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The Annotated Brothers Grimm
Publication of the Grimm's Children's Stories and Household Tales in 1812 brought the great European oral folk tradition into print for the first time. The Annotated Brothers Grimm returns in a deluxe and augmented 200th-anniversary edition commemorating that landmark event. Adding to such favorites as Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, and Rapunzel, Maria Tatar includes six new entries, among them Four Clever Brothers, The Water of Life, The White Snake, and The Old Man and His Grandson. The expanded edition features an enhanced selection of illustrations, many in color, by legendary artists such as George Cruikshank and Arthur Rackham; annotations that explore the historical origins, cultural context, and psychological effects of the tales; and a biographical essay on Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. A perennial favorite in the acclaimed Norton Annotated series, this magnificent volume will draw both children and adults into the enchanting world of fairy tales.
496 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
114 people are currently reading
3783 people want to read
About the author
Jacob Grimm
5,580 books2,220 followersGerman philologist and folklorist Jakob Ludwig Karl Grimm in 1822 formulated Grimm's Law, the basis for much of modern comparative linguistics. With his brother Wilhelm Karl Grimm (1786-1859), he collected Germanic folk tales and published them as
Grimm's Fairy Tales
(1812-1815).
Indo-European stop consonants, represented in Germanic, underwent the regular changes that Grimm's Law describes; this law essentially states that Indo-European p shifted to Germanic f, t shifted to th, and k shifted to h. Indo-European b shifted to Germanic p, d shifted to t, and g shifted to k. Indo-European bh shifted to Germanic b, dh shifted to d, and gh shifted to g.
This jurist and mythologist also authored the monumental German Dictionary and his Deutsche Mythologie .
Adapted from Wikipedia.
Indo-European stop consonants, represented in Germanic, underwent the regular changes that Grimm's Law describes; this law essentially states that Indo-European p shifted to Germanic f, t shifted to th, and k shifted to h. Indo-European b shifted to Germanic p, d shifted to t, and g shifted to k. Indo-European bh shifted to Germanic b, dh shifted to d, and gh shifted to g.
This jurist and mythologist also authored the monumental German Dictionary and his Deutsche Mythologie .
Adapted from Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 145 reviews
January 21, 2009
JACOB and Wilhelm Grimm did not set out to entertain children, not at first. They were primarily collectors and philologists, who almost two centuries ago assembled German fairy tales as part of a life's work that included, Maria Tatar points out, ''massive volumes with such titles as 'German Legends,' 'German Grammar,' 'Ancient German Law' and 'German Heroic Legends.' '' (''Jacob Grimm's 'German Grammar' alone,'' we are told helpfully, ''took up 3,854 pages.'') They published their first collection of Märchen, ''Children's Stories and Household Tales,'' in 1812, with a second volume in 1815 and an expanded and revised edition in 1819; folklorists who became, of necessity, storytellers, they reworked the tales for years, smoothing them while removing material they considered unsuitable for children.
The Grimms' fairy tales are inescapably, well, grimmer than the courtly, sparkling 17th-century ''Cinderella'' and ''Tales of Mother Goose'' of Charles Perrault. The Brothers Grimm toned down bawdier content -- in their first edition, Rapunzel's question to the enchantress was why, after the Prince's visits, her belly had begun to swell -- but not much of the violence and bloodshed. Occasionally they were even heightened. ''The Juniper Tree'' is a treatment of death and rebirth, just deserts and restoration, that feels almost sacred, but the child murder and cannibalism make it untellable today as children's fiction.
''The Annotated Brothers Grimm'' gives us a sample of the 210 tales in the authoritative version of the seventh and final edition of 1857. Tatar, dean of humanities and professor of Germanic languages and literature at Harvard University, has newly translated 37 of the 210, as well as nine tales for adults, and annotated them, drawing on the commentary of the Grimms themselves and of writers who have reused the Grimms' material, from Jane Yolen and Peter Straub to Terry Pratchett.
Annotating fairy tales must be different in kind from the task of annotating, say, a Sherlock Holmes story or Lewis Carroll's ''Hunting of the Snark.'' Sherlock Holmes stories don't have a multiplicity of variants from different cultures and times; Red Riding Hood exists in versions in which, before she clambers into bed with the wolf, she first eats her grandmother's flesh and drinks her blood; in which she strips for the wolf; in which, naked, she excuses herself to use the privy and escapes; in which she is first devoured, then cut from the wolf's stomach by a huntsman; in which. . . .
Tatar's book, with its annotations, explanations, front matter and end matter, illustrations and biographical essay and further-reading section, is difficult to overpraise. A volume for parents, for scholars, for readers, it never overloads the stories or, worse, reduces them to curiosities. And as an object, it's a chocolate-box feast of multicolored inks and design.
The annotations are fascinating. Tatar points out things so plain that commentators sometimes miss them (for example, that ''Hansel and Gretel'' is a tale driven by food and hunger from a time when, for the peasantry, eating until you were full was a pipe dream). In the introduction to ''Snow White,'' we learn that ''the Grimms, in an effort to preserve the sanctity of motherhood, were forever turning biological mothers into stepmothers,'' while an annotation tells us that in the 1810 manuscript version ''there is only one queen, and she is both biological mother and persecutor.''
Only rarely does Tatar note the blindingly obvious. When the heroine of ''The Singing Soaring Lark'' (the Grimms' ''Beauty and the Beast'') sits down and cries, we're told that characters often cry when things are going badly: ''The weeping is emblematic of the grief and sadness they feel, and it gives the character an opportunity to pause before moving on to a new phase of action.'' Well, quite.
The assemblage of stories -- Germanic tales that have become part of world culture -- parades an array of nameless youngest sons and intelligent and noble girls. As both A. S. Byatt (who wrote the introduction) and Tatar point out, the heroes and heroines triumph not because they have good hearts or are purer or nobler than others (indeed, most of the young men are foolish, and some are downright lazy) but because they are the central characters, and the story will take care of them, as stories do.
The ''adult'' section contains several murderous cautionary tales, along with the nightmare of ''The Jew in the Brambles,'' a story not much reprinted since 1945, in which the hero tortures a Jewish peddler using a magic fiddle, making him dance in brambles; at the end the peddler is hanged. Three of the Grimms' tales contain Jewish figures; ''the two that feature anti-Semitism in its most virulent form were included in the Compact Edition designed for young readers'' (1825), Tatar tells us. ''The Jew in the Brambles'' casts a long shadow back through the book, leaving one wondering whether the ashes Cinderella slept in would one day become the ashes of Auschwitz.
AND yet most of the stories, no matter how murderous, exude comfort. Rereading them feels like coming home. Tatar's translation is comfortable and familiar (the occasional verse translations are slightly less felicitous); several times I found myself reading right through an unfamiliar or forgotten tale to find out what happened next, ignoring the annotations completely.
Illustrations are an important ingredient of fairy tales. The variety and choice here are beyond reproach: among them, Arthur Rackham, with his polled trees that gesture and bend like old men and his adults all gnarled and twisted like trees; the elegance of Kay Nielsen; the lush draperies and delicate fancies of Warwick Goble.
''The Annotated Brothers Grimm'' treats the stories as something important -- not, in the end, because of what they tell us of the buried roots of Germanic myth, or because of the often contradictory and intermittently fashionable psychoanalytic interpretations, or for any other reason than that they are part of the way we see the world, because they should be told. That's what I took from it, anyway. But fairy tales are magic mirrors: they show you what you wish to see.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/05/boo...
The Grimms' fairy tales are inescapably, well, grimmer than the courtly, sparkling 17th-century ''Cinderella'' and ''Tales of Mother Goose'' of Charles Perrault. The Brothers Grimm toned down bawdier content -- in their first edition, Rapunzel's question to the enchantress was why, after the Prince's visits, her belly had begun to swell -- but not much of the violence and bloodshed. Occasionally they were even heightened. ''The Juniper Tree'' is a treatment of death and rebirth, just deserts and restoration, that feels almost sacred, but the child murder and cannibalism make it untellable today as children's fiction.
''The Annotated Brothers Grimm'' gives us a sample of the 210 tales in the authoritative version of the seventh and final edition of 1857. Tatar, dean of humanities and professor of Germanic languages and literature at Harvard University, has newly translated 37 of the 210, as well as nine tales for adults, and annotated them, drawing on the commentary of the Grimms themselves and of writers who have reused the Grimms' material, from Jane Yolen and Peter Straub to Terry Pratchett.
