boudiax's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
foesandlovers's review against another edition
Can't say I understand why anyone ever thought the Grimm tales good.
They're meh at best and extremely repetitive. Almost every story is about a "husband and wife who had long wished for a child, but in vain" and then they make stupid bargains to get said child, someone either loses a limb or goes blind but fear not, everything always magically rights itself in the end and the bad guys get what they deserve... *yawns*
oh and also, I'm thinking the Grimm brothers were hella hungry when they wrote these cuz honestly food (especially fruits) is mentioned in like, every story.
In short:
Fruits, God, Gold, Babies and lost limbs.
Le Sigh.🤷🏻‍♀️
They're meh at best and extremely repetitive. Almost every story is about a "husband and wife who had long wished for a child, but in vain" and then they make stupid bargains to get said child, someone either loses a limb or goes blind but fear not, everything always magically rights itself in the end and the bad guys get what they deserve... *yawns*
oh and also, I'm thinking the Grimm brothers were hella hungry when they wrote these cuz honestly food (especially fruits) is mentioned in like, every story.
In short:
Fruits, God, Gold, Babies and lost limbs.
Le Sigh.🤷🏻‍♀️
evi_reads's review against another edition
3.0
only took me two years to get through this, i feel like i read the same stories like four times and i definitely like slightly more modern versions better
sarahlobster's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
lisasletters's review against another edition
3.0
It was so sexist and I often had to put down out of frustration. But it was also fun to read this many original fairytales, plus it is still the most gorgeous book I own haha
blythe_auden's review
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.75
A lot of the tales were repetitiveÂ
drifterontherun's review
5.0
I know who the Brothers Grimm are, you know who the Brothers Grimm are. But have you actually ever read the Brothers Grimm? This is the first time I've actually picked up one of their collections, but who doesn't love a good fairy tale?
There are a total of 33 in this collection, including all the popular ones you know and love ... or rather, here you'll find the source text for all the Disney versions you know and love. But the old rule applies here too — the book is better.
The classics are, of course, classics for a reason, so "Rapunzel," "Snow White," "Sleeping Beauty," "Cinderella," and "Hansel and Gretel" are all standout tales. But there were several others I enjoyed just as much if not more since I'd never heard them before.
"A Fairy Tale About a Boy Who Set Out to Learn Fear," "The Devil With the Three Golden Hairs," "The Drummer," "The Master Thief," "Faithful Johannes," and "All-Kind-Of-Hide" are all delightfully charming (and sometimes charmingly dark).
For all the attention that "controversial" books intended for young readers have received lately — treasured classics seem to come under fire from both left and right these days — I'm surprised that I haven't heard the Brothers Grimm (or is it more correct to say the Grimm Brothers? Hmm ...) mentioned. Perhaps their lack of inclusion is more due to the fact that school libraries are less likely to contain a collection of their tales, which would be an even greater travesty. From incest and child abuse to cannibalism and sexual desire, there's plenty here to send the fanatical, censorious souls on both the left and right into a tizzy.
Should children read the original Brothers Grimm tales? Hell yes! Childhood has, after all, plenty of dark moments as well as bright ones, or don't you remember? Children would be able to relate to these tales and perhaps even find the more-than-occasional bouts of bloodletting cathartic.
But we shouldn't limit these classic tales to just children. Like any masterpiece, these tales only grow richer with age. Thousands of essays have been published on all the various things that these tales have to offer, and with so many Easter eggs hidden in a brief 3-4 page tale, you'll find more on each rereading.
The only thing I might criticize about this specific edition, which is otherwise beautifully done, is that some of the illustrations — by contemporary Haitian artists — often don't feel like a part of the text and don't seem to fit at all. I'm not saying that German artists should have been commissioned instead — fairy tales are universal, after all — just that centering the illustrations a bit more around the tales themselves would have been a good idea.
Otherwise, this is a very good collection of wondrous tales, expertly chosen, and should be required reading regardless of age.
There are a total of 33 in this collection, including all the popular ones you know and love ... or rather, here you'll find the source text for all the Disney versions you know and love. But the old rule applies here too — the book is better.
