- Paperback: 176 pages
- Publisher: Salt Publishing (15 Dec 2011)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1844718816
- ISBN-13: 978-1844718818
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 1.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 60,506 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Review
A beguiling collection of present-day fables that effortlessly transcend their folk origins. (Jonathan Pinnock )
Product Description
In contemporary America, an un-named college student sets out on an obsessive journey of discovery to collect and record the life-stories of total strangers. The interviews that follow have echoes of another, far more famous literary journey, undertaken long ago and in another world.
Drawing on the original, unexpurgated tales collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, six of their most famous works are re-imagined in the rich and endlessly varied landscapes of contemporary America.
From the glass towers of Manhattan to the remoteness of the Blue Ridge mountains; from the swamps of Louisiana to the jaded glamour of Hollywood, New World Fairy Tales reclaims the fairy tale for the modern adult audience. A haunting blend of romance and realism, these stripped-back narratives of human experience are the perfect read for anyone who has read their child a bedtime fairy story, and wondered who ever said these were stories meant for children.
Drawing on the original, unexpurgated tales collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, six of their most famous works are re-imagined in the rich and endlessly varied landscapes of contemporary America.
From the glass towers of Manhattan to the remoteness of the Blue Ridge mountains; from the swamps of Louisiana to the jaded glamour of Hollywood, New World Fairy Tales reclaims the fairy tale for the modern adult audience. A haunting blend of romance and realism, these stripped-back narratives of human experience are the perfect read for anyone who has read their child a bedtime fairy story, and wondered who ever said these were stories meant for children.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic read!,
This review is from: New World Fairy Tales (Salt Modern Fiction) (Paperback)
It's not surprising this book won the Scott Prize - it is so well written and a really great read. The stories cover an enormous range of human experience, human character and emotions and are funny, sad, haunting and very moving. I was utterly caught up in the stories and I'm really looking forward to hearing more from this exciting new writer before too long.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fairytales for the 21st century,
This review is from: New World Fairy Tales (Salt Modern Fiction) (Paperback)
Cassandra Parkin's Scott Prize-winning collection impressively brings the fairytale up to date for a 21st century, adult audience. Inspired by the famous tales of the Brothers Grimm, the book takes the form of six interviews with a variety of intriguing characters - the format mirroring the brothers themselves, who recorded folk tales after carrying out interviews with storytellers in a similar manner in the 1800s.Parkin's stories are reimaginings of some of the more famous original tales - but I'm not going to say what these are as part of the fun is trying to figure them out and spotting the links between the old and new. Suffice to say that Parkin's versions are genuinely inspired, with certain characters changed from female to male, straight to gay or from child to step-mother. She also uproots them from their European settings and replants them very successfully in modern-day America - on the mean streets of Louisiana, in New Orleans' French Quarter or inside the glass towers of Wall Street. With titles such as Interview #4, Interview #9, etc. (somewhat reminiscent of David Foster Wallace's interviews in `Brief Interviews with Hideous Men'), these are sexy, funny, new types of fairytale, with language which is inventive and fresh (`The afternoon sun was like a poke in the eye'). So if you're a grown-up with a desire to be told a new kind of fairytale, you won't go wrong with these - a real page-turner of a book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic Fairy Tales for Grown-ups!,
By Lisa H (Brough) - See all my reviews
This review is from: New World Fairy Tales (Salt Modern Fiction) (Paperback)
This book is an exciting collection of six short stories for adults. Each is a modern retelling of a classic fairy tale which the author has transported to contemporary America, cleverly twisting and moulding each character, each plotline, disguising the original stories until the end of some tales, whilst others are immediately recognisable. Spotting which fairy story you are reading adds to the enjoyment of what is an outstanding collection of fiction in its own right, without the fairy tale connection.The stories are beautifully told; the author's style is imaginative and descriptive, never stuffy or pretentious. Each story is written in the form of an interview with one of the characters. This briefly sets the scene, as you are launched into each story. Heroes and villains swap roles, genders and sexuality leaving you anticipating the traditional fairy tale ending which does not always turn out as expected. My favourite story is Interview # 4. In my opinion it is one of the easiest to identify and opens the book with a glorious tale of selflessness, love, seduction and passion. It was wonderful to enjoy this tale from an adult point of view, whilst it retained all of the charm of the original children's tale. These short stories are addictively readable, beautifully bite-sized fiction perfect for lunch breaks, train journeys, when the baby's asleep or anytime when you need an exciting escape from your own reality. A thoroughly good read that I would recommend to anyone. I just didn't want this book to end and eagerly await the author's next publication.
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