The Complete Fairy Tales of Brothers Grimm

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.

The brothers captured much about the German spirit in theircollection of fairly tales, including those aspects of it thatresonate with human nature in general. Most of the tales have German folk origins, some are remakes of French tales, and a few, well... may have been invented by the women who supplied the brothers with fairy tales. The Grimms were academics. Cultured and urban, they did not hang around the villages, pestering peasants for fairy tales. Rather they obtained their material from middle class and aristocratic women who visited their home and related the stories. The women themselves got their material from their mothers or nannies. Wilhelm and Jacob, however, produced an inspired collection of tales with their own distinctive character and flavor. Perhaps they were prodded by the erotic impulse to do that. The tales have certainly withstood the test of time.There is a lot of good natured, blue-eyed German innocence in these tales; strange, dark, and grotesque imagery and symbolism can surely be found; and of course, anyone reflecting on these tales, cannot help by think of all the grusome violence. For some of the most graphic examples of violence check out "Fichter's Bird" and "The Robber Bridegroom" in the first volume. Strangely enough, children do not seem to be disturbed by the violence of these tales. I read this book for the first time when I was seven or eight, and I was fine--perhaps I wasn't old enough to realize what was really happening. Of course, my experience is typical of the way children respond to these tales. I am more disturbed by Grimm's tales as an adult. Their violence, combined with dark imagery and symbols of darkness (ubiquitous forests), irrational behavior (read "Clever Hans" or "Katy and Freddy"), strong pagan themes ("Gambling Hans"), all this combined with certain naivte and matter-of-factness makes you fear that culture and people a bit."The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm" is a masterpiece, as revealing of the times and culture, as they are imaginative and grim in their images and storylines.

An excellent collection of the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. Its good to find collections of their tales out there that are not just watered down versions. Jack Zipes, who has also translated wonderful editions of the thousand and one nights and a collection of French Fairy Tales(both highly recommended) does an excellent job with the Grimms and provides interesting commentary about the orgins of the tales. My favorite story in particalar was one about a tailor, I can't remember the name.(Yes, I know there are a million stories about tailors but this was the one where the tailor gets blinded and his traveling companion treats him horribly) This edition even includes all of the stories that were even too violent for the Grimm Brothers. One called "How Some Children Played at Slaughtering" is especially unappetizing. All in all I recommend this book to anyone who would like a little enchantment in their lives. By the way, the cover of this book is just gorgous, nice illustrations inside also.

The fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm date back to centuries ago, but only in the 19th century were they written down and collected. An avid fan of fairy tales, I consider this an important treasure. These are the original, untouched-by-Disney, pure tales. All 250, incluidng 40 never before seen, are in this. Many are actually redos of the same tale, but always with a different twist. They are full of gore and violence and everything else, but I've been reading them since I was little. The author Jack Zipes also provides plenty of history notes on the collecting, writing, and translating of the tales and the lives of the Brothers Grimm. All in all, 'tis excellent collection!

True, some (but not all) of the Brothers Grimm stories are gruesome and parents would find it unesay reading them to their children as fairy stories, but then they were never intended to be read predominantly by, or to, children. The Brothers Grimm wrote down their collected oral tales mainly for the bourgeois audiences of 19th century europe, and Jacob Grimm said that whilst the stories were mainly for an adult readership, the fact that children were also beginning to read them was just a bonus. Certainly many of the tales are different to the sweet and innocent versions portrayed by Disney. Don't expect to find cute little animals here! However, expect to find tales with a moral and a recipe for living, as prevelent today as they were nearly 200 years ago. It's a great book, especially with the added bonus of Zipes' introduction which details the history of the Brothers Grimm and their reasons for writing down the tales. Buy it to read to yourself, not your children!