The Grimm Reader: The Classic Tales of the Brothers Grimm

by Maria Tatar, A.S. Byatt (Introduction)

Forty of the most famous and celebrated stories from the Brothers Grimm translated and edited by a leading professor of folklore. Even after two hundred years, the tales collected by the Brothers Grimm remain among our most powerful stories. Their scenes of unsparing savagery and jaw-dropping beauty remind us that fairy tales, in all their simplicity, have the power to change us. With some of the most famous stories in world literature, including “Cinderella,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Hansel and Gretel,” “Snow White,” as well as some less well known stories like “The Seven Ravens,” this definitive collection promises to entrance readers with the strange and wonderful world of the Brothers Grimm. Maria Tatar’s engaging preface provides readers with the historical and cultural context to understand what these stories meant and their contemporary resonance. Fans of all ages will be drawn to this elegant and accessible collection of stories that have cast their magical spell over children and adults alike for generations.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Short Stories, Germany, Anthologies

368 pages, Paperback

First published August 9, 2010

About the author

Maria Tatar is the John L. Loeb Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures. She chairs the Program in Folklore and Mythology at Harvard University. She is the author of Enchanted Hunters: The Power of Stories in Childhood, Off with Their Heads! Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood and many other books on folklore and fairy stories. She is also the editor and translator of The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen, The Annotated Brothers Grimm, The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales, The Annotated Peter Pan, The Classic Fairy Tales: A Norton Critical Edition and The Grimm Reader. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Sheila Dane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read of old stories. The translation is fresh and true to the inner life of fairy tales. Maria Tatar has done a great job of being true to the original stories, in all their glorious brutality. The introduction by A.S. Byatt is a thoughtful discussion of fairy tales and their function in a culture and Tatar's collection in particular. Tatar's introduction gives a thorough background for the book, including something of the lives of the brothers Grimm. It was fun to revisit the fairy tales. I was often put in mind of the magical world of Wiley Coyote and the Roadrunner when reading of the brutalities enacted on the various characters. As Byatt so aptly points out, one must keep in mind the culture in which the majority of the fairy tales were created. Public hangings and other horrific acts were a daily reality. If one equates the rough stuff in the fairy tales to the likes of Wiley and Roadrunner it is perhaps easier to take. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the annotated version even more.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading & re-reading a few tales at a time (haven't made it through every last one) but I loved the format of the book (what tales were chosen, how they were set up), the cover art is gorgeous and it's just a great collection for older kids or adults. Of course, there are no elaborate illustrations or any fancy trimmings but I think that's what I love about it. The book itself is beautiful without being one of those gawdy things. Perfect for teens and adults just learning the stories or wanting to revisit them in later years.

[Allen Radtke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had this collection of stories read to me while recovering from eye surgeries and I was under a reading interdict. It was very enjoyable hearing these tales, and remembering well some from childhood. Not the sort of thing I would have otherwise encountered late in life. Many are starkly morality tales, about how to live, what to do and not do. "What goes around, comes around", and that sort of thing. The stories are accessible on several levels - some at a level for kids and some at a much deeper level for those who've been around the block a couple of times and gave it some thought on the way. Some are scary, some are funny, some are gruesome and some have quite striking bits of wisdom, folk and other.

[Sixpencesong · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is essentially the text that was published with the beautiful hardback Norton annotated edition of Grimm's fairy tales. It feels a bit strange to rate a book as less because of its format when it is basically the same text, but I would give the hardback Norton annotated edition a 5 and the kindle edition a 3. Maria Tatar's insights and the accompanying material just aren't as serendipitously delightful in this version. I would really, really love to see the Norton annotated editions created as iOS apps - that is a digital version I would happily pay the full hardback copy price for.

[Bob Koshy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fairy tales are our first teachers and playmates. Teachers of morals and playmates hidden with depths of fantasy worlds. The Grimm brothers spent their lives dedicated to literature, history, linguistics and most importantly preserving the past and its ancient wisdoms. All these stories have existed for centuries before Grimm but they were one of the first who set it to paper. Rediscover your childlike innocence and playfulness as you discover and rediscover these classic fairy tales.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairy tales are much more Thani initially meets the eye. Their is deep meaning in many of them and they initiated and evolved to meet very real needs in the minds of children. Separation anxiety, Oedipal complexes, relationships, trust, values to name a few. This is certainly a definitive collection with commentary and analysis. I s is very worthwhile to revisit these stories with an adult eye.