Annotating fairy tales must be different in kind from the task of annotating, say, a Sherlock Holmes story or Lewis Carroll's ''Hunting of the Snark.'' Sherlock Holmes stories don't have a multiplicity of variants from different cultures and times; Red Riding Hood exists in versions in which, before she clambers into bed with the wolf, she first eats her grandmother's flesh and drinks her blood; in which she strips for the wolf; in which, naked, she excuses herself to use the privy and escapes; in which she is first devoured, then cut from the wolf's stomach by a huntsman; in which. . . .
Tatar's book, with its annotations, explanations, front matter and end matter, illustrations and biographical essay and further-reading section, is difficult to overpraise. A volume for parents, for scholars, for readers, it never overloads the stories or, worse, reduces them to curiosities. And as an object, it's a chocolate-box feast of multicolored inks and design.
The annotations are fascinating. Tatar points out things so plain that commentators sometimes miss them (for example, that ''Hansel and Gretel'' is a tale driven by food and hunger from a time when, for the peasantry, eating until you were full was a pipe dream). In the introduction to ''Snow White,'' we learn that ''the Grimms, in an effort to preserve the sanctity of motherhood, were forever turning biological mothers into stepmothers,'' while an annotation tells us that in the 1810 manuscript version ''there is only one queen, and she is both biological mother and persecutor.''
Only rarely does Tatar note the blindingly obvious. When the heroine of ''The Singing Soaring Lark'' (the Grimms' ''Beauty and the Beast'') sits down and cries, we're told that characters often cry when things are going badly: ''The weeping is emblematic of the grief and sadness they feel, and it gives the character an opportunity to pause before moving on to a new phase of action.'' Well, quite.
The assemblage of stories -- Germanic tales that have become part of world culture -- parades an array of nameless youngest sons and intelligent and noble girls. As both A. S. Byatt (who wrote the introduction) and Tatar point out, the heroes and heroines triumph not because they have good hearts or are purer or nobler than others (indeed, most of the young men are foolish, and some are downright lazy) but because they are the central characters, and the story will take care of them, as stories do.
The ''adult'' section contains several murderous cautionary tales, along with the nightmare of ''The Jew in the Brambles,'' a story not much reprinted since 1945, in which the hero tortures a Jewish peddler using a magic fiddle, making him dance in brambles; at the end the peddler is hanged. Three of the Grimms' tales contain Jewish figures; ''the two that feature anti-Semitism in its most virulent form were included in the Compact Edition designed for young readers'' (1825), Tatar tells us. ''The Jew in the Brambles'' casts a long shadow back through the book, leaving one wondering whether the ashes Cinderella slept in would one day become the ashes of Auschwitz.
AND yet most of the stories, no matter how murderous, exude comfort. Rereading them feels like coming home. Tatar's translation is comfortable and familiar (the occasional verse translations are slightly less felicitous); several times I found myself reading right through an unfamiliar or forgotten tale to find out what happened next, ignoring the annotations completely.
Illustrations are an important ingredient of fairy tales. The variety and choice here are beyond reproach: among them, Arthur Rackham, with his polled trees that gesture and bend like old men and his adults all gnarled and twisted like trees; the elegance of Kay Nielsen; the lush draperies and delicate fancies of Warwick Goble.
''The Annotated Brothers Grimm'' treats the stories as something important -- not, in the end, because of what they tell us of the buried roots of Germanic myth, or because of the often contradictory and intermittently fashionable psychoanalytic interpretations, or for any other reason than that they are part of the way we see the world, because they should be told. That's what I took from it, anyway. But fairy tales are magic mirrors: they show you what you wish to see.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/05/boo...
December 28, 2010
I own a copy of this book and boy is it expensive. I think it is the most pricey book I've ever bought so far. But I'm telling you it is worth it. You will like this book. Especially if you are into fairy tales just like me.
Okay, so remember when you were a kid, remember all those fairy tale stuffs you've been told about? Tell you something-they aren't the real story. The Fairy tale books printed for kids and the Fairy tale movies filmed by Disney were all edited to fit the imagination of younger generations.
For example did you know that Cinderella's sisters chopped off their feet just so the shoe would fit them?
Did you also know that Rapunzel got pregnant after the prince's visit?
Interesting huh?
Course you would already know all these if you're a Brothers Grimm Fan.
But what sets this book apart from all those books about Brothers Grimm tales?
This is the unedited and translated version of the original tales published by the Brothers Grimm themselves.
There's annotations and pictures that will help you further understand the real tale and the history behind it.
So if you think you're old enough for real gruesome tales, you might wanna read this.
Okay, so remember when you were a kid, remember all those fairy tale stuffs you've been told about? Tell you something-they aren't the real story. The Fairy tale books printed for kids and the Fairy tale movies filmed by Disney were all edited to fit the imagination of younger generations.
For example did you know that Cinderella's sisters chopped off their feet just so the shoe would fit them?
Did you also know that Rapunzel got pregnant after the prince's visit?
Interesting huh?
Course you would already know all these if you're a Brothers Grimm Fan.
But what sets this book apart from all those books about Brothers Grimm tales?
This is the unedited and translated version of the original tales published by the Brothers Grimm themselves.
There's annotations and pictures that will help you further understand the real tale and the history behind it.
So if you think you're old enough for real gruesome tales, you might wanna read this.
August 15, 2008
I should make it clear at the outset that I like the stories themselves. My problem is with the annotations. The annotations dealing with the social realities of the culture and the many variants of the more well-known stories are interesting, but disappointingly rare. Rather, most of the notes range from useless and unperceptive to just plain annoying. For example, part of a note on "Hansel and Gretel" helpfully informs us that:
"The 'perfect happiness' of the ending is brought about in part by the acquisition of material wealth, which guarantees that the father and children will live happily ever after."
Now, what makes Ms. Tatar think I couldn't have made that connection for myself?
Then, there are the constant (and usually far-fetched) claims that the stories mirror Greek mythology. If Ms. Tatar had chosen to allude instead to the mythology of Germanic peoples, I would have found it much more plausible. However, it is very difficult for me to see a story passed down by generations of illiterate Germans as "a ghoulish nursery counterpart of the Greek myth of Cronus..." ("The Juniper Tree"). Likewise I find it difficult to see the point of this annotation to "The Golden Bird":
"Like Odysseus, the king's son returns home in disguise. The princess, like the nurse in The Odyssey, recognizes him, even in his beggar's clothing."
While, in this case, the similarity is indisputable, I fail to see any evidence that it is intentional or meaningful. Add to this the editor's insistence on matters such as "the phallic nature of the frog" in "The Frog King," and it starts looking like she is grasping at straws. The end result is that most of the notes come off looking like faux-intellectual nonsense.
"The 'perfect happiness' of the ending is brought about in part by the acquisition of material wealth, which guarantees that the father and children will live happily ever after."
Now, what makes Ms. Tatar think I couldn't have made that connection for myself?
Then, there are the constant (and usually far-fetched) claims that the stories mirror Greek mythology. If Ms. Tatar had chosen to allude instead to the mythology of Germanic peoples, I would have found it much more plausible. However, it is very difficult for me to see a story passed down by generations of illiterate Germans as "a ghoulish nursery counterpart of the Greek myth of Cronus..." ("The Juniper Tree"). Likewise I find it difficult to see the point of this annotation to "The Golden Bird":
"Like Odysseus, the king's son returns home in disguise. The princess, like the nurse in The Odyssey, recognizes him, even in his beggar's clothing."
While, in this case, the similarity is indisputable, I fail to see any evidence that it is intentional or meaningful. Add to this the editor's insistence on matters such as "the phallic nature of the frog" in "The Frog King," and it starts looking like she is grasping at straws. The end result is that most of the notes come off looking like faux-intellectual nonsense.
December 18, 2019
This is a beautiful edition, but very awkward to hold.
I have always loved fairy tales and this edition is wonderful because of the insight the editors give us into the fairy tales. Their origins. The meaning and symbolism. They can be a little gruesome, but fun in their own way. Also, the illustrations included in this edition are delightful.
I have always loved fairy tales and this edition is wonderful because of the insight the editors give us into the fairy tales. Their origins. The meaning and symbolism. They can be a little gruesome, but fun in their own way. Also, the illustrations included in this edition are delightful.
February 6, 2015
What to say about the Brothers Grimm? They were there, they were kind of awesome. In fact, one of the surprises about this volume for me was the biographical portion. It was interesting to learn that Jacob and Wilhelm considered themselves scholars foremost, and their passion for folklore was part of their passion for German culture (particularly pre-Industrial culture), language (they died in the "F"s for their German dictionary, which isn't surprising when you consider the Germans have a word for every circumstance ever encountered and some that haven't...), democracy (losing their professor jobs when they protested the forced dissolution of Parliament), and all other things that belonged to what they called "poetry"— the ways we can tap into the human consciousness. In fact, the most illuminating notes in the The Annotated Brothers Grimm come not from Maria Tatar, but from the brothers themselves, in the form of their prefaces for the various editions of Children's Stories and Household Tales. I won't summarize it because it's the sort of thing you have to read yourself, but it does make the introductions by Tatar or A.S. Byatt seem a little superfluous.
