Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version (2012)

Wonderful book - best overall condensation of Grimm I've encountered. ( )

Very well told - will buy own copy. Loved these in childhood in an older version

I've read a few fairy tales books (from a Disney series) when I was a kid. Cinderella, for example, was one of them. But later on, when I really got into reading, I never really checked back on those kinds of stories, be them by Grimm or other authors.

It was by chance that I saw this book, Grimm Tales, in a bookshop. Reading the back cover, I thought it would be interesting to read such fairy tales, if only to have some variation in my collection.

Grimm Tales, one of the many books out there collecting tales from the brothers Grimm, who got their stories from other people, is a collection of 53 tales. Philip Pullman reworked them a little for this edition. He also added with each tale its history, a reference to similar tales (by different authors), and his findings on the presented tales.

Also interesting is the introduction, in which mr. Pullman tells about the brothers Grimm and how their tales collection came to be. Plus, he explains what's typical for a fairy tale, what a good tale should contain, what not, etc. So it's not just a compilation of tales, but it has added info, which makes the books more interesting and valuable.

The tales themselves are of course not all equally good/entertaining/..., but the majority is. Most of them involve rich vs poor, typical characters like princes/queens/kings/witches/... and talking animals.

All in all, I found Grimm Tales a very entertaining and informative read. Depending how old you are, it may bring back memories from your childhood. ;-) But as the subtitle says, it's for "Young and Old", i.e. everyone. ( )

I grew up reading Andrew Lang's color fairy books, so none of the stories collected here are really new to me. However, Pullman's informative and often snarky remarks after each tale are well worth the read. ( )

"I want to be God. I want to cause the sun and the moon to rise. I can’t bear it when I see them rising and I haven’t had anything to do with it. But if I were God, I could make it all happen. I could make them go backwards if I wanted. So go and tell the flounder I want to be God.’’

A volume of retellings of the tales that became famous through the effort of the Grimm brothers. Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, the Twelve Dancing Princesses, Rapunzel are here along with more obscure - and more obscure interesting, I'd say- tales of princesses and witches, brave lads, wise animals, foolish kings, devils and spirits.

Do we need retellings when the original material is so loved and popular? It depends. I am in favour of a writer's new view on a classic tale as long as the heart of the story remains intact. In this case, Philip Pullman created versions that are gritty and sassy. However, there were issues that significantly diminished my overall impression of this effort.

Pullman's notes at the end of each tale may be considered "informative" by many readers. Not by me, though. Pullman frequently diminished other writers’ versions or even the origins and the concepts of the stories themselves. I found this rude and unprofessional, to say the least. I mean, you are not exactly Shakespeare yourself, dear writer.

Overall, an average effort and a showcase of a writer’s huge ego…

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/ ( )