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Gypsy Folk Tales
Stretching back many ages to the Gypsies' origins in India, maintained throughout their dispersion over six continents and centuries of persecution, enslavement, and invisibility, the Gypsy oral tradition has accumulated a vast and diverse treasure of folktales. That tradition continues vigorously to the present day.
The 80 stories published in this volume, many for the first time in English, some for the first time in any language, are gathered from 31 countries, including India, France, England, the U.S., Greece, Sweden, Syria, Argentina, Russia, and Turkey. Here are tales in which young mothers become vampires and wolves become lawyers; where ostracism, poverty, hunger, and death are countered by resourcefulness, hospitality, and magic. Here are tales that offer imaginative explanations of why the Gypsies live all over the world, why they have no church and no alphabet, why they love music; tales that link the Gypsies' past to their recent successful efforts to organize against oppression.
As varied as the tales are the tellers - factory workers, musicians, novelists, shopkeepers, dancers, professors, lacemakers, political activists - who are identified in the headnotes to individual stories. In these notes and in their introduction, Diane Tong discusses, among much else, Gypsy values, beliefs, and customs as revealed in the tales. The vivid storytelling and Tong's perceptive annotation combine to show how the Gypsies see themselves and the world.
The 80 stories published in this volume, many for the first time in English, some for the first time in any language, are gathered from 31 countries, including India, France, England, the U.S., Greece, Sweden, Syria, Argentina, Russia, and Turkey. Here are tales in which young mothers become vampires and wolves become lawyers; where ostracism, poverty, hunger, and death are countered by resourcefulness, hospitality, and magic. Here are tales that offer imaginative explanations of why the Gypsies live all over the world, why they have no church and no alphabet, why they love music; tales that link the Gypsies' past to their recent successful efforts to organize against oppression.
As varied as the tales are the tellers - factory workers, musicians, novelists, shopkeepers, dancers, professors, lacemakers, political activists - who are identified in the headnotes to individual stories. In these notes and in their introduction, Diane Tong discusses, among much else, Gypsy values, beliefs, and customs as revealed in the tales. The vivid storytelling and Tong's perceptive annotation combine to show how the Gypsies see themselves and the world.
272 pages, Paperback
First published April 19, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 5, 2022
This was such a fun and unique collection of stories. I really like how the collection of gypsy stories was gathered from all around the world and how at the beginning of each story there is a short paragraph about the story's origin. Some of the stories in this book were very familiar to other folk tales from different cultures, which shows that even though gypsy culture has a strong foundation it was still influenced by outside cultures.
February 26, 2011
This was an interesting collection of folk tales from a segment of society I don't know much about.
It was 80 stories in 252 pages, so a lot of them were very short. It made this a very quick read, but also a slightly fragmented one. Most of the tales felt familiar, like fairy tales I grew up with, either told from a different perspective or with a Romani protagonist. Some of the stories weren't even overtly Romani; they were about a generic king, or princess, or man.
The author's notes at the beginning of each tale didn't always add something, but they were often helpful, and pointed out what aspects we were finding out of Romani culture.
Oddly, this is the first time I feel like I got a balanced view of Romani culture. While many of the Romani in these stories were thieves or cheaters, there were a lot who were clever, hard-working, or just plain misunderstood. It gave a number of different perspectives, instead of presenting the stereotype or the extreme end of placing a whole culture on a pedestal to treat them as if they're magical.
I enjoyed this book, and the bibliographic references are a gold mine of further information.
It was 80 stories in 252 pages, so a lot of them were very short. It made this a very quick read, but also a slightly fragmented one. Most of the tales felt familiar, like fairy tales I grew up with, either told from a different perspective or with a Romani protagonist. Some of the stories weren't even overtly Romani; they were about a generic king, or princess, or man.
The author's notes at the beginning of each tale didn't always add something, but they were often helpful, and pointed out what aspects we were finding out of Romani culture.