The classics are, of course, classics for a reason, so "Rapunzel," "Snow White," "Sleeping Beauty," "Cinderella," and "Hansel and Gretel" are all standout tales. But there were several others I enjoyed just as much if not more since I'd never heard them before.
"A Fairy Tale About a Boy Who Set Out to Learn Fear," "The Devil With the Three Golden Hairs," "The Drummer," "The Master Thief," "Faithful Johannes," and "All-Kind-Of-Hide" are all delightfully charming (and sometimes charmingly dark).
For all the attention that "controversial" books intended for young readers have received lately — treasured classics seem to come under fire from both left and right these days — I'm surprised that I haven't heard the Brothers Grimm (or is it more correct to say the Grimm Brothers? Hmm ...) mentioned. Perhaps their lack of inclusion is more due to the fact that school libraries are less likely to contain a collection of their tales, which would be an even greater travesty. From incest and child abuse to cannibalism and sexual desire, there's plenty here to send the fanatical, censorious souls on both the left and right into a tizzy.
Should children read the original Brothers Grimm tales? Hell yes! Childhood has, after all, plenty of dark moments as well as bright ones, or don't you remember? Children would be able to relate to these tales and perhaps even find the more-than-occasional bouts of bloodletting cathartic.
But we shouldn't limit these classic tales to just children. Like any masterpiece, these tales only grow richer with age. Thousands of essays have been published on all the various things that these tales have to offer, and with so many Easter eggs hidden in a brief 3-4 page tale, you'll find more on each rereading.
The only thing I might criticize about this specific edition, which is otherwise beautifully done, is that some of the illustrations — by contemporary Haitian artists — often don't feel like a part of the text and don't seem to fit at all. I'm not saying that German artists should have been commissioned instead — fairy tales are universal, after all — just that centering the illustrations a bit more around the tales themselves would have been a good idea.
Otherwise, this is a very good collection of wondrous tales, expertly chosen, and should be required reading regardless of age.
luclicious's review against another edition
2.0
A collection of fairytales is a beautiful leather edition. Seeing this at my old job I had to have it as it wasn’t as expensive as I thought it would. I have been brought up with a lot of fairytales but it’s always fun to read more.
This collection covers all there is to fairytales. You have mostly the basic plot with a kingdom, a princess, a soldier, a witch and some magic spell or a talking animal.
That’s basically it. That’s all there is to these fairytales. They felt so repetitive after reading a couple that I skipped a bunch just to enjoy myself. Don’t get me wrong it’s a beautiful collection and I think children would love hearing the stories. Unfortunately, in this age and time it’s better for some stories to be buried. The way POV’s are treated is just not good. Women are portrayed as these helpless creatures that are only good for bearing children and marriage. So to say it shortly most of these stories don’t hold up as good as I thought they would. Lastly, I always thought the point of a fairytale is that it has to a moral to the story. The greedy man learns that it’s better to live with less, the vain mother learns that beauty comes from within, stuff like that. Well I was surprised that of all the stories I read there wasn’t as much moral as I thought there would be.
A beautiful edition on your shelves but something that doesn’t hold up with the age of time.
This collection covers all there is to fairytales. You have mostly the basic plot with a kingdom, a princess, a soldier, a witch and some magic spell or a talking animal.
That’s basically it. That’s all there is to these fairytales. They felt so repetitive after reading a couple that I skipped a bunch just to enjoy myself. Don’t get me wrong it’s a beautiful collection and I think children would love hearing the stories. Unfortunately, in this age and time it’s better for some stories to be buried. The way POV’s are treated is just not good. Women are portrayed as these helpless creatures that are only good for bearing children and marriage. So to say it shortly most of these stories don’t hold up as good as I thought they would. Lastly, I always thought the point of a fairytale is that it has to a moral to the story. The greedy man learns that it’s better to live with less, the vain mother learns that beauty comes from within, stuff like that. Well I was surprised that of all the stories I read there wasn’t as much moral as I thought there would be.
A beautiful edition on your shelves but something that doesn’t hold up with the age of time.
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