und Hausmarchen (Nursery and Household Tales) by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm published in 1822. You can still see the glimmer of the Disney-like fairy tales we grew up with, but much much darker. According to the author, the brothers Grimm meant to write down and save the old German folk tales which were passed on from generation to generation before they were gone forever. And life is not actually picture-perfect. It is often brut...more

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Mar 19, 2009 Kevin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Love the original stuff. Some nice, sick and twisted stories here. Reminds me of Tales from the Dark Side in a way. Short but sweet.

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Dec 22, 2009 Kara rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-and-young-adult

Wildly entertaining ~ I loved this book! If I were a child in 1822 reading these stories I probably wouldn’t be so amused…

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Dec 21, 2007 Katy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Kenny and I read a few of these Grimm tales at bedtime, and then realized that they were the stuff of nightmares, even for grownups.
This took me back to my childhood years in Germany. I got the distinct impression that childhood is not all sugar and spice when we used to visit the Medieval Torture Museum in Rothenberg and we saw the little jailcells and sawhorses kids would sit on with weights on their ankles for misdeeds. These tales include cannibalism and horrible punishment for heinous crim...more

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About Jacob Grimm

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.

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