The Revenge of the Black Cat: Swiss Myths

by Katja Alves

In this collection, Katja Alves retells some traditional Swiss myths—exciting, funny, and sometimes gruesome tales from all four regions of the country.

The exquisite illustrations were created by nineteen young artists who hail from Switzerland.

Illustrations Anda, Carole Aufranc, Silvan Borer, Paloma Canonica, Anna Deér, Lucie Fiore, Gregor Forster, Lea Gross, Sara Guerra Rusconi, Mira Gysi, Rina Jost, Patricia Keller, Rahel Messerli, Jakob Näf, Camille Perrochet, Eliane Schädler, Pia Valär, Adam Vogt, and Anna Weber.

136 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 2019

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of 23 myths from Switzerland and the 4 regions. Each story mentions a different city or place in the country. The interesting part is learning about life in Switzerland and all the places and mountains there. The people live in these enormous mountains and it's fun that their mythology revolves around them.

This is a great collection for kids who enjoy folklore and myths. They originated in Switzerland. They are pretty simple and short. They aren't involved and unlike fairytales, they aren't very dark at all.

I thought it was a good book and I enjoyed reading it, but it didn't have much meat to it. I'm glad I read it and see what people tell their kids, but it doesn't stand up to Norse or other myths. One of the weird things I noticed is that 2 stories were about goblins and they were considered good, not evil. Many of the stories talk about a person who did something to a fairy folk and that is why no one ever sees them again. It happens over and over.

Included:
The Goblin Stone
The Ghost in the Farmer's Hut
The Devil's Bridge
Kaiser Karl and the Snake
The Golden Ninepins
The Devil and the Crows
The Toad Spirit
The Curse of the Bluemlisalp
The Light of the Fireflies
The Wicked Stepmother in the Anziloch
Donat in the Fairy Grotto
The Woodcutter's Good Soul
The Spalentier
The Devil and the Billy Goat
The Goblin who wanted to get Married (like Rumplestiltskin - a much better name)
The Love Potion
The Ghost Ship of Lake Geneva
The Kindhearted Dwarfs
The Missing Child
La Vouivre, the one-Eyed Dragon
The Revenge of the Black Cat
Vreneli's Garden
Twelve Cows on Lake Origlio

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

With The Revenge of the Black Cat: Swiss Myths author (or rather adapter and translator) Katja Alves presents twenty-three different (interesting as well as generally enchanting) tales hailing from nineteen of Switzerland's twenty-six cantons, from the north, the south, the west and the east of Switzerland and also representing all four official languages (German, French, Italian and Romansch), thus nicely diverse and pan-Swiss culturally and linguistically.

But yes, I do have to point out that the book title of The Revenge of the Black Cat: Swiss Myths is rather misleading, since in my humble opinion, NONE of Alves' collected and featured stories for The Revenge of the Black Cat: Swiss Myths are in any way mythological, but are instead folktales and legends (at times European, even global regarding folklore thematics but often in fact majorly local with regard to geographic place), that this is also shown in the original German language title of Die Rache der schwarzen Katze und andere Sagen aus der Schweiz (as the German noun "die Sage" means legend and does not mean myth), and that yes, if readers of The Revenge of the Black Cat: Swiss Myths are actually expecting to encounter Swiss mythology, I can certainly understand why some reviewers of The Revenge of the Black Cat: Swiss Myths have found Alves' retold stories too folksy, too pourquoi-tale like, too legendary and not sufficiently mythical (and that there certainly are no accounts in The Revenge of the Black Cat: Swiss Myths that feature gods and goddesses, although the Devil, although Satan makes appearances at times, but that he is not really to be considered Biblical but simply a demonic creature of folklore who needs to be outwitted like goblins, imps etc.).

However, if one considers The Revenge of the Black Cat: Swiss Myths to be Swiss folklore and Swiss legends (and only this), Katja Alves' translations are smoothly narrated, with the twenty-three featured stories being fun, nicely short, engaging, delightfully "Swiss" in nature and feel, neither too dramatic nor too creepy and the accompanying illustrations by nineteen Swiss artists doing a generally gloriously descriptive job visually mirroring printed words and vice versa (with mini-biographies for the featured artists as well as their websites included at the back of The Revenge of the Black Cat: Swiss Myths). And for me personally, while I do have a few minor issues with the wording of the book title in English (see above) and am thus definitely planning to read The Revenge of the Black Cat: Swiss Myths in German (to compare and contrast The Revenge of the Black Cat: Swiss Myths with Die Rache der schwarzen Katze und andere Sagen aus der Schweiz), the primary reason why my star rating for The Revenge of the Black Cat: Swiss Myths is three and not four stars is that I do very much think Katja Alves should most definitely be including detailed folkloric sources (bibliographies), any Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index numbers for the featured and showcased tales and certainly a more in-depth and academic epilogue than the one being provided on page 124/125 of The Revenge of the Black Cat: Swiss Myths (right before the artist biographies).

[Capn · Rating 3 out of 5]

SHORT AND RUSTIC FOLK/FARMER'S TALES, NOT FULLY-FLEDGED MYTHS. 'Myths' is a misnomer; "Fireside Stories and Traditional Folklore" might have been less misleading.

