Tracy Arah Dockray

See author's note on the title page for the sources, primarily the third edition of 1822, except for three tales from the first edition in 1812 translated by Maria Tatar, who also wrote the introduction explaining why these dark and generally unknown tales were chosen for the book. She especially notes that the original tales were conitnually edited and sanitized by the Grimm brothers for successive editions, as they moved from their original collection for scholars to popular versions for children.

Contents: The Juniper Tree; The Three Army Surgeions; The Robber Bridegroom; Hans My Hedgehog; The Willful Child; The Death of the Little Hen; The Goose Maid; The Three Snake Leaves; Aschenputtel; The Crows; Prudent Hans; Fowler's Fowl; The Girl Without Hands; Allerleirauh; The Mother-in-law; The Dog and the Sparrow; Rapunzel; Little Brother and Little Sister; The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn How to Shudder.… (altro)

So yesterday I sat down to read for a bit after coming inside from cutting wood. But alas, I couldn't find the book I was reading, not sure where I put it or if someone picked it up and moved it without my knowledge. Disappointed I began to look for something else to read. I wasn't ready to give up on that other book and start something long and involved, then I stumbled across this book sitting on my shelf and thought that it might be a nice interlude between other books.
Pleasantly surprised, two hours later I wrapped up this collection of fairy tales and had a whole new outlook on those fairy tales we knew so well as children. Gone were the stories where everyone lived “Happily ever after” and here we were back to the originals, where the evil step sisters have their eyes plucked out by crows, a father chops off her daughters hands to satisfy the devil, a mother kills her stepson and chops him up for stew. This was an interesting look back at what the children’s stories used to be and it’s fun to see how much our modern, sensitive culture has stripped from these classic tales.

This collection only scratched the surface of what the Grimm brothers collected and according to the well written introduction, even they sanitized the original folk tales some for inclusion in their books.

Great reading for those interested in seeing how far our modern fairy tales have strayed. Recommend this one and am looking for other collections of Grimm’s originals.… (altro)