[Sherri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Library copy had an amazing bibliography and illustrations

[Kathryn Pritchett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty grim alright.

[Gabii · Rating 5 out of 5]

To think there’s either more than Snow White OR someone *cough*dizknee*cough* spent time erasing her siblings 😭

[Sudi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The classic tales are always a good read.

[L12_luisespinoza Espinoza · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of all the famous Grimm Brothers classic tales from well-known tales such as "Cinderalla" and "Snow White" to lesser-mainstream tales the likes of "The Robber Bridegroom" and "The Devil and His Three Golden Hairs". There is also a section towards the back of the book (Part II) titled "Tales for Adults" which includes tales such as "The Jew in the Brambles" and "The Hand with the Knife". These tales are translated by Maria Tatar who has chaired the folklore and mythology program at Harvard University. The reading I focused on was the tale of Little Red Riding Hood. The translation of Maria Tatar included all the main parts of the tale that I remember reading as a young child and being told by my parents and teachers growing up. It included the parts like "Oh, Grandmother, what big ears you have!" and the huntsman who "took out a pair of scissors and began cutting open the belly of the sleeping wolf." The text also had a couple of small illustrations within a rectangular shape drawn in black and white that would definitely not appeal to a young audience.

The selection also had an interesting addition after the story was told that extened on Little Red Riding Hood's story. It told of a time when Little Red Riding Hood went again to visit her grandmother and ran into another wolf along the path. This time, however, she decides to stay on the path (as opposed to the first time) and tells her grandmother about her encounter with a wolf. Soon after, the wolf comes knocking on grandmother's door trying the same trickery as the wolf in the orignal version of the story. This time, though, grandmother and Little Red Riding Hood end up tricking the wolf into sliding from the roof of grandmother's house into a trough filled with water where he ends up drowning. I believe this short addition to the story was told as a way of reinforcing the moral of the original tale.

Overall, this reading was fairly easy and the book (which includes over 40 of the Grimm Brothers' most well-known tales) would serve well for an upper middle-school to high school english classroom. It would also be very appropriate for instruction related to traditional literature focusing on tales. Part of the instruction can entail comparing various translations of these tales by different authors and one such book that can be used to compare could be Grimms' Fairy Tales, translated by Mrs. E. V. Lucas, Lucy Crane, and Marian Edwardes with text illustrated by Fritz Kredel.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like all Norton anthologies, this one has too many inane and obnoxious footnotes. Some of the footnotes are actually quite interesting, though, as is the preface by A.S. Byatt. The translations of the original prefaces by the brothers Grimm (actually written by Wilhelm?) are perhaps the most interesting part of this collection, revealing a true Romanticism with a capital R. I like the way Tatar places the tales in the contexts of nineteenth-century German nationalism and antisemitism. I find some of the colloquial expressions in the translations too informal and specific-- I feel they'll date the translation terribly in just a few decades.

[sara frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first Brothers Grimm book and I thought it was most excellent. Tartar did a good job of being invisible so I felt like I was reading Grimm's fairy tales, not Tartar's. The stories I especially enjoyed were:

The Fisherman and His Wife

The Brave Little Tailor

The Bremen Town Musicians

The Magic Table, the Hold Donkey, and the Club in the Sack

The Elves

[Monique · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the selection of fairy tales in the book, some were not quite as well known such as Furrypelts and The Singing Soaring Lark. Others are the standard fare, Snow White and Hansel and Gretel. One that stands out, for me, is Godfather Death. Death is the great moderator of us all. Though fairy tales are usually described as "flat" this tale felt very rich.

[Carrie Chaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a great presentation of the classic tales from the Brothers Grimm. The introductions from both Byatt and Tatar were excellent, engaging and informative. It's an edition I'll keep for myself and read to my children.

[Janine · Rating 4 out of 5]

i never read any Grimm as a child. its not that i wasn't interested, but it was never around to piqued my interest. man, i missed out on some juicy tales. excellent collection of strange, weird, and animal-heavy tales of manners, ethics, and dastardly deeds.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty much as advertised. A lot of classic tales written by people with, well, less than subpar literary skills. But an interesting and quick read nonetheless.

[Aubrey Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading the actual fairy tales, always so deep and disturbing.

[Tessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice literal translation of the classics. I was always curious to read the non kiddie versions of the stories.