405 pages
English language
Published Oct. 29, 2012 by Viking.
Two centuries ago, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published the first volume of Children's and Household Tales. Now Philip Pullman, one of the most accomplished authors of our time, makes us fall in love all over again with the immortal tales of the Brothers Grimm.
Thoroughly enjoyed this, including the context and explanations by Pullman - made it educational for adults, not just a slightly antiquated read for kids. Left me wondering if anyone has written a set of modern urban fairy tales, either adapted from these or written from "scratch" (as much as you can write any short stories from scratch).
Having read Bruno Bettelheim's "Uses of Enchantment" over a decade ago, I was impressed to see a few internal references to it. I was also glad that Pullman included his end notes to each story giving the story type, similar tales from other cultures, as well as his own personal notes about the stories as well as how they either worked or didn't work.
Not having read any fairy tales in several decades, however, I'm mostly reminded how terrifically graphic these stories are and that they're not generally the type of things I would read to any child under the age of 12. Perhaps as a society we shelter our children (especially from graphic images in tv and video games) in a way that previous cultures just didn't. I imagine part of it stems from the fact that these stories were told in the 1800's for a very different audience …
Having read Bruno Bettelheim's "Uses of Enchantment" over a decade ago, I was impressed to see a few internal references to it. I was also glad that Pullman included his end notes to each story giving the story type, similar tales from other cultures, as well as his own personal notes about the stories as well as how they either worked or didn't work.
Not having read any fairy tales in several decades, however, I'm mostly reminded how terrifically graphic these stories are and that they're not generally the type of things I would read to any child under the age of 12. Perhaps as a society we shelter our children (especially from graphic images in tv and video games) in a way that previous cultures just didn't. I imagine part of it stems from the fact that these stories were told in the 1800's for a very different audience - one in which he village "knacker" was a regular presence. (I have to think that it wasn't a very common profession given that I know lots of people with the name "Miller" or "Fletcher", but almost none who go by "Knacker".)
It's only mentioned very tangentially in relation to the German translation into English of a few words in the notes, but Pullman does remind us that the Brothers Grimm collected these stories, in part, as a philological exercise for their research into the evolution of language. Having heard references to this in Seth Lerer's work on the English language which I came across recently makes me want to delve more deeply into these roots.
Rereading these stories certainly gives me a better appreciation of the culture in which we live. I highly recommend them to all.