In general, I continue to be a little confused who these oversized Annotated Norton editions are intended for. They're not detailed enough for scholarly use (where, for example, are the Grimms' own annotations, or information on when each story was originally published?) and much too unwieldy for the casual reader. I really would've appreciated systematic notes on sources the Grimms used & revisions they made across editions for each featured tale, as well as information on other major variations (or at least its Aarne-Thompson classification!). That being said, Maria Tatar does choose an interesting selection of well-known, provoking, and obscure-ish stories that give a nice feel for the complete work. Her footnotes are a little less informative and a little more explanatory than I prefer, but viable. Her strengths lie more in the brief introductions she gives each tale, where she is more free-wheeling and distinctive in her commentary. Rating: 4 stars
Some thoughts:
- On bowdlerized tales: The Grimms sadly de-sexified Rapunzel and made it less interesting (see also: Briar Rose, which at least the Grimms imbue with a pleasant whimsy that "Rapunzel" lacks). The key to this story is that worldly knowledge coming to the girl in the tower is not only inevitable, but also joyful as much as it is painful, as rebellious to her "bad mother" as dutiful it is to her "good mother". In short, I really need to get my hands on Charlotte-Rose de la Force's 1698 Persinette, and one of those bawdy French Little Red Riding Hood versions that Tatar mentions.
- On the Grimms as folklorists: The Twelve Brothers, Six Swans, and Seven Ravens are all variations on the "pure-hearted sister saves a gaggle of brothers from avian curse." It's a nice choice by Tatar to include all three as a demonstration of the nature of fairy tales and their ability to morph through the oral (and literary) tradition. "Six Swans" (popularized by Han Christian Andersen as "The Wild Swans") is probably rightfully the most well-known, but I also find the very similar "The Twelve Brothers" very interesting for the rare antagonistic father/helpful mother parental unit.
- On tales I like better: Both The Robber Bridegroom & Fitcher's Bird are variants on the "girl marries black widower" story (a type of which "Bluebeard" is the most known), with the important distinction that they both have happy endings. The murderous husband is defeated with the help of an old servant woman (solidarity!) in the "The Robber Bridegroom", but the heroine of "Fitcher's Bird" saves both her sisters and herself with some cleverness, magic and crafting skillz (she doesn't turn into a bird, she just cosplays as one).
- On tales I like worse: The Golden Bird is one of the tales I find plain eclipsed* by a variation, i.e. Afanasyev's "Tsarevich Ivan, the Fire Bird & the Gray Wolf" has more consistent humor and lacks the more unwieldy elements. However, "The Golden Bird" does provide a backstory for the endlessly patient fox who does everything for our hapless hero though, which goes wholly unexplained in Afanasyev's version.
*Also, I know I'm laying it down WAY in the middle of this review, but truth: "The Witch" (Lang) > Hansel & Gretel; "Donkeyskin" (Perrault) > Furrypelts; "Tom-Tit-Tot" > Rumplestiltskin
- On adult tales: Tatar also includes a section of oddball stories, most of which are short gruesome bits the Grimm's excised when they revised subsequent editions of Household Tales for bedtime reading (though they kept in the cringingly anti-Semetic "The Jew in the Brambles"). The Stubborn Child is a particularly chilling, superstitious vignette— in fact a lot of these wouldn't be out of place as modern urban myths or ghost stories, which goes to show how broad a net the Grimms were casting on German folklore.
- On best tales:
1. Iron Heinrich- There's something so destabilizing about this story. It's all playful suggestiveness, when the glib happily-ever-after between the haughty princess and the horny prince is interrupted by the appearance of the titular character. In clatter of iron bands breaking, we veer into the ecstatic (the painful freedom of the heart!), the pathetic (the ignorance of the lovers). Why did we think we knew between sexual love and spiritual love anyway?
2. The Fisherman and His Wife- I thought I knew this story, but there's something to the specificity of the Grimm telling which makes the story more interesting than the simple parable it appears. Particularly Tatar notes the gender subversion that goes on with the ambition of the wife to become king, emperor, pope and then even god. It seems to signify a fundamental dissatisfaction with the marital state, or gendered institutions that is left unresolved.
3. The Brave Little Tailor- I was so fascinated with the story as a child, with the perversity of getting something from nothing (except an inflated sense of self-importance). As Tatar notes, the Grimms' German tricksters differ from those from other traditions by being marked not by extreme cleverness but foolishness. Thus a man with no plan ends up on top of a story with no magic. Go figure.
4. Aschenputtle- Can the most famous fairy tale from the best-known folk storytellers be underrated? Everyone has a their favorite version of the world's most popular fairy tale; "Tam and Cam" is mine, because —"CLICK CLACK you took my husband, I will take your eyes!"— reasons, but "Aschenputtle" doesn't get enough recognition for having the perfect mix of moral and morbid. The heroine doesn't only get her just rewards from domestic obedience, but by a pagan alliance with the birds and the otherworldly protection of her tree mother. It also highlights the wonderful unadorned quality which characterizes the Grimms's storytelling.
5. The Juniper Tree- I had never heard this one, and I have no idea why except perhaps that the Grimms didn't really have anything to do with it. Penned by Philipp Otto Runge especially for the Grimms's collection, it's an intense tale, with a distinctive unhinged, mythic quality to it. I mean this:
6. Snow White- Iconic. Tatar observes that the queen is the "center of narrative energy" of the story, and the dwarfs her chief obstacles. Strangely, this works. No one should be fooled by the Grimms's revision of stepmother for mother, this is the female version of the Oedipal myth, swirling with parental resentment and chockfull of the sinister symbols of feminine beauty.
7. Snow White and Rose Red- I haven't read Caroline Stahl's original "The Ungrateful Dwarf", but the Grimm version has such a vivid literary quality that makes its rare depiction of domestic bliss (in an all-female household, no less) all that much more striking. Particularly the interaction of personalities —the dwarf's irascible greed, the bear's nobility, the mother's loving firmness, Snow White's shyness, and Rose Red's fearlessness— is the chief driving force of a story that would otherwise be lacking in conflict. It's patently unrighteous that this fairy tale is less well-known.
In general, I continue to be a little confused who these oversized Annotated Norton editions are intended for. They're not detailed enough for scholarly use (where, for example, are the Grimms' own annotations, or information on when each story was originally published?) and much too unwieldy for the casual reader. I really would've appreciated systematic notes on sources the Grimms used & revisions they made across editions for each featured tale, as well as information on other major variations (or at least its Aarne-Thompson classification!). That being said, Maria Tatar does choose an interesting selection of well-known, provoking, and obscure-ish stories that give a nice feel for the complete work. Her footnotes are a little less informative and a little more explanatory than I prefer, but viable. Her strengths lie more in the brief introductions she gives each tale, where she is more free-wheeling and distinctive in her commentary. Rating: 4 stars
Some thoughts:
- On bowdlerized tales: The Grimms sadly de-sexified Rapunzel and made it less interesting (see also: Briar Rose, which at least the Grimms imbue with a pleasant whimsy that "Rapunzel" lacks). The key to this story is that worldly knowledge coming to the girl in the tower is not only inevitable, but also joyful as much as it is painful, as rebellious to her "bad mother" as dutiful it is to her "good mother". In short, I really need to get my hands on Charlotte-Rose de la Force's 1698 Persinette, and one of those bawdy French Little Red Riding Hood versions that Tatar mentions.
- On the Grimms as folklorists: The Twelve Brothers, Six Swans, and Seven Ravens are all variations on the "pure-hearted sister saves a gaggle of brothers from avian curse." It's a nice choice by Tatar to include all three as a demonstration of the nature of fairy tales and their ability to morph through the oral (and literary) tradition. "Six Swans" (popularized by Han Christian Andersen as "The Wild Swans") is probably rightfully the most well-known, but I also find the very similar "The Twelve Brothers" very interesting for the rare antagonistic father/helpful mother parental unit.
- On tales I like better: Both The Robber Bridegroom & Fitcher's Bird are variants on the "girl marries black widower" story (a type of which "Bluebeard" is the most known), with the important distinction that they both have happy endings. The murderous husband is defeated with the help of an old servant woman (solidarity!) in the "The Robber Bridegroom", but the heroine of "Fitcher's Bird" saves both her sisters and herself with some cleverness, magic and crafting skillz (she doesn't turn into a bird, she just cosplays as one).