Falls far short of what I would consider to be the proper "Mythology of Switzerland", in which I would certainly include the story of Wilhelm (William) Tell and confederation, as well as the Felix & Regula myth in Zürich. Even if these tales were true (but probably not), or there was some truth in them, they can now be considered myth (like Robin Hood - didn't exist, though the stories reflect some truths of the time, and so it's part of English mythology. Like King Arthur and Camelot - probably not at all real, but engrained in the collective subconscious of the people).

Unfortunately, this book doesn't cover anything so weighty.

You might wish to be quite familiar with both Switzerland and Swiss cultural norms to enjoy this at all. The negative reviews here often highlight a lack of familiarity with what passes for a good story in Switzerland (the Swiss aren't known to be riotous storytellers! They like accuracy, not romance!). As a stand-alone volume representing the country, I could not recommend it generally. But as an accompaniment to a book on the Festivals of Switzerland (same publisher has a great one) or some Alois Carigiet books (like Schellen-Ursli), it is rather whimsical. It is NOT EXCITING, as the backcover would have you believe (far from it!), but ACCURATE. The Swiss do accuracy well. And as the author elaborates at the end, she had to puff up a few of the stories to make them worth retelling. Can you imagine how incomplete they would seem without her efforts? I think for this book, the recommendation is to LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS and to view this more as a quirky keepsake. Or for these myths to be used as creative writing or artistic prompts.

I liked it, anyway. Got it for half price (liquidated stock), and it was content that I was already partly familiar with (who hasn't heard the Devil and the bridge at Schöllenen Gorge one? You can go and see the Teufelsbrücke yourself today!).

[Cheryl]

I don't feel comfortable rating this. I'm very glad that it's available, and I bet lots of families will be grateful for the eclectic collection of very short tales, rather different from the stories we're used to from England, France, and Germany. But both I and my inner child were dissatisfied with how short each is, how undeveloped.

The art is often interesting. I wish that more were available in particular from [uthor:Gregor Forster, [author:Silvan Borer|19857676], and Patrícia Keller.

"... from the four different language regions of Switzerland." Includes map.

[Theresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of 23 very short Swiss Myths. The Swiss either have an odd sense of humor or the stories lost something in the translation. Most of them left me feeling like something was missing.
1) The Goblin Stone. How a thoughtless bad decision can ruin a good situation.
2) The Ghost in the Farmer’s Hut. Never give in to your fears.
3) The Devil’s Bridge. How to outwit the Devil.
4) Kaiser Karl and the Snake. Even the lowest deserve justice.
5) The Golden Ninepins. Weird story. Something to do with greed perhaps.
6) The Devil and the Crow. Friendship and avoiding temptation.
7) The Toad Spirit. Toad house healing spirits?
8) The Curse of the Bluemlisalp. Pride and dishonoring your mother.
9) The light of the Fireflies. I would think having fireflies as a crown would be beautiful. I wish there were more of them around.
10) The Wicked Stepmother in the Anziloch. Don’t be selfish and love your mother while you still have her.
11) Donat in the fairy grotto. Pride and selfishness lose rewards.
12) The Woodcutter’s Good Soul. His soul saves him from death.
13) The Spalentire. A noisy woman gets her recompence.
14) The Devil and the Billy Goat. A close call with the devil.
15) The Goblin Who Wanted to Get Married. Variation of the Rumpelstiltskin story.
16) The Love Potion. ??? Pigs and apples.
17) The Ghost Ship of Lake Geneva. Make a wish.
18) The Kindhearted Dwarfs. Don’t steal from a benefactor.
19) The Missing Child. The child angel.
20) La Vouivre, the One-Eyed Dragon. No story, just a blind lady dragon.
21) The Revenge of the Black Cat. Leave cats alone!
22) Vreneli’s Garden. Don’t be impatient.
23) Twelve Cows on Lake Origlio. Prayer makes miracles.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short myths/fables/adaptations/stories with beautiful illustrations by a variety of artists. Fun to share one on one with a child interested in myths.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

These twenty-three stories come from each canton in Switzerland, and represent all four language groups. These were interesting to me because all but one of the stories were very new to me. There is one story where a young woman has to guess a goblin's name, but it is still quite a different story from Rumpelstiltskin, Tom Tit Tot, or Duffy and the Devil. The editor is a Swiss resident, and the nineteen illustrators are also Swiss residents. The book was originally published in German in Switzerland. Recommended for all lovers of folklore.

[Marci · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love it, but honestly many of the stories fall really flat, and as the author admits to taking liberties with these old tales, I feel like she definitely could have come out with something more interesting. But the illustrations are beautiful

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely collection of Swiss folk tales hailing from all four language regions. The stories are fun, but what really shines is the art, which features 19 young Swiss artists. The author provides good back matter about the stories and artists.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the Swiss Myths. My favourite was 'The Revenge of the Black Cat.'

[J. Muro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only ONE story out of all had a kitty cat in it. Had hoped there were more. Cute Swiss fairy tale stories tho. Very quick tales.