Cheryl’s Comments (group member since Dec 04, 2022)

Cheryl’s comments from the Once Upon a Time... group.

I can't tell if yours is abridged, sorry. But I see that the edition on google books is even shorter. And I don't remember one of the details on the last page, and the translation is more old-fashioned than the one I read. There are 27 editions (scanned) avl. free to read on Open Library, too. Fascinating.

Gem, the unabridged is usually at least 100 pages. What is your ISBN?

I won't be able to do so for at least a week. (On a trip, didn't bring it with me.)

Agree.

Ok I'm done. I don't understand the bit about the philosophy of "Pastrycook" though.

And the end, well (view spoiler)[Marie leaves her family to wed the ex-nutcracker, the rescuer of Pirlipat, when she's 8?!

No pedophilia, and not really all that much creepiness, but still very odd and difficult to appreciate with modern American sensibilities. (hide spoiler)]

Yes, maybe it's a German thing, but I don't like it, personally.

As far as creepiness goes, the Mouse King is probably a reference to a Rat King, which is actually real-ish. It's referenced, for example, in The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett. Another German character, Der Struwwelpeter, is awfully creepy, too.

Now in the edition I'm reading, Godfather D. hasn't said much before the first big battle. Also, in the picture in which we meet Marie, she looks both older than 7, and older than her brother. And the chapter in which the Nutcracker is discovered is translated as "Marie's Sweetheart."

I bet! I suppose that I could just read a PDF, but I don't want to.

Does the age of Clara change? I seem to remember whispers about a taint of pedophilia... maybe because sometimes she's about 12 and is of an age to be susceptible to having crushes?

Hi, my favorite sub-genre that applies to this group would probably be fractured fairy tales that are funny. Generally those are picture-books. But I'm excited to expand my reading in the direction you-all are taking it!

My favorite stories are The Little Red Hen and its variants, particularly The Little Green Witch; I have a listopia for these. I'd love to find the theme explored in a novel for big kids or adults!

I empathize with the red hen, and also very much with The Princess and the Pea because I am sensitive to the kinds of annoyances that some people think are trivial. I don't think that I have a favorite printed version of that tale, but I do like Shelley Duvall's 'Faerie Tale Theatre' video version.

Speaking of which, do we have a thread for anything 'meta' about the tales? I'd like to talk about (view spoiler)[The Oxford Book of Modern Fairy Tales by Alison Lurie, the website Sur la Lune, Jack Zipes, etc. (hide spoiler)]

I'm new, so just picked up my library books today.
For the original, I scored Nutcracker with art by Roberto Innocenti and I look forward to reading it as soon as I can get my old eyes under bright sunlight to see the small font and the detailed paintings.

(But why does the font need to be small, and even pale? It's a huge book; there's tons of white space they could be using!)