- On tales I like worse: The Golden Bird is one of the tales I find plain eclipsed* by a variation, i.e. Afanasyev's "Tsarevich Ivan, the Fire Bird & the Gray Wolf" has more consistent humor and lacks the more unwieldy elements. However, "The Golden Bird" does provide a backstory for the endlessly patient fox who does everything for our hapless hero though, which goes wholly unexplained in Afanasyev's version.
*Also, I know I'm laying it down WAY in the middle of this review, but truth: "The Witch" (Lang) > Hansel & Gretel; "Donkeyskin" (Perrault) > Furrypelts; "Tom-Tit-Tot" > Rumplestiltskin
- On adult tales: Tatar also includes a section of oddball stories, most of which are short gruesome bits the Grimm's excised when they revised subsequent editions of Household Tales for bedtime reading (though they kept in the cringingly anti-Semetic "The Jew in the Brambles"). The Stubborn Child is a particularly chilling, superstitious vignette— in fact a lot of these wouldn't be out of place as modern urban myths or ghost stories, which goes to show how broad a net the Grimms were casting on German folklore.
- On best tales:
1. Iron Heinrich- There's something so destabilizing about this story. It's all playful suggestiveness, when the glib happily-ever-after between the haughty princess and the horny prince is interrupted by the appearance of the titular character. In clatter of iron bands breaking, we veer into the ecstatic (the painful freedom of the heart!), the pathetic (the ignorance of the lovers). Why did we think we knew between sexual love and spiritual love anyway?
2. The Fisherman and His Wife- I thought I knew this story, but there's something to the specificity of the Grimm telling which makes the story more interesting than the simple parable it appears. Particularly Tatar notes the gender subversion that goes on with the ambition of the wife to become king, emperor, pope and then even god. It seems to signify a fundamental dissatisfaction with the marital state, or gendered institutions that is left unresolved.
3. The Brave Little Tailor- I was so fascinated with the story as a child, with the perversity of getting something from nothing (except an inflated sense of self-importance). As Tatar notes, the Grimms' German tricksters differ from those from other traditions by being marked not by extreme cleverness but foolishness. Thus a man with no plan ends up on top of a story with no magic. Go figure.
4. Aschenputtle- Can the most famous fairy tale from the best-known folk storytellers be underrated? Everyone has a their favorite version of the world's most popular fairy tale; "Tam and Cam" is mine, because —"CLICK CLACK you took my husband, I will take your eyes!"— reasons, but "Aschenputtle" doesn't get enough recognition for having the perfect mix of moral and morbid. The heroine doesn't only get her just rewards from domestic obedience, but by a pagan alliance with the birds and the otherworldly protection of her tree mother. It also highlights the wonderful unadorned quality which characterizes the Grimms's storytelling.
5. The Juniper Tree- I had never heard this one, and I have no idea why except perhaps that the Grimms didn't really have anything to do with it. Penned by Philipp Otto Runge especially for the Grimms's collection, it's an intense tale, with a distinctive unhinged, mythic quality to it. I mean this:
My mother, she killed me,Y'all have to be in on this.
My father, he ate me,
My sister Marlene,
Gathered all my bones,
Tied them in a silken scarf,
Laid them beneath the juniper tree,
Tweet, tweet, what a beautiful bird am I.
6. Snow White- Iconic. Tatar observes that the queen is the "center of narrative energy" of the story, and the dwarfs her chief obstacles. Strangely, this works. No one should be fooled by the Grimms's revision of stepmother for mother, this is the female version of the Oedipal myth, swirling with parental resentment and chockfull of the sinister symbols of feminine beauty.
7. Snow White and Rose Red- I haven't read Caroline Stahl's original "The Ungrateful Dwarf", but the Grimm version has such a vivid literary quality that makes its rare depiction of domestic bliss (in an all-female household, no less) all that much more striking. Particularly the interaction of personalities —the dwarf's irascible greed, the bear's nobility, the mother's loving firmness, Snow White's shyness, and Rose Red's fearlessness— is the chief driving force of a story that would otherwise be lacking in conflict. It's patently unrighteous that this fairy tale is less well-known.
July 3, 2017
These annotated classics are staples at our house. We have read most of them. These "Annotated Books" contain introductory essays, plenty of explanatory footnotes, and illustrations and stills from both older book versions and productions. The hardcover editions look great on the shelf and are robust enough for our daily readings.
Our most recent read is The Annotated Brothers Grimm. These are mostly short tales. We read maybe three at a time. It was interesting to see the morals of these stories. These were definitely not written for 2017. And we have spent a lot of time trying to understand how these messages would relate to the people at the time. We also focused on why these tales were important. And sometimes, we'd just laugh at the absurdity without an expedition for meaning.
It seems that most tales require the protagonist to suffer for a reward, often without an explanation. Long suffering and hard work are staples. Valuable objects are sought and stolen. Most tales of love are based on tricks and misunderstandings. The wicked convert the innocent into animals, who then head out on quests to break the charm. There are plenty of disguises. The world is never as it seems. And we submit to forces we cannot control.
When our family reads classics, I don't really care if my kids enjoy them. They get enough song and dance from tv and radio and school. In my crotchety-old-man-opinion, we come to the classics, the classics do not come to us. I like that we exercise patience to uncover something great. And like most difficult things, it takes us a while to get accustomed to the the language and the sensibility of the book. I think that process of coming around is an invaluable life lesson. I always, always love that moment around 50 pages into a book where something clicks, you understand the characters and their culture, you see their ambitions and their values. All of the sudden, you can feel the created world of the author. Without some dedication to understand things outside of our culture, we are forever trapped, ethnocentric animals, living in an artificial, fragile bubble.
Whew, what a rant!
Our most recent read is The Annotated Brothers Grimm. These are mostly short tales. We read maybe three at a time. It was interesting to see the morals of these stories. These were definitely not written for 2017. And we have spent a lot of time trying to understand how these messages would relate to the people at the time. We also focused on why these tales were important. And sometimes, we'd just laugh at the absurdity without an expedition for meaning.
It seems that most tales require the protagonist to suffer for a reward, often without an explanation. Long suffering and hard work are staples. Valuable objects are sought and stolen. Most tales of love are based on tricks and misunderstandings. The wicked convert the innocent into animals, who then head out on quests to break the charm. There are plenty of disguises. The world is never as it seems. And we submit to forces we cannot control.
When our family reads classics, I don't really care if my kids enjoy them. They get enough song and dance from tv and radio and school. In my crotchety-old-man-opinion, we come to the classics, the classics do not come to us. I like that we exercise patience to uncover something great. And like most difficult things, it takes us a while to get accustomed to the the language and the sensibility of the book. I think that process of coming around is an invaluable life lesson. I always, always love that moment around 50 pages into a book where something clicks, you understand the characters and their culture, you see their ambitions and their values. All of the sudden, you can feel the created world of the author. Without some dedication to understand things outside of our culture, we are forever trapped, ethnocentric animals, living in an artificial, fragile bubble.
Whew, what a rant!
February 18, 2013
I have always been a huge fan of fantasy, fairy tales and folklore and this collection of tales certainly did not disappoint. I'm sure that part of my love for the Grimm's tales in particular comes from being raised by my German mother and interacting with her family in Germany. We always had several fairy tale books as children and my mother also incorporated scenes from fairy tales into several pieces of her artwork.
What made this book especially interesting to me was the analysis provided in the introductions and footnotes throughout the book. These really gave me a broader look at the meaning and history of these tales than I had ever really thought of before. I wish that I had read this earlier, as a lot of the information presented would have been very useful to me in my literature classes in my undergraduate schooling.
The tales themselves, with a few exceptions, were just as enjoyable and magical as I remembered them and there were even a few tales that I hadn't heard (or even heard of) before!
What made this book especially interesting to me was the analysis provided in the introductions and footnotes throughout the book. These really gave me a broader look at the meaning and history of these tales than I had ever really thought of before. I wish that I had read this earlier, as a lot of the information presented would have been very useful to me in my literature classes in my undergraduate schooling.
The tales themselves, with a few exceptions, were just as enjoyable and magical as I remembered them and there were even a few tales that I hadn't heard (or even heard of) before!
September 10, 2015
This is a lovely celebration and artistic continuation of amazing cultural phenomenon known as the " Brothers Grimm". Their tales have enchanted, enraptured and terrified children and adults alike for generations. This volume includes over forty of their well known tales including Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, Briar Rose, Rumplestiltskin, and The Golden Goose.
