The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales – September 12, 1976 Author: Visit Amazon's Brothers Grimm Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0394709306 | Format: EPUB
The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales – September 12, 1976 Description
Review
“Among the few indispensable, common-property books upon which Western culture can be founded . . . It will be a mistake if this volume is merely bought for a child; it should be, first and foremost, an educational ‘must’ for adults.”
–W. H. Auden,
The New York Times“Here it is, clear and fine and solid, beautifully and passionately illustrated, this one book–other than the Bible–that has truly made Western man.”
–P. L. Travers,
The New Republic“Everyone should possess and know Grimm’s Fairy Tales–one of the great books of the world–and no English-speaking person could do better than this edition.”
–Richard Adams,
The New York Times Book Review“[A] splendid edition, admirably illustrated.”
–Edmund Wilson,
The New YorkerLanguage Notes
Text: English, German (translation)
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
See all Editorial Reviews
- Paperback: 880 pages
- Publisher: Pantheon; Reissue edition (September 12, 1976)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0394709306
- ISBN-13: 978-0394709307
- Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.6 inches
- Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Born in the late 1700s in Hanau, Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were noted scholars celebrated for the documentation of German folklore--and most particularly for the documentation of folk tales that had been previously passed from generation to generation by oral tradition.
The Brothers Grimm began to publish these tales 1812 under the title Children's and Household Tales, a collection which went a then unheard of six editions during their lifetimes and a posthumous edition shortly after their deaths. In its final form, the collection contained two hundred folk tales and ten "Children's Legends," and they would have a tremendous impact on both European and American popular culture.
It is here that we find such figures as Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretle, Tom Thumb, Rapunzel, and the Bremen Town Musicians--to name but a few. But be forewarned: these are not the tales as presented in such venues as The Little Golden Book series or on the big screen by Walt Disney. True enough, there is magic, wonder, and a world in which good triumphs... but there is also savage retribution, revenge, brutality, torture, and the occasional flourish of anti-semetism as well.
"Cinderella" offers a good example of the violence one often finds in these stories. Modern versions typically punish the wicked step-sisters with comic humiliation, but in the original tale their eyes are picked out by birds--and this is actually one of the less extreme retributions offered. The evil queen in the classic "Snow White" is forced to dance at Snow White's wedding... in red-hot iron shoes until she dies.
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