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Loading... The Pink Fairy Book (original 1897; edition 2004)by Andrew Lang, 1844-1912
Work InformationThe Pink Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (1897)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. An impressive collection of stories. A lot of them had the same features but very different than the usual Grimm Bothers Fairy Tales. I'm planning on going back to some of the stories to have a read again - they were that interesting. A lot of youngest sons and poor girls being the heroes. ( ) Another one of Andrew Lang’s colorful collections of fairy stories and folk tales, this time diverting from a mostly European collection to include a heavily animal-based collection of Scandinavian and Japanese stories. Artist H.J. Ford returns with another gorgeous set of plates and illustrations, his princesses unmatched in intricate detail. The stories feature classic tales of princes, princesses, and assorted magical folk and creatures.The collection loses half a star because, as another reviewer noted, “as is usually the case with Lang's collections, the writing is clear and enjoyable, but highly colonial.” The English versions are all completed from previous European translations, making for a supremely unreliable editor who has purged much of the local flavor from some of the tales, making even some of the exotic folk tales seem traditionally European. For those looking for a classic source of obscure or unusual fairy tales not found in Disney’s repertoire, however, Andrew Lang’s extensive collection is a wonderful, if slightly repetitious addition to any school or public library. A collection of fairy stories and folktales from around the world. This installment of the coloured fairy books does include stories from Japan, Italy, Africa and Spain, but there's a real emphasis on Scandinavian stories. Several of Hans Christian Anderson's less morbid stories help open the volume, and a large number of the remaining stories hale from Sweden and Denmark, in particular. The tales themselves are a combination of prince and princess stories, (with differing levels of fairy involvement), brother stories and animal fables, with the occasional story about simple folk who make good. As is usually the case with Lang's collections, the writing is clear and enjoyable, but highly colonial. It's virtually impossible to tell where each of these stories originated based on the writing style. Lang has purged them of all local colour and regional feel. Many of the animal stories are easily identifiable for obvious reasons, (ie, leopards are not native to northern Europe), and sometimes the climate helps determine the location, but in most cases I wouldn't have recognized the source country from the story itself. If you're looking for careful ethnography, these collections probably aren't the way to go. If you're just interested in entertaining stories, however, or are looking for a bit of a nostalgia trip, they can be a good resource. The illustrations are another high point. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to SeriesBelongs to Publisher Series
Fantasy.
Juvenile Fiction.
Folklore.
HTML: The Fairy Books, or "Coloured" Fairy Books is a collection of fairy tales divided into twelve books, each associated with a different colour. Collected together by Andrew Land they are sourced from a number of different countries and were translated by Lang's wife and other translators who also retold many of the tales. The collection has been incalculably important and, although he did not source the stories himself direct from the oral tradition he can make claim to the first English translation of many. First published in 1897, The Pink Fairy Bookis the 5th volume in this series. .No library descriptions found.
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)398.21Social sciences Customs, Etiquette, Folklore Folklore Folk literature Tales and lore of paranatural beings of human and semihuman formLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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