With over 150 paintings drawings and sketches, it brings to life some of the hidden scenes that we all know and love. There are also annotations examining historical, literary, and psychological importance of the tales. There are some new translations of the German brothers tales as well, as " Tales for Adults".
This was a book I had always hoped to find. Hidden meanings, hidden messages. " don't stray from the path" type of warnings, what did it really mean to children of that age, and century. There was so much more to each tale than just the simple story. This book helps to decipher them, and answers many questions.
With over 150 paintings drawings and sketches, it brings to life some of the hidden scenes that we all know and love. There are also annotations examining historical, literary, and psychological importance of the tales. There are some new translations of the German brothers tales as well, as " Tales for Adults".
This was a book I had always hoped to find. Hidden meanings, hidden messages. " don't stray from the path" type of warnings, what did it really mean to children of that age, and century. There was so much more to each tale than just the simple story. This book helps to decipher them, and answers many questions.
January 16, 2014
If you’re into fairy tales, this is the book for you! Surprisingly, this was not easy reading. I thought I could do a tale or two a night, but I found them pretty darn heavy and downright disturbing at times – and to think these were for children – and although simply written, this took me a year to get through! But, from a historical perspective, it was worth it. I would have rated this a 5 if I found the annotations more useful. I really enjoyed the “annotated” Dickens, and thought this would be similar – which it was – but the annotations threw me sometimes. In some stories, they just were stating the obvious, commenting more on symbolism in the story rather than the historical significance. Each story has a fascinating introduction which explains its origin. The illustrations are downright beautiful.
December 19, 2019
I have a huge, hardbound copy of this tome out from the library right now. It's beautiful, and I wish I had a coffee table to display it on.
On the downside, the book is uncomfortably large to hold and too big for the little book holder I have. I'm sitting at the dining room table to look at it. But I think the format only adds to its impressiveness.
I doubt I will ever read the whole thing. I'm just dipping into it in spots. The annotations--the history and tales behind the stories--are the most interesting part.
On the downside, the book is uncomfortably large to hold and too big for the little book holder I have. I'm sitting at the dining room table to look at it. But I think the format only adds to its impressiveness.
I doubt I will ever read the whole thing. I'm just dipping into it in spots. The annotations--the history and tales behind the stories--are the most interesting part.
Read
February 7, 2017To be honest I haven't read all of it but I read it last year and I am re-reading this is probably my favorite versions of fairy tales because, c'mon Disney, nobody is happy :) I love the gore and the realism and just everything about it is amazing!
January 31, 2018
3.5 stars
Mostly enjoyable fairytales, ranging from Cinderella to Little Red Riding Hood. It's amazing how the stories have been translated into well loved children's movies.
Next time I read this, and I will, I will skip the annotations and notes before each story. Both took away from the experience.
Mostly enjoyable fairytales, ranging from Cinderella to Little Red Riding Hood. It's amazing how the stories have been translated into well loved children's movies.
Next time I read this, and I will, I will skip the annotations and notes before each story. Both took away from the experience.
June 16, 2010
The Annotated Brothers Grimm is a collection or fairy tales and fictional stories. Some of these include classic fables like Hansell and Gretel and Rapunzel. This book also doesn't just tell the story or fairy tale, it explains the origin of the story, where the story started and much more information. the book is written in such a way that before the story starts you are informed with all the information you need, then you read the story and can really understand it.
September 24, 2021
I gotta say first that this edition is absolutely gorgeous, reading it was just pure pleasure, looking at the amazing illustrations and enjoying myself. I read most of the tales from this collection multiple times as a kid but a few still managed to surprise me, my favorite of them being Godfather Death.
November 27, 2017
This was great! Junior really enjoyed hearing these stories at bedtime. It was fascinating to read the original versions of many tales that Disney has made familiar (and changed substantially in the process!).
Currently reading
April 6, 2018I read the first edition of this years ago. Like i must have been around 12 or 13 when I read it, and it was formative to my love of folktales and mythology. I bought this bicentennial version a few years ago on whim, and hopefully I'll soon have time to actually crack the spine and read it.
March 25, 2022
Again.. cannibalism and death? Suffering and s**t? Fascinantana je preobrazba koju su price dozivjele kroz godine i generacije i promjenu publike
May 29, 2024
I hate to be harsh on a book, especially one so beautiful and classic as this. But I do not understand the hype around the Grimm fairy tales. Honestly every fairy tale in this collection is the same! They all have plots so terrible they seem almost random, and they share so many common elements it’s like reading the same thing over and over again. The annotations are simply not worth reading, either they give no insight at all, or they’re so far reaching in their attempt to make a connection with something that it’s not believable.
February 13, 2013
Once upon a time, I read selections of The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar for a folklore course. Back then, I was impressed by her scholarship, weaving a close reading of the stories with a sociologist's approach to Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and the environment in which they collected, edited, and published the famous fairy tales.
The same scholarship backs up The Annotated Brothers Grimm, but Tatar's text here -- limited as it must be to margin notes, introduction, and afterword -- can necessarily only give a summary and much-simplified analysis of the stories. As such, many of the notes are limited to comments on the structure of a story or a brief summary of another scholar's take, such as Ruth Bottigheimer or Bruno Bettelheim. Frankly, I had hoped for a bit more. Descriptions of alternate variants of the stories, and cross-culture comparisons, were more interesting.
Tatar does a good job of introducing the reader to the academic controversies and issues that surround the Brothers Grimm. Can we see prototypical Nazism in the stories, or in the intent of the brothers themselves, attempting to preserve what they could of "authentic" German character? Should the sex (edited out of the second edition) and violence (left in, or even escalated) disqualify the stories from children's literature? What about the overlay of Christianity and moralizing? Are the stories anti-Semitic? Materialistic? Sexist?
For the most part, Tatar doesn't weigh in strongly on any one side of a question, but it's all interesting stuff, and that's not even touching on the stories themselves. I've tried to get through the complete collection of the Brothers Grimm a few times, but only made it partway. The sheer number of stories, many of which (as folk tales do) feature the same elements, makes it hard to keep track of the plot and eventually my mind grows fuzzy. One selection of any tale type is probably enough for a single reading session. But with this annotated volume, Tatar has pared the collection down significantly. The most famous are here: "Cinderella," "Rapunzel," "Hansel and Gretel," "Little Red Riding Hood," "The Frog Prince," "The Elves and the Shoemaker," etc. If you know them primarily from Disney films or other sources, reading the Grimms' version is a fascinating study in the ways time, space, and cultural mores can shape a story. And the ways they can't.
This book also contains many lesser known tales, like "Furrypelts," "The Star Talers," and my personal favorite, "The Bremen Town Musicians." (Anyone who likes workers rebelling and/or animals outwitting humans should check that one out.) Curiously, folklorists' favorite "The Maiden With No Hands" is nowhere to be found, although "The Juniper Tree" is, in all its cannibalistic glory. There's nothing quite like a good fairy tale: the simplicity of the story, and the natural way unnatural and extraordinary events take place. I always find a new hero, someone to emulate and someone to identify with, whether I'm feeling like Dumling or the Brave Little Tailor.
Most of the tales appear here as they did in the Grimms' second edition of their collection, after the brothers realized that parents were in fact reading the stories to their children. The aim in the second edition became not preserving folk tales and styles of speaking for scholars to come, but providing stories that were entertaining as well as morally educational for children. This meant editing the text of many stories (suppressing hints of sex, and adding a gloss of Christian piety and morals to the tales) as well as simply excising others. So in a special section, "Tales for Adults," Tatar includes some of the tales that did not make the cut. Also included in the book are historical illustrations, from luminaries like Arthur Rackham; a biographical sketch of the brothers; preface to the first and second editions of the Grimms' collection; and a curious closing section of quotes from various famous folks weighing in on why they like (or don't like) fairy tales. Find the Terry Pratchett quote for bonus points.
I plan to follow up with Tatar's Annotated Hans Christian Anderson.
The same scholarship backs up The Annotated Brothers Grimm, but Tatar's text here -- limited as it must be to margin notes, introduction, and afterword -- can necessarily only give a summary and much-simplified analysis of the stories. As such, many of the notes are limited to comments on the structure of a story or a brief summary of another scholar's take, such as Ruth Bottigheimer or Bruno Bettelheim. Frankly, I had hoped for a bit more. Descriptions of alternate variants of the stories, and cross-culture comparisons, were more interesting.
