r/books discussion

I've always been a fan of old folklore and the cultures that created it, the original fairy tales without happy endings, etc etc which is why I read books about vampires/ werewolves/ faery /etc before they were "cool" and held up to the old folklore ...and then Twilight came along and vampires sparkled.

What genres/themes of yours have been stolen by pop culture? And what's next?

I quite like the whole zombie thing right now... I've been a fan of that horror genre since I was in high school and I'm glad that there's a large following, suddenly.

Of course, I get what you mean about how pop culture has stolen a lot of old folklore and uh...made them sparkle.

I think for me it has to be sirens and mermaids... I mean, Disney made the Little Mermaid so wholesome, which is fine... but mermaids and sirens are not forces to be reckon with. They're scary as hell.

Rose wrote: "I think for me it has to be sirens and mermaids... I mean, Disney made the Little Mermaid so wholesome, which is fine... but mermaids and sirens are not forces to be reckon with. They're scary as hell."

Ah yes mermaids are definitely a big one. It really suprises me when I meet people that have no idea that mermaids ATE sailors.

Like you said, the Disney version is adorable and I love it but I think that people should know where it came from too. Did you know that in one of the original stories the prince(Eric in the Disney version) kills Ariel because he thinks that she is trying to seduce (and kill) him?

I have an anthology of Grimm Fairy Tales that I need to start reading! I remember my 6th grade teacher introducing us to the "real" fairy tales-- we read the original Cinderella story where the step-sisters cut off bits of their feet to fit the slipper and a crow calls to the Prince to look at the blood. All the other kids were horrified, so naturally I acted like I was as well... but really dark-lit-loving-6th-grade me was cackling on the inside.

Ashley wrote: "Rose wrote: "I think for me it has to be sirens and mermaids... I mean, Disney made the Little Mermaid so wholesome, which is fine... but mermaids and sirens are not forces to be reckon with. They'..."

Really? Perhaps this was another version... The one by Hans Christian Anderson tells of the tale of The Little Mermaid loving the Prince but he loves another woman and her heart breaks. Her sisters ask her to kill the Prince so she can live her full life as a mermaid, but she can't bring herself to do it and in despair, she throws herself into the sea to become sea foam. Before doing that, she feels the sun on her as dawn breaks and instead of ceasing to exist, she becomes the spirit of the air and other spirits tell her that because she strove so hard to have an immortal soul like that of a human and she will eventually become a God for the good deeds she does from henceforth.

I'm interested in the story where the Prince attempts to kill Ariel, do you know what version this is?

Also, in terms of The Little Mermaid, the best version I think in terms of wholesomeness is Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. I'm just sayin'.

The list of adaptations on the Wiki page is immense, I don't know if I could ever find that version again, and like you said, it's obviously not the main one. I think it was in a compilation of short classic stories, but now that you've mentioned it, it could have been a compilation of the classic hans stories with different endings becuase all of the stories in that book were different than the originals.

I agree that Ponyo is certainly one of my favorites, but I may be biased for my love of all things ghibli haha.

@Jennifer, that is why you're amazing.

Jennifer wrote: "I have an anthology of Grimm Fairy Tales that I need to start reading! I remember my 6th grade teacher introducing us to the "real" fairy tales-- we read the original Cinderella story where the ste..."

I also remember that in the original Sleeping Beauty, the princess was raped by the prince/married nobleman while she was sleeping. There's also cannibalism thrown in there. Pretty messed up.

I could have a whole discussion just on old fairy tales, they are so fascinating!

Has anyone read any of Gregory Maguire works? He does a number on reviving fairy tales with a twist. He is well known for Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West which became a famous musical.

His lesser known novels such as Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister which is based off Cinderella and Mirror Mirror Snow White, brings to light a totally different, usually more macabre POV from the Disney tales. Anyone enjoying fairy tales (Ashley...) should definitely check them out :D

Also, @Darliza, not sure if you know of this The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty but Anne Rice basically took the Sleeping Beauty legend, with her being rape from the beginning and turning it into an erotic book which later became a series. Erotica, so 18+only, and not for the light hearted, it is very graphic.

I have heard of Mr. Maguire but never actually picked any of his books up. I'll surely be looking into those as soon as I get through some of my others, thanks!