Introduction:

Maria Tatar introduces the stories and some of the variations in different editions. She also delves into the politics that have helped some stories become well known and helped keep others obscure.

Organization:

There is a table of contents, but the stories are in no discernable order.

The stories themselves:

This collection takes readers closer to the original tales and include incest, sex, and graphic violence. The stories are rough and sometimes hard to understand. For example, I could not understand why the daughter who had fled the castle and the incestuous advances of her father, the king, later purposefully let her identity be known to him.

These stories are excellent reading that should help tellers understand these folk tales better. They may be tellable as written to an adult audience. However, I feel that an audience that is not well-versed in the oral tradition my need some help in understanding them or putting them into context.

The illustrations have a lurid quality that intensifies the feeling of uneasiness.

Source Notes:

Selected stories from the 3rd ed. (1822) of Kinder- und Hausmärchen by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.

©2004 Librarians.info. All rights reserved. Karen Woodworth-Roman Last updated 5 May 2004.