Tatar does a good job of introducing the reader to the academic controversies and issues that surround the Brothers Grimm. Can we see prototypical Nazism in the stories, or in the intent of the brothers themselves, attempting to preserve what they could of "authentic" German character? Should the sex (edited out of the second edition) and violence (left in, or even escalated) disqualify the stories from children's literature? What about the overlay of Christianity and moralizing? Are the stories anti-Semitic? Materialistic? Sexist?
For the most part, Tatar doesn't weigh in strongly on any one side of a question, but it's all interesting stuff, and that's not even touching on the stories themselves. I've tried to get through the complete collection of the Brothers Grimm a few times, but only made it partway. The sheer number of stories, many of which (as folk tales do) feature the same elements, makes it hard to keep track of the plot and eventually my mind grows fuzzy. One selection of any tale type is probably enough for a single reading session. But with this annotated volume, Tatar has pared the collection down significantly. The most famous are here: "Cinderella," "Rapunzel," "Hansel and Gretel," "Little Red Riding Hood," "The Frog Prince," "The Elves and the Shoemaker," etc. If you know them primarily from Disney films or other sources, reading the Grimms' version is a fascinating study in the ways time, space, and cultural mores can shape a story. And the ways they can't.
This book also contains many lesser known tales, like "Furrypelts," "The Star Talers," and my personal favorite, "The Bremen Town Musicians." (Anyone who likes workers rebelling and/or animals outwitting humans should check that one out.) Curiously, folklorists' favorite "The Maiden With No Hands" is nowhere to be found, although "The Juniper Tree" is, in all its cannibalistic glory. There's nothing quite like a good fairy tale: the simplicity of the story, and the natural way unnatural and extraordinary events take place. I always find a new hero, someone to emulate and someone to identify with, whether I'm feeling like Dumling or the Brave Little Tailor.
Most of the tales appear here as they did in the Grimms' second edition of their collection, after the brothers realized that parents were in fact reading the stories to their children. The aim in the second edition became not preserving folk tales and styles of speaking for scholars to come, but providing stories that were entertaining as well as morally educational for children. This meant editing the text of many stories (suppressing hints of sex, and adding a gloss of Christian piety and morals to the tales) as well as simply excising others. So in a special section, "Tales for Adults," Tatar includes some of the tales that did not make the cut. Also included in the book are historical illustrations, from luminaries like Arthur Rackham; a biographical sketch of the brothers; preface to the first and second editions of the Grimms' collection; and a curious closing section of quotes from various famous folks weighing in on why they like (or don't like) fairy tales. Find the Terry Pratchett quote for bonus points.
I plan to follow up with Tatar's Annotated Hans Christian Anderson.
February 5, 2013
These tales come from the third edition of Household Tales by the Brothers Grimm, in which the brothers Grimm strived to remove content they deemed inappropriate for children (any and all allusions to premarital sexual relations for example, and the turning of mothers into step-mothers to preserve the sanctity of motherhood; descriptions of the gruesome punishments faced by the stories' antagonists are left pretty much intact, questionably) whilst setting a good example by making their protagonists more pious (adding the saying-of-prayers before bed in particular), and padding out the language somewhat. A section at the end of this collection is entitled "Tales for Adults", and these stories are somehow even bloodier, more ghastly, and discriminatory in a way that would nowadays be deemed unacceptable - not for the squeamish or easily-offended reader, and certainly not to be learned from, wherein they depart I should have thought, from the raison d'être of the fairy tale.
The annotations - whilst I might have preferred them at the end of each tale rather than preceding and throughout (in note form) - are highly interesting reflections on the stories themselves, covering variations of the fairy tale in question (how the French Little Red Riding Hood "Le Petit Chaperon Rouge" differs from the German "Rotkäppchen", say), edits made over time by the Grimms, and - where appropriate - explanations for sayings and mannerisms described in the story, and suggestions for the symbolic meaning of events. Such comments fashion a wise reader, and one who might look at fairy tales a little differently after reading them through. The illustrations are copious and lavish, but though varied, could have been more varied still. I would've liked to see some of Mervyn Peake's work included for example. The book also contains (amongst other material) a biographical essay (a nice addition for anyone interested in the brothers Grimm as philologists, folklorists and librarians), and a collection of quotations by notable authors (Charles Dickens, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Keats, Terry Pratchett, C.S. Lewis...) concerning the fairy tale genre.
The fairy tales collected by the brothers Grimm are less moving than stories of Hans Christian Anderson or Oscar Wilde for example, with happier endings (in general) and somewhat wackier content. In their revised 1819 form they are tamer than the collections of Charles Perrault and other such oral-folklore-put-to-paper, so as to make them appropriate as cautionary tales and moral teachings for a younger audience. However, the actions of their protagonists are not invariably commendable, and sometimes success is achieved more through luck than skill. The Grimms' tales are about as black and white as fairy tales get, but there are some charming stories to be found here and there, which are delightful right from Once Upon a Time through to Happily Ever After!
The annotations - whilst I might have preferred them at the end of each tale rather than preceding and throughout (in note form) - are highly interesting reflections on the stories themselves, covering variations of the fairy tale in question (how the French Little Red Riding Hood "Le Petit Chaperon Rouge" differs from the German "Rotkäppchen", say), edits made over time by the Grimms, and - where appropriate - explanations for sayings and mannerisms described in the story, and suggestions for the symbolic meaning of events. Such comments fashion a wise reader, and one who might look at fairy tales a little differently after reading them through. The illustrations are copious and lavish, but though varied, could have been more varied still. I would've liked to see some of Mervyn Peake's work included for example. The book also contains (amongst other material) a biographical essay (a nice addition for anyone interested in the brothers Grimm as philologists, folklorists and librarians), and a collection of quotations by notable authors (Charles Dickens, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Keats, Terry Pratchett, C.S. Lewis...) concerning the fairy tale genre.
The fairy tales collected by the brothers Grimm are less moving than stories of Hans Christian Anderson or Oscar Wilde for example, with happier endings (in general) and somewhat wackier content. In their revised 1819 form they are tamer than the collections of Charles Perrault and other such oral-folklore-put-to-paper, so as to make them appropriate as cautionary tales and moral teachings for a younger audience. However, the actions of their protagonists are not invariably commendable, and sometimes success is achieved more through luck than skill. The Grimms' tales are about as black and white as fairy tales get, but there are some charming stories to be found here and there, which are delightful right from Once Upon a Time through to Happily Ever After!
Read
February 8, 2016Even if one doesn’t enjoy The Lord of the Rings movies, one must admit that a great deal of hard work and dedication was put in by a considerable number of people. This lengthy volume may lack the number of contributors but the hard work shows here as well.
Some dude at the library was hogging the online catalog kiosk and the other two were down so I asked this old foreign library where I could find something by the Brothers Grimm. Perhaps, she was Germanic because she seemed rather pleased that I was looking for this and after five minutes, she pointed me in the right direction. I selected this volume out of all the others on the shelf because of the sheer beauty of it. It’s heavy as hell and the exterior gives it the image of importance and regality. The book is filled with beautiful reprints of engravings and colorful paintings inspired by the art and these really give life to this volume.
If you have a 11-14 year old girl who is an avid reader and likes this sort of thing, this is the perfect gift for her but it is by no means a niche book with a specific demographic like Twilight. In fact, the book begins with a thoughtful and informative essay from A.S Wyatt. My only criticism is that she spends way too much time talking about Hitler and the Holocaust.
Another great feature of this book is the marginalia provided by Maria Tatar. Not enough credit is given to executing footnotes, endnotes and marginalia in books. For example, I loved the Penguin Classics edition of Melmoth Wanderer but to save space within the body of the novel, the editor used endnotes, which were incredibly frustrating as I had to flip back and forth and it took away from Maturin’s electric prose. We don’t have that problem here. The book is designed so that if you want to stop and read the comments, you can but if you want to read your niece a bedtime story, they won’t interrupt that. Also, the tales are short enough that you can read it once and go back and look at the notes.
My one problem with this volume has to do with the original Grimm brothers who are the P.Diddys of the German oral tradition, taking much of the juice and vulgarity out of other people’s tales in order to make it more conducive to children. Also, the Grimm Tales suffer from the same syndrome that afflicts network television these days. Just as TV shows from McGuyver to NCIS suffer for being formulaic, so do these tales.
This book is the Peyton Manning of books. Once you realize that the actual text isn’t good or as in Peyton’s case not good anymore, you have to make everything damn near flawless around it and so lucky, this book is also the Denver Broncos of books and has all the Von Millers, Demarcus Ware’s and TJ’s Ward to make the literature, which is kind of boring, look that much better. Nice Super Bowl reference; you’re welcome.