Oddly, this is the first time I feel like I got a balanced view of Romani culture. While many of the Romani in these stories were thieves or cheaters, there were a lot who were clever, hard-working, or just plain misunderstood. It gave a number of different perspectives, instead of presenting the stereotype or the extreme end of placing a whole culture on a pedestal to treat them as if they're magical.
I enjoyed this book, and the bibliographic references are a gold mine of further information.
August 4, 2008
This was fun book to read. Many of the tales are the same, with the word "gypsy" instead of farmers daughter, princess, etc. etc. Having recently had gypsies living next door to me, even reading these tales helped me to appreciate their feeling of uniqueness more than I had. Our neighbors were very nice, but ah, yes different. Finally got themselves evicted. Nana liked to give me food, as she usually cooked too much.
September 12, 2026
This is one of my favorite tale collections I've ever come across.
Unlike any other collection, this book includes notes from the author prior to each tale that tell you more about who the teller is, where they're from, and any relevant details about how the story was told or what cultural context is present. I wish more people did this!!
All of the author's notes in the introduction, afterwards, and tale introductions seemed well researched and anthropologically sound, which is crucial for avoiding harmful stereotypes in a collection featuring the Romani people. The author even mythbusts! The bibliography is full of great sources that I'm already following down the rabbit hole.
The tales themselves are fun. Often involving witty protagonists who get out of scrapes using loopholes or riddles. They're all varied in length and arranged "like a storytelling night around a fire" so the reading experience is super interesting.
I also LOVED that some of the takes were transcribed word for word in dialect! This made it feel even more like we were witnessing real storytelling from real people.
10/10, highly recommend to anyone interested in folklore or Romani studies.
Unlike any other collection, this book includes notes from the author prior to each tale that tell you more about who the teller is, where they're from, and any relevant details about how the story was told or what cultural context is present. I wish more people did this!!
All of the author's notes in the introduction, afterwards, and tale introductions seemed well researched and anthropologically sound, which is crucial for avoiding harmful stereotypes in a collection featuring the Romani people. The author even mythbusts! The bibliography is full of great sources that I'm already following down the rabbit hole.
The tales themselves are fun. Often involving witty protagonists who get out of scrapes using loopholes or riddles. They're all varied in length and arranged "like a storytelling night around a fire" so the reading experience is super interesting.
I also LOVED that some of the takes were transcribed word for word in dialect! This made it feel even more like we were witnessing real storytelling from real people.
10/10, highly recommend to anyone interested in folklore or Romani studies.
November 10, 2017
I found this collection to be well presented, well referenced, informative and easy to read. Each folk tale is presented with a short blurb explaining where and when it was collected as well as any other relevant informaiton that might help a reader to understand it. The collection is a joy to read. I would highly recomend this book to people interested in folklore.
May 16, 2024
Sin más. Al principio bien, luego ya aburre porque es siempre lo mismo.
January 21, 2026
Enjoyed the tales both familiar and unknown.
October 24, 2014
These folk tales were both valid research for my story (the origins of the Gypsies she travels with) and nice to share with my family whenever they ask me what I'm reading.
This book's a compilation of what people say. Also, it was helpful to identify this kind of people, not necessarily "from Romania" as I'd supposed in the past but they can come from everywhere, the thirty-one countries. It's more a lifestyle than a national origin.
So I am thankful to have pulled this book off the shelves.
This book's a compilation of what people say. Also, it was helpful to identify this kind of people, not necessarily "from Romania" as I'd supposed in the past but they can come from everywhere, the thirty-one countries. It's more a lifestyle than a national origin.
So I am thankful to have pulled this book off the shelves.
August 14, 2012
A strong, thorough, and broad assembly of folktales from the Rom people. Tales appear from a variety of sources, frequently introduced by editor Tong's notes on the stories. Linguistic clarity sometimes gets sacrificed to authentic voice. Good primer on basic Romani folklore, with a degree of cultural awareness built in by the editor.
June 3, 2009
This is an interesting collection of gypsy folk tales from Europe and America. A number of the stories are similar to folk tales found in most cultures, but others were completely unfamiliar to me, including explanations of why gypsies wander and tales justifying gypsy begging.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews