The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales, Deluxe Edition (Literary Classics (Gramercy Books)) by Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm Summary and Reviews
|
Our Price: $19.99 Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served. Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales, Deluxe Edition (Literary Classics (Gramercy Books))
Book Review: Grimm brother's fairy tales a little less grim
Summary: 3 Stars
These are the classic fairy tales that we heard as children, but they are not the original grim fairy tales written by the Grimm brothers. If you are looking to have a copy of the grim Grimm brothers then keep looking.Book Review: Wonderful Reading for any Age!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Brothers' Grimm wrote beautiful fairy tales, and they can be enjoyed by all ages. I think I enjoyed them most when I read them to my own children, but I have read them again since, and enjoyed them again. I read this collective edition in order to get all of them at one go, so to speak. The Brothers' Grimm were not writers by profession. They were scientific philologists, but decided to make up a collection of folktales. They spent thirteen years gathering the tales from various sources, and then put them down in writing in order to preserve them. Everyone knows these tales, but to name a few - The Frog Prince, Rumplestiltskin, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. These tales have endured and been loved for many years, and Disney has made some very memorable animated movies out of quite a few of them. Read them for your enjoyment, and to recapture a little of your lost youth.Book Review: Not a very good edition
Summary: 3 Stars
Regarding the fairy tales: The Grimm brothers collected fairy tales from all over the Germanies and published the collected stories in 1812. Historically and culturally this is very important because we have a glimpse into an oral tradition back when oral tradition was alive and well. Many are surprised to find that the stories aren't Disney rated. They have gore and all.
Regarding this particular release of the Grimm Fairy Tales: The paper is bad quality. I have the 1981 edition and the pages are already very very yellow. The illustrations are in many different styles by four different artists. They aren't bad, but given the presentation and the fact that they are a mixed bag they come across that way. The translation by Margaret Hunt was originally published in 1884, and the language feels a little stale today.
This is an adequate copy of the text if you just want to read through it. It isn't durable, it isn't archival and it isn't good quality paper or presentation. These stories have been around long enough that they are now public domain and can be found for free in many locations online, if you just want to check out the original Grimm version of a story. (Paper is easier on the eyes, so there is a place for a poor quality widely available edition.) Libraries will want a more durable edition. Yep a better quality edition is a good idea for families too.
Book Review: save your money: poor translations/newsprint-like book
Summary: 1 Stars
You don't need to trust me--you can look inside the book and get a load of the first translation of the "Frog King" which is unreadable. Someone just took an old translation and reprinted it on poor quality paper. This does not do justice to the tales.Book Review: Good for what it is
Summary: 4 Stars
My experience was this book was bad, but that was my fault for not reading the other reviews before buying it. If you know what you're buying, it's a good book (which is why I'm giving it four stars).I bought this to read with my children. Don't do that unless your kids are teenagers at least. The original stories aren't meant for small children. At a minimum the kids get bored; at the worst, they'll be terrified.
I didn't care for the quality of the book myself; it looks like it was layed out by somebody that normally designs dictionaries or phone books. But you might like dense copy and inconsistent illustrations.