Some dude at the library was hogging the online catalog kiosk and the other two were down so I asked this old foreign library where I could find something by the Brothers Grimm. Perhaps, she was Germanic because she seemed rather pleased that I was looking for this and after five minutes, she pointed me in the right direction. I selected this volume out of all the others on the shelf because of the sheer beauty of it. It’s heavy as hell and the exterior gives it the image of importance and regality. The book is filled with beautiful reprints of engravings and colorful paintings inspired by the art and these really give life to this volume.
If you have a 11-14 year old girl who is an avid reader and likes this sort of thing, this is the perfect gift for her but it is by no means a niche book with a specific demographic like Twilight. In fact, the book begins with a thoughtful and informative essay from A.S Wyatt. My only criticism is that she spends way too much time talking about Hitler and the Holocaust.
Another great feature of this book is the marginalia provided by Maria Tatar. Not enough credit is given to executing footnotes, endnotes and marginalia in books. For example, I loved the Penguin Classics edition of Melmoth Wanderer but to save space within the body of the novel, the editor used endnotes, which were incredibly frustrating as I had to flip back and forth and it took away from Maturin’s electric prose. We don’t have that problem here. The book is designed so that if you want to stop and read the comments, you can but if you want to read your niece a bedtime story, they won’t interrupt that. Also, the tales are short enough that you can read it once and go back and look at the notes.
My one problem with this volume has to do with the original Grimm brothers who are the P.Diddys of the German oral tradition, taking much of the juice and vulgarity out of other people’s tales in order to make it more conducive to children. Also, the Grimm Tales suffer from the same syndrome that afflicts network television these days. Just as TV shows from McGuyver to NCIS suffer for being formulaic, so do these tales.
This book is the Peyton Manning of books. Once you realize that the actual text isn’t good or as in Peyton’s case not good anymore, you have to make everything damn near flawless around it and so lucky, this book is also the Denver Broncos of books and has all the Von Millers, Demarcus Ware’s and TJ’s Ward to make the literature, which is kind of boring, look that much better. Nice Super Bowl reference; you’re welcome.
April 2, 2015
The Annotated Brothers Grimm edited by Maria Tatar and introduced by A.S. Byatt is the collection of the original Brothers Grimm fairy tales. Their stories were gorier than how they are told today. When the stepsisters’ feet do not fit in the shoe, they cut off their toes and heels to make them fit. The Grimm Brothers were trying to show what greed can make people do. The stepsisters wanted to marry the prince so bad that they had to result to harming themselves. This is showing that humanity can be a gory thing. Greed can lead people to commit all sorts of actions. By incorporating these gory and harsh acts in their stories, the Grimm Brothers were able to show the reader that life is not always pretty. The things that humanity results to can be very upsetting to see. These fairy tales were written to help people get out of their minds. None of these stories are realistic. Though many people wish they could have a fairy tale life, the chances of that happening are slim to none. However, the Grimm Brothers wrote these stories to help people dream and imagine about what their life could be. In a way, their stories were inspirational. When people read these beautiful and extravagant stories, they could strive to have a life of determination, persistence, love, and hope. These stories were also just a way of escaping from reality.
Many of the Grimm Brothers’ fairytales are still told to this day. However, they have been altered and changed throughout time. The story of Cinderella we know is a beautiful story about love, hope, and courage. Although the original Cinderella story had the same intentions, the details were completely different. When one thinks of Cinderella, they usually also remember the fairy godmother. We are told that Cinderella was transformed to go to the royal ball by her fairy godmother. However, this was not what was originally written. Cinderella was actually given a “dress of gold and silver” and “slippers covered in gold” by doves that lived in the tree she planted by her mother’s grave (122,125). Another major difference is that Cinderella did not wear glass slippers. She was given gold slippers by the birds. Some of the major details we associate with the Cinderella story are not true. This story has been changed throughout time to become very unrealistic. This story was changed to prevent children from having to hear the gory details. Though this was just meant to help protect those listening to the story, the meaning behind the original story is lost today. By reading this book, I was able to see a different level of meaning behind these fairy tales that I never knew about.
Many of the Grimm Brothers’ fairytales are still told to this day. However, they have been altered and changed throughout time. The story of Cinderella we know is a beautiful story about love, hope, and courage. Although the original Cinderella story had the same intentions, the details were completely different. When one thinks of Cinderella, they usually also remember the fairy godmother. We are told that Cinderella was transformed to go to the royal ball by her fairy godmother. However, this was not what was originally written. Cinderella was actually given a “dress of gold and silver” and “slippers covered in gold” by doves that lived in the tree she planted by her mother’s grave (122,125). Another major difference is that Cinderella did not wear glass slippers. She was given gold slippers by the birds. Some of the major details we associate with the Cinderella story are not true. This story has been changed throughout time to become very unrealistic. This story was changed to prevent children from having to hear the gory details. Though this was just meant to help protect those listening to the story, the meaning behind the original story is lost today. By reading this book, I was able to see a different level of meaning behind these fairy tales that I never knew about.
July 10, 2015
I grew up with "Through Fairy Halls of My Bookhouse", fairy tales from around the world, told in beautiful prose. To start in on the Brothers Grimm was at first a disappointment, as the style was very simple and straightforward. Tales were short and to the point. Almost dry. I had always heard that the original tales were not meant to be children's tales. Perhaps I expected to find those original tales, rather than the set finally published as children's stories. (I ended up learning that these are further altered by the editor.)
The style of writing did grow somewhat on me. It was interesting to read familiar and unfamiliar stories (especially the adult fairy tales at the back). It was interesting to gain understanding into how Grimm fairy/folk tales were used politically to build "good German values."
One thing I liked about the annotated book was the introduction to each story. These gave history, comparing earlier versions collected or written by the two brothers and versions of similar stories told in other countries. Often the introductions provided academic analysis and related modern day adaptions in books and movies. It stirred a desire to read more adult versions from the different authors who influenced the Grimm tales or who were themselves influenced by the Grimm tales. The annotations in the margins were not of as much interest. I loved the illustrations from various artists.
I enjoyed the back section which went into the editor's analysis of the fairy tale genre, and the two forewords written by the Brothers Grimm (each serving as a preface to the two volumes in their first edition of "Children's Stories and Household Tales.") These prefaces, in the brothers' own words, gave insight into their research, analysis and beliefs concerning the important role of fairy/folk tales.
In the end, if I were reading fairy tales to my grandchildren, I would search out a more lyrical and rich interpretation of these traditional folk tales. I instantly ran back to "Through Fairy Halls." I could now see the patterns of the genre. Still felt these were more magical in the telling. Next, I plan to revisit "the Coloured Fairy Books" of Andrew Lang, which I also grew up reading.
The style of writing did grow somewhat on me. It was interesting to read familiar and unfamiliar stories (especially the adult fairy tales at the back). It was interesting to gain understanding into how Grimm fairy/folk tales were used politically to build "good German values."
One thing I liked about the annotated book was the introduction to each story. These gave history, comparing earlier versions collected or written by the two brothers and versions of similar stories told in other countries. Often the introductions provided academic analysis and related modern day adaptions in books and movies. It stirred a desire to read more adult versions from the different authors who influenced the Grimm tales or who were themselves influenced by the Grimm tales. The annotations in the margins were not of as much interest. I loved the illustrations from various artists.
I enjoyed the back section which went into the editor's analysis of the fairy tale genre, and the two forewords written by the Brothers Grimm (each serving as a preface to the two volumes in their first edition of "Children's Stories and Household Tales.") These prefaces, in the brothers' own words, gave insight into their research, analysis and beliefs concerning the important role of fairy/folk tales.
In the end, if I were reading fairy tales to my grandchildren, I would search out a more lyrical and rich interpretation of these traditional folk tales. I instantly ran back to "Through Fairy Halls." I could now see the patterns of the genre. Still felt these were more magical in the telling. Next, I plan to revisit "the Coloured Fairy Books" of Andrew Lang, which I also grew up reading.
May 7, 2008
The edition I read was The Annotated Brothers Grimm edited by Maria Tatar. I recall having an edition of Grimms' Fairy Tales as a kid, but I don't think I got very far with it because there weren't many pictures and the type was very tiny so all the stories could fit into a smaller volume.
As an adult with a semi-scholarly bent, I found the introduction and annotations very insightful. Each tale has a brief introductory statement to set the stage for personal contemplation. Most of the tales are pretty short, which makes it an ideal book to read during lunches or on breaks at work. The book also has references at the back if anyone wants to do further research on fantasy in children's literature, the use of fantasy and fairy tales in helping children conquer fears, etc... very interesting stuff in those annotations. There's also illustrations from various editions of the Tales, which are much appreciated! :) It's also interesting to see how children's book illustration has changed over the years!! (Pick up a copy of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and compare - very funny book by the way!!).
