Grimm Reality

I received this book as a gift from my sister. Upon reading the reviews she was skeptical to buy it, thankfully she bought the book regardless.(Thank you, Thank you!!!)

I don't see the poor quality that many have discussed.The pages are thin of paper but thick with words and quality to captivate a Fairy Tale lover. Oral story telling has been a tradition for centuries, and this book keeps that alive. These stories are definately memorable and after you've read them you can tell them over and over.

I remember many of these stories from my childhood. They're rich with imagery. Maybe many of them were never intended for small children... but if you can look past the grim images of some stories you will find a deep lesson. I even see some religious symbolism in some of the tales which border on same idea lines as Biblical stories.

I disagree with the negativity and poor ratings this book has gotten. I think it is a must have for the Literature and Fairy Tale collectors (if not for the quality of the book, then definately the quality of the stories therein). Considering that early versions of the book were written in 1812 and its still sold widely today, there must be something about it that causes people to wonder about those brothers Grimm.

Give this book a second glance!!

OKAY STORIES, OKAY COPY

Not all the stories in this book are winners, and you can take a LONG time reading all of them. For the longest time I'd been hearing that Disney's version of these Grimm classics are much cleaner. No kidding. But being a hardcore fantasy reader, I like all the violence and dark senses of humor that the Grimm brothers have. Generally, for every 10 stories you read, you might find two that you like and one that you REALLY like. As for the actual book, the pages are apparently NOT acid-free, which means that it was cheaply made. It is still hardback, though. I'm not a HUGE Grimm fan, but there were enough illustrations for my taste. Along the same lines, I don't care if the works are out of order--what matters is that they're translated decently. I still hold that there is--somewhere--a better Grimm's book to be found--hence the 3 stars. Apart from all that, this is a good bargain bin book--which is where I found it. My favorite stories--so far--are The Frog Prince, Cinderella, The Three White Snakes, and The Youth Who Could Not Shiver and Shake.

Good for what it is

My experience was this book was bad, but that was my fault for not reading the other reviews before buying it. If you know what you're buying, it's a good book (which is why I'm giving it four stars).

I bought this to read with my children. Don't do that unless your kids are teenagers at least. The original stories aren't meant for small children. At a minimum the kids get bored; at the worst, they'll be terrified.

I didn't care for the quality of the book myself; it looks like it was layed out by somebody that normally designs dictionaries or phone books. But you might like dense copy and inconsistent illustrations.