The true Grimm fairy tales can be gory and are very adult stories. The condensed versions told to children are nothing like the original stories. ( )

I just couldn't get into them. Some were familiar, and that was sweet, while others were new and therefore mildly interesting. But I never felt like reading them, even as a little something short and easy before bed. The book itself I'll keep, it's gorgeous and very high quality, and who knows when it might be needed as a reference.

The most interesting thing about The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales is just how bloody and violent they are. The Walt Disney tales of Snow White, Cinderella or Little Red Riding Hood we grew up with are a far cry from the originals. Taken in moderation these tales might have been interesting but when I start a book I always finish it, which meant reading all 251 of the tales. And sadly, after just a short time, they became overly repetitive, completely predictable, and quite frankly, really boring. ( )

Finally finished. I have lots of thoughts about these tales and their common motifs. Pretty much, if you have a stepmother, she's wicked and dabbles in witchcraft. Trials and events happen in threes. There's always a dress of the sun, a dress of the moon, and a dress of the stars that a beautiful maiden will exchange with a false bride so that she may sleep in the same chamber as her beloved, but the false bride will give the groom a sleeping potion so that he won't hear the beautiful maiden's story and remember who she is. Luckily the servants will inform the prince and all will be made well. The cleverest son is usually the one deemed stupid or daft. If you can slip from the skin of an animal, a form you are required to take by day, and someone steals the skin and burns it, then you are free from your curse and will remain human. And on and on. I learned many ways to cheat the devil, so that's handy. It was enjoyable to read the original, darker versions of the tales Disney "cleaned up" and to read the tales no one ever mentions, like "Allerleirauh" which in the German means "of many different kinds of fur." "The Bremen Town Musicians" and "The Master Thief" are two of my faves. ( )

As a child, I loved to read fairy tales more than anything else. My grandmother had a collection of Grimms’ fairy tales and Andersen’s fairy tales, and I grabbed one or the other off of her bookshelf at the first opportunity on each visit. I had never read anything like Ralph Manheim’s translation of Grimms’ fairy tales. It reads like exactly what it is – a transcription of oral stories and legends, with the voice of the teller unobscured by an editor. Some stories have multiple variations with slight differences between them. This collection makes it clear that the stories had a social purpose and were used to encourage positive character traits and discourage negative character traits. Manheim’s translation belongs in the libraries of all readers with more than a casual interest in fairy tales and legends. ( )