Highly Recommended for all readers. It's especially interesting to read the "original" versions of popular tales and the comments on them, even though we've all grown up with alternate versions of these stories that are more fleshed out. Much more violent than I remember from my childhood. Also, according to the notes, a lot of the violence was added by the Grimms even while they expunged a lot of the sexual content for their young reading audience. Weird.
As an adult with a semi-scholarly bent, I found the introduction and annotations very insightful. Each tale has a brief introductory statement to set the stage for personal contemplation. Most of the tales are pretty short, which makes it an ideal book to read during lunches or on breaks at work. The book also has references at the back if anyone wants to do further research on fantasy in children's literature, the use of fantasy and fairy tales in helping children conquer fears, etc... very interesting stuff in those annotations. There's also illustrations from various editions of the Tales, which are much appreciated! :) It's also interesting to see how children's book illustration has changed over the years!! (Pick up a copy of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and compare - very funny book by the way!!).
Highly Recommended for all readers. It's especially interesting to read the "original" versions of popular tales and the comments on them, even though we've all grown up with alternate versions of these stories that are more fleshed out. Much more violent than I remember from my childhood. Also, according to the notes, a lot of the violence was added by the Grimms even while they expunged a lot of the sexual content for their young reading audience. Weird.
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November 3, 2016This reading is full of wonder. Maria Tatar's translated, edited, and annotated version of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm has been done to excellent effect. The annotations help unpack the layers underneath & atop these fairy tales. The variety of illustrations that Tatar has selected adds to the wonders to behold. The introduction by A.S. Byatt is expansively informative. The appendices offer wonderful boons as well: with a few original intros/prefaces by the Grimms as well as a biographical essay, current readers get an insightful look at how early readers of the Grimm collection met the tales. Also included in the appendices, "The Magic of Fairy Tales" is a passionate collection of thoughts from masters on fairy tales. I highly recommend reading "The Magic of Fairy Tales" before you get too far into the collection. With insights from Walter Benjamin, Tolkien, Sylvia Plath, Naomi Lewis, John Ruskin and a host of others, readers' chakras are sure to opened and finely tuned for curious tales of wonder.
I had never read most of the "original" versions of these tales -- though many had seeped into my consciousness through popular means. The "originals" are without a doubt, wonder tales. It's hard to pick a favorite among them, but "The Magic Table, Golden Donkey, and Club in the Sack" was rather captivating. I'm sure I'll find new favorites as I reread the tales, for as Italo Calvino notes, "Through the forest of fairy tale the vibrancy of myth passes like a shudder of wind."
I had never read most of the "original" versions of these tales -- though many had seeped into my consciousness through popular means. The "originals" are without a doubt, wonder tales. It's hard to pick a favorite among them, but "The Magic Table, Golden Donkey, and Club in the Sack" was rather captivating. I'm sure I'll find new favorites as I reread the tales, for as Italo Calvino notes, "Through the forest of fairy tale the vibrancy of myth passes like a shudder of wind."
August 2, 2012
This is our current bedtime read. I keep forgetting that my son is having a different childhood than I had, and that he didn't spend asthmatic afternoons stuck in bed with books. So he's not as fairy-tale literate as I was at his age. Also, he's old enough to be interested in the origin story of these stories as well as the stories themselves. So we're enjoying this collection and its introduction and footnotes.
--Just finished. This is a fine selection. The most famous tales rub shoulders with more obscure offerings. Maria Tatar included my favorite story, the clunkily titled "A Fairy Tale about a Boy Who Left Home to Learn about Fear;" but I loved reading grim stories that were new to me like "Godfather Death," "The Hand With The Knife," "How Children Played Butcher With Each Other," and the single-paragraph "The Stubborn Child" (hint: he does *not* come to a good end).
Speaking of grim stories: Was anyone else confused as a child by the coincidence of grim and Grimm? I remember starting a collection of the stories when I was young, and having to close it unfinished -- too much cannibalism, too many chopped-off heads. I looked at the name on the cover and wasn't sure if it meant that these stories were grim (which they certainly were) or if that was the name of the authors (which seemed like a scary coincidence).
--Just finished. This is a fine selection. The most famous tales rub shoulders with more obscure offerings. Maria Tatar included my favorite story, the clunkily titled "A Fairy Tale about a Boy Who Left Home to Learn about Fear;" but I loved reading grim stories that were new to me like "Godfather Death," "The Hand With The Knife," "How Children Played Butcher With Each Other," and the single-paragraph "The Stubborn Child" (hint: he does *not* come to a good end).
Speaking of grim stories: Was anyone else confused as a child by the coincidence of grim and Grimm? I remember starting a collection of the stories when I was young, and having to close it unfinished -- too much cannibalism, too many chopped-off heads. I looked at the name on the cover and wasn't sure if it meant that these stories were grim (which they certainly were) or if that was the name of the authors (which seemed like a scary coincidence).
April 25, 2012
This is required reading for anyone even remotely serious about fairy tales. Good for reading for pleasure--as an adult or to a child--and wonderful for scholarship. The main drawback is that it's not the complete tales, but the original editions of Kinder und Hausmarchen eventually accumulated so many stories that some started to seem like duplicates of each other, so this is a selective editing. What you really want that this edition has to offer is Maria Tatar's editing; the Harvard professor and world-renown fairy tale/children's lit scholar translates and gives useful annotations as well as writing an introduction, selecting illustrations and providing additional back matter. The annotations are informative without imposing an interpretation or talking down to the reader; they mainly give you the information you need to let you interpret for yourself what is going on in the story. She also includes lesser-known Grimms tales (to American audiences, at least), and arranges stories in the collection purposefully. And the presentation of the book is beautiful. This would be the perfect edition if only it had the complete tales.
March 18, 2012
I have a few copies of the Brothers Grimm, and this one is definitely my favorite. I like the selection of tales–it's a good representation of the stories, instead of the usual books that only highlight the very famous tales, like Snow White. There is also a good representation of tales with active male and female protagonists, instead of the usual emphasis on the Grimm's weeping princesses. The scholarly essays included are also fascinating. I particularly enjoyed A.S. Byatt's introduction.
Then there are the annotations. Oftentimes I find annotated collections to be annoying. They tend to interrupt the flow of reading unnecessarily, with information that you didn't really need. Maria Tatar avoids this pitfall. Her annotations are always interesting, and relevant both to a general reader and someone who might be looking at the tales from a scholarly perspective. Overall, this is a great addition.
Plus, it's beautiful! It actually looks like a book of fairytales.
Then there are the annotations. Oftentimes I find annotated collections to be annoying. They tend to interrupt the flow of reading unnecessarily, with information that you didn't really need. Maria Tatar avoids this pitfall. Her annotations are always interesting, and relevant both to a general reader and someone who might be looking at the tales from a scholarly perspective. Overall, this is a great addition.
Plus, it's beautiful! It actually looks like a book of fairytales.
June 18, 2013
My kids (ages 7 and 5) and I loved this book. We didn't read all of the fairy tales, only the well-known half. Children's stories these days are so happy and delightful compared to the non-watered down versions! My kids were shocked, perplexed, and amazed by the descriptive and sometimes scary text. They entered a world that wasn't Disney and were intrigued. The stories are just the right length and sure kept their attention even without many pictures. My daughter and son asked me every day to read her another one. Afterward, we would discuss the lessons learned from the story and, on their own, they came up with many. It was fantastic to experience that with them. They also learned new vocabulary without it being too over their heads.
As for the annotations...I learned a few things but generally they weren't as educational as I had hoped.
If you have young children I highly recommend reading them the '"real" fairy tales.
As for the annotations...I learned a few things but generally they weren't as educational as I had hoped.
If you have young children I highly recommend reading them the '"real" fairy tales.
February 7, 2013
Two brothers aptly named collected German folk tales in the early nineteenth century. Here are the unvarnished tales many of which we only know from the sanitized Disney versions. The German tales are scary and violent. Similar tales in other countries are bawdy but not the German variant . When the allies overturned the third reich they banned these tales because of the violent cast. Thus, in Sleeping Beauty the wicked witch is given iron shoes heated in the fire and she dances to her death. Or take Cinderella where when she meets the prince she has two birds peck the eyes out of the selfish step sisters. These original tales would not pass the censor of my daughter Alison who would not dream of me reading them in the original to my darling grand-daughters. Still these tales are more alluring than the flat and lifeless Disney tales. They are well worth a read.
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