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Review
The book that afforded me deepest pleasure is 'Selected Tales' by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (trans Joyce Crick). What a joy to meet Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel and Ashypet again in these sparkling new versions. (Paul Bailey, The Independent )
terrific new edition...forcefully translated and brilliantly analysed, by Joyce Crick. (The Independent )
Joyce Crick, a fine scholar of German literature, has set out here to rescue Grimm's Tales both from children and folklorists and to help us see it as a major work of literature... she has done a magnificent job, and both she and OUP are to be congratulated. (TLS )
terrific new edition...forcefully translated and brilliantly analysed, by Joyce Crick. (The Independent )
Joyce Crick, a fine scholar of German literature, has set out here to rescue Grimm's Tales both from children and folklorists and to help us see it as a major work of literature... she has done a magnificent job, and both she and OUP are to be congratulated. (TLS )
Boyd Tonkin, The Independent, June 17, 2005
Terrific new edition...forcefully translated, and brilliantly analysed.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is not so much a conventional negative review as it is a warning. It is not clearly noted in the description of the book, but several of these stories are not in easily readable mainstream English. Rather, they are in dialect - that is, in accents written down phonetically. Six of the sixty-five are in Scots, two in "Irish" (which apparently means writing "Oi" instead of "I").
Speaking only for myself, I don't much like this sort of thing, simply because it is hard to read. I understand the reasoning behind it - the introduction points out that these stories were originally in regional dialects, Swiss German or Austrian. But the effect, in practice, is not to make the stories seem more natural and authentic. Dialect written down actually looks inauthentic and is harder to read than clear prose. There is something very artificial - almost patronisingly artificial - about writing "rualed" instead of "ruled" or "darter" instead of "daughter".
Ultimately, whether or not you think this is a good strategy depends entirely on your tolerance for this kind of thing. If you like reading large passages in simulated dialect, then by all means go ahead and buy this - and it does only apply to eight of the sixty-five stories included. If not, they might come as a rather nasty surprise.
Speaking only for myself, I don't much like this sort of thing, simply because it is hard to read. I understand the reasoning behind it - the introduction points out that these stories were originally in regional dialects, Swiss German or Austrian. But the effect, in practice, is not to make the stories seem more natural and authentic. Dialect written down actually looks inauthentic and is harder to read than clear prose. There is something very artificial - almost patronisingly artificial - about writing "rualed" instead of "ruled" or "darter" instead of "daughter".
Ultimately, whether or not you think this is a good strategy depends entirely on your tolerance for this kind of thing. If you like reading large passages in simulated dialect, then by all means go ahead and buy this - and it does only apply to eight of the sixty-five stories included. If not, they might come as a rather nasty surprise.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A great book of varied tales to read to my 6 year old niece who wanted more scary stories.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
A decent collection of these famous stories
2 Mar 2002
Format:Paperback
This book does not contain all of the Grimms' stories, but it does include a wide selection (sixtyish) of the most famous and most interesting tales. There were many more stories, of course, but the editor of this edition has chosen some of the most well-known and representative ones. In addition, there are many tales included that aren't necessarily famous but are just as good as the familiar ones.
The book opens with an interesting introduction, which shows how the Grimms were the first to seriously record folk wonder tales in a literary form, putting them in good prose but still maintaining respect for the original stories. (The earlier French writers drew on folktales, but altered them into tales of courtly intrigue, and sometimes told them in a snickering, sarcastic style.) Then, of course, come the tales themselves, well-written and yet hauntingly simple.
Note: This is an edition for the grown-ups. No illustrations. Visually, it looks like a textbook rather than a book of fairy tales. I do need to buy a pretty edition someday, to pass on to my hypothetical kids. :)
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Fun!
25 Oct 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
In the introduction, Joyce Crick says the purpose of this edition of Selected Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm is to "give the book back to the authors" by which she means Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The Grimm's collected these tales at a place and time that basically made them the first people in the "modern" era to do such a thing. Of course, their product, their "Tales" had an after life that spawned hundreds of years of children's literature in Germany and the US, and eventually became the substantial basis for all of the early Disney smash hits, more or less. Say what you want about Walt Disney being a Nazi, but no one who has been to Salzburg can deny the similarity.
The Grimms, being who they were,writing when they were, didn't provide any context, just the tales. However, over time they did edit the selection of Tales, taking out some of the more gruesome tales and editing some of the remaining tales. This edition does a good job of running through those differences.
Although I had a clear idea that the original Grimm's tales were much darker then the American/Disney versions, until I read this recentely published book (2009 in America, 2008 UK?) I had never actually READ any of the tales. I would have liked more info about the pre-Christian elements, but that was beyond the scope of the edition. Maybe next time...
The Grimms, being who they were,writing when they were, didn't provide any context, just the tales. However, over time they did edit the selection of Tales, taking out some of the more gruesome tales and editing some of the remaining tales. This edition does a good job of running through those differences.
Although I had a clear idea that the original Grimm's tales were much darker then the American/Disney versions, until I read this recentely published book (2009 in America, 2008 UK?) I had never actually READ any of the tales. I would have liked more info about the pre-Christian elements, but that was beyond the scope of the edition. Maybe next time...
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