Customer Reviews

The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm All-New Third Edition

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book not only comes with almost 300 stories, but a introduction that covers the Grimm brothers lives and their gathering of the stories. In the end it also has a very thick glossary that covers the credits of each story, most even say who the exact source the story came from. It's a literary masterpiece full of the Grimm's collected folklore and almost thirty new stories that I myself have searched for everywhere and couldn't find exept in this copy. Don't let the different names of a few of the stories through you though, every story had origanaly abuot five names and are referred to by anyone in different editions and company's prints. This is truely a grand buy for anyone who just wants to have a book with some illustrations and tons of stories for thier kids, or wants to reseach them. If this is for kids, I'm sure you know to be careful, some of the stories are very gruesome.

I believe anyone who wants to discover the origins and roots of their favorite fairy tales should read this book. Many stories, such as Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, are in this collection. But there are some differences in the content. Many stories are more violent and gruesome than the stories we are used to. Many tales end in a horrid death. Some stories are nothing like the ones known today. Hansel and Grettel has nothing to do with a candy house and a children-baking witch! Therefore, I would not recommend this book to young children or to parents who would read this to their children. Also, if you are looking for lots of pictures, this book is not for you. Out of the 55 stories, there are only about 15 pictures, which are hard to make out. Most of the stories run with the same theme of princesses and magical creatures. Therefore, I would have to recommend Grimms' Fairy Tales to avid readers who do not get easily disturbed by bloody descriptions or get bored by same-concept stories.

This is a superb collection of the Grimms Tales. It even includes various tales that have been left out over the years. The English translation makes this the best version of the stories.
However, please discuss some issues with kids if you give this book to them, such as story 110- The Jew in the Thornbush and various violent aspects of some tales.
Some more illustrations would have been nice as well, but all in all, as stated, a superb collection of the Tales.

Being a great fan of the brothers grimms fairy tales, this book was one of the best investments I ever made. It has countless stories to read for both adults and children. This book translates really well and also has the original german titles in the back. It covers all the famous tales by the brother grimms ever made with great detail. It even has some drawings among a few tales that add well to this wonderful book.

These are actually quite hillarious! So many are quite random and seem to make no sense, and will provide hours of laughter for all you bored people out there.
Forget Disney--these are uncensored and not apologizing to anyone. And little kids will get used to them. It's not an especial problem to all you new-age "don't scare the children!" types. Besides...you can talk about them with the kids afterwards;)
Ah, German fairytales:>

In regards to a previous review, there are a few things to consider when reading the Brothers Grimm. They are not stories for today's children, nor were they intended for children when they were written. If you read the review given above, it clearly states that this collection is more of a nostalgic indulgence. I love to reread my favorite fairytales and see what Disney was hiding from us. It's fun! Not to sound too "Gore is cool," but I'm older now-- I can handle the evil stepsisters cutting off their heels or toes to fit in to the glass slipper. And the beheadings, while gruesome, simply reflect the time period of the stories.

Also, let us remember that while there may be a reference to God here and there, this is NOT a religious book. For example, the story "Peasant in Heaven" struck me as one big joke! While some feel it is teaching the wrong lesson, I read it a timeless punch line-- the angels celebrated because hardly any rich men get in to Heaven. Ha! It's like a stupid man getting into Harvard or Yale. With Eve's children, the same basic principle applies. It's not that the Grimms were saying, "Beauty is everything, and ugly children deserve a beating." Sometimes to learn a lesson, you must make a mistake. This story is put here not to learn the what to do, but what NOT to do. Lessons can be learned more effectively sometimes by negative reinforcement.

The writing is good, I think, for a translated text. repeated text in a fairytale is necessary, I think, to drive home a point. Some characters need to say the same exact thing in different situations in order to reveal the irony and the comedy behind some stories. The endings might be predictable to some people since we know the basic theme behind most of them and the fairytale pattern is repeated for all the stories.

...well, what's that? (If you don't know what I mean, read the other reviews and figure it out).

To sum it up, Grimms is not for kids, but for adults who like to revisit their childhood. Sometimes the stories will make you, laugh, perhaps even cry or cringe, and sometimes you'll learn a lesson or reinforce an old one. Either way, this book is part of history. ...

A splendidly colorful book full of children's favorite stories. It can be, however, deceitful. Behind the familiar tales are the well developed plot twists, just as the Brothers Grim wrote them. The Frog Prince, for example, is a wonderful and familiar story of love. One might recall the famous kiss the frog pleads for for rescuing the princess's ball. Instead of a kiss, he is thrown against the wall of her room because she disgusts him so. In the enormous blow he becomes a prince. They ride away to the prince's kingdom in his carriage and they live happily ever after. Strange, no?
Many favorites with original twisted endings can be found in this classic book of fairy tales; a bedtime favorite.
I would recommend this book to any mature audience who would enjoy such strangely magnificent stories. 4 stars.

While I was impressed with Zipes translation I was incredibly disappointed with the quality of the paper. This is the "Library" binding, which is basically the paperback pasted into a laminated cardboard jacket too small for the volume. The paper itself is of the poorest grade recycled stuff, true pulp. Save yourself some money (and disappointment) and just get the paperback. I guess I'll keep looking for a volume I'm not ashamed to put on my bookshelf.

Although there are some stories in this book that I would not recommend for children, This is a great book for adults. I love the stories, and the Historical Commentary on the Grimm Brothers at the beginning of the book.This Book is much more exciting then the Disney Watered down tales!

Like most children, I grew up with the stories of Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretal, Rumpelstiltskin, Snow White and a host of other Grimms Fairy Tales. Now I am grown, my children are grown, and I just happened upon this book and decided to treat myself, to bring back memories of a past childhood maybe. Well, it didn't completely do that, as the stories are certainly not, for the most part, the stories that I knew as a child. They are not the glossed over, perfect happy endings that we think of when we think of 'Fairy Tales'. This book has the tales the way they were originally written, complete with enough violence, blood-shed and gore that would make even Freddie Kreuger cringe. But they are also full of humour, life lessons and morals that we could all learn from. The notes at the back of the book are also very informative. Each story title is given it's original German translation, with information on when it was first published and the source from whence it came. The section of Omitted Tales is particularly interesting. These tales were originally ommitted due to either their gruesomeness, similarity to other tales or for other reasons stated in the notes at the back. For those people who want the 'real stuff' and not the 'sugar coated variety' then this is for you. Highly recommended.