Fairy Tales of the Russians and Other Slavs

by Ace G. Pilkington, Olga A. Pilkington

New for the Kindle Active Table of Contents This book contains the broadest selection of Russian and other Slavic fairy tales and legends currently in print, with sixty-eight stories, ten newly translated. Even those who have read all of the Afanasiev collection of Russian Fairy Tales will find something new—four stories never before published in English. It includes a detailed glossary, an introduction, and a comprehensive bibliography. What Critics and Readers Say about the “I have only praise for their choice of stories, and for their organization.” D. L. Ashliman, noted folklorist, author of Folk and Fairy A Handbook and many other volumes. "Fairy Tales of the Russians and Other Slavs reminds us that the stories that inform our ideologies are old, insightful, and significant. It is the kind of book that anyone interested in Eastern European cultural traditions simply must have." Matthew Wilhelm Kapell, anthropologist, historian, editor of Star Trek as Myth, and other scholarly collections. “The resources in the back show careful and sophisticated scholarship. As I look through the text, I keep thinking, ‘This is a book that was destined to be for these writers, a work of love and enjoyment.’ I look forward to more such collaborations from these authors.” Professor Ed Reber, English and Folklore, Dixie State College. “I purchased this delightful book for a research paper. I enjoyed the stories so much that I read ‘Vassilissa the Beautiful’ to my daughters. They absolutely loved it, my seven-year old exclaimed, ‘It is like Cinderella, but better!’ We have nearly finished the book and dearly hope there will be a sequel. I am thrilled my daughters have discovered the joy of using their imaginations to experience grand adventures in new worlds. I am grateful for the book that was instrumental in that discovery. I just wish they would let me take it out of their room.” Jeremy Lister.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Mythology, Classics

440 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 11, 2009

About the author

Ace G. Pilkington has published over one hundred poems, articles, reviews, and short stories in five countries. He is an active member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and the author of Screening Shakespeare from Richard II to Henry V. His essays are included in Cambridge University Press's Shakespeare and the Moving Image, and in McFarland’s Star Trek as Myth, and The Films of James Cameron. He is co-editor with Matthew Wilhelm Kapell of The Fantastic Made Visible: Essays on the Adaptation of Science Fiction and Fantasy from Page to Screen. He is a co-translator and co-editor with his wife Olga of Fairy Tales of the Russians and other Slavs. Ace’s book Science Fiction, Futurism, and the Terms and Ideas Behind Them is forthcoming from McFarland in 2015. He is Professor of English and History at Dixie State University and Literary Seminar director at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, which produced his play Our Lady Guenevere in their New Plays series. He has a D.Phil. in Shakespeare, history, and film from Oxford University.

Reviews

[Bryce · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up enjoying Russian fairy tales involving Baba Yaga, so was pleased to find such a large compendium of Russian and Slavic stories involving the witch as well as many other colorful characters.

For those that grew up on Western European fairy tales, there will still be a lot of familiar elements here: Plucky kids, terrifying witches, happy endings that often involve marriage or fortune. But there are some differences as well. More houses on chicken feet, plucky kids that are punished just as often as they are rewarded, and a certain feeling of arbitrary luck -- bad luck strikes just as often and unpredictably as good.

Very enjoyable, especially when another retelling of Cinderella just doesn't cut it.

[Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this. Russian tales have a different feel compared to French or German stories and I am happy to have this book in my collection. I wasn't as charmed as I thought I would be, until I got to the "undead" section, or anything with the Baba Yaga. Loved those stories!

Besides personal preference I think my biggest problem has to be with the format. The introduction, while full of interesting information, needed to be cleaned up in terms of citation with a different style. There were also stories where it seemed characters were switched or I couldn't tell who was speaking.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This seems to be a pretty good mix of fairy tales and there was obviously a lot of thought that went into the research and translation. There's a great glossary in the back. It was written as a textbook for his class, though, and I kind of wish that he'd also published the syllabus with it too, because reading them through felt a little hollow with no purpose in mind other than to familiarize myself.

[Kyrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a long time to get through this book. It's 400+pages. It gets very repetitive. It is often not clear who is speaking because the use of quotation marks is random. Also, the translation leaves something to be desired, or the glossary needs more words.

Still, if you like Russian folklore, it's got a lot of it. And if you only read one or two a week, it gets less repetitive.

[Rachel Robins · Rating 5 out of 5]

My professor and his wife wrote this and it is wonderful! Great fairy tales from Russia and other countries. Interesting to see similarites and differences between these and the more familiar Grimms. Worth the read :-)

[Jeremiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

good stories 4 the whole family. how could you not like a story about a Baba Yaga living in a house built on chicken legs.

[The Grimm Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

All the stories in this work were good, but the formatting left much to be desired.