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The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales | 
 enlarge | Author: Maria Tatar
Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr
Category: Book
List Price: $45.00
Buy Used: $15.30
You Save: $29.70 (66%)
Used (5) from $15.30
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 1679760
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 302
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.8 x 6.5 x 1
ISBN: 0691067228
Dewey Decimal Number: 398.210943
EAN: 9780691067223
ASIN: 0691067228
Publication Date: November 1987
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: No highlights or markings. Corners slightly creased.
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Book Description
"Tatar's main concern is with the enduring hold of the tales on children's imaginations. Why should they enjoy stories about other children sent out to die in a wood, or being victimized by cruel stepmothers, or given impossible tasks to perform, and (if female) forced to marry frogs or bears? . . . The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales--related in language that is sharp, lively, and free of jargon--is delightful evidence that Grimm scholarship can give pleasure to the general reader." --Janet Adam Smith, New York Review of Books "For scholars, students, and general readers, Tatar's book is a balanced, sensitive, and informative guide to the content and context of Grimms' fairy tales." --Merle Rubin, The Christian Science Monitor " . . . intelligently eclectic and refreshingly commonsensical, a thoughtful ramble through the dark childhood woods that haunt our adult dreams."--Carl Maves, San Francisco Chronicle
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Profoundly Disappointing December 19, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
It would be an understatement to say that I greatly anticipated the reading of this book. I am terribly fond of fairy tales (who among us isn't?) and looked forward to an engaging, informative handling of the content of the Grimms' tales, with a focus on the unchildlike elements so common in the stories due to their original intent to reach mature audiences.
Unfortunately, I was profoundly disappointed in this book. The book lacks clarity and organization; the entire 'feel' of the writing is that of a dissertation that was haphazardly expanded to 'book size'. The writing pulls in various different directions, often seemingly at random, with no clear view of why a certain topic was handled when it was, nor how it led into the next discussed topic. "Herding cats" is a phrase that comes to mind; "whiny and tired children" would also apply here.
For example, in the first chapter ""SEX AND VIOLENCE: The Hard Core of Fairy Tales", Tatar deals only briefly with the puzzlement of sex and violence in popular children's literature before moving on to spend the bulk of the chapter on the Grimms' financial difficulties, publishing woes, irritation over displeased critics, as well other such varied and broad themes as the differences in vernacular between various editions, the misfortunes of modern compilers who have not had the older, less heavily edited versions available, and authors who failed to realize that the "Grimms" author were two people, not one. Most of these topics, as the shrewd reader will note, have little or nothing to do with sex/violence in Grimms' fairy tales or any others.
Another flaw in this book leading to a "dissertation" feel is Tatar's obsession with diagrams. Multiple diagrams are devoted to detailing the difference between "fairy" tales and "folk" tales. This is NOT a topic that interested me whatsoever, and the multitude of pages devoted to it was deeply annoying. What does the difference between a fairy/folk tale have to do with the "hard facts" of the Grimms' tales? Nothing, as we later find out. It's just something Tatar is interested in. Slightly more pertinent is the number of diagrams devoted to detailing the relationships between various story archetypes, but once again, I did not buy this book to learn about the archetypes of fairy tales, but rather to deal with the "hard facts" of the Grimms' tales - sex, violence, abandonment, the fact that a number of endings were NOT "happily ever after" - and the lack of serious treatment of these grim topics makes me feel that this book was misnamed in an attempt to drum up sales.
I seriously considered giving the book 2 stars for my disappointment with the lack of title-related subject matter, but I finally settled on 3 stars, simply because I still found the result to be mildly interesting. If you want a book on deconstructing fairy tales in general, this is a decent resource, if somewhat dry and boring. If you want a book on the grim realities of the Grimms' tales, look elsewhere.
Interesting August 13, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The book is quite interesting but rather academic. I had the feeling I was reading someone's PhD thesis, albeit an interesting one.
The Riddles Of Classic Fairy Tales April 7, 2004
17 out of 22 found this review helpful
I have read several of Maria Tatar's books for critical fairy tales analysis.
The book is lush with beautiful drawings and the writing style is acutely very good, and very easy to read, and understand.
However, I just really wasn't impressed because I had known most of the information that was presented in thisvolume.
I acutely would recommend her novel The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales and her up coming book The Annotated Brothers Grimm ( this also looks very interesting. )
The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales ( to me at least. ) Would be a good starter point for someone who really wants to know the truth about fairy tales.
More recommend for new comers who want's great art work and something easy to read.
 close look at the uncensored tales January 20, 2003
21 out of 21 found this review helpful
It was really interesting to find out about how the Grimm's collection was put together and how it was rewritten. I was surprised to read that the Grimms added violence in order to make the stories more parent-friendly--I guess parents in those days really believed that punishments would produce virtue. Loved the stories at the end, which are pretty hair-raising.
I was surprised to learn that these stories went so far back in time and that they were originally for adults.
Could be better November 27, 2002
11 out of 25 found this review helpful
Maria Tatar's book, while excellent lacks focus. She needs more information in some areas, while in other areas, she needs entirely new sections. It is an excellent book, but you may not find all the information you're looking for. For instance, I was reading the sex and violence section, and she would go on for pages about the sources the Brothers used. While this can pertain to the section title, she strayed to much, and I felt the section was lacking information on sex and violence.
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