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Review: Grimm’s Fairy Stories

Grimm’s Fairy Stories by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm

I give this book a 4.

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This is one of those cases where you’ve heard of something for so long that you think you’ve already experienced it, but then you realize that you haven’t so you give it a try and it’s not what you expected…Does that make sense?

Everyone is familiar with some aspect of the Grim Fairly Tales, but how many of us have actually read any of the original stories. A fan a fairy tales for as long as I can remember, I decided it was time for me to right a great wrong I had committed against myself. I had never read any of the Grim stories until recently and I was shocked, amazed, weirded out, and a little disappointed.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved these stories, they were awesome, but they were not what I think of as fairy tales. I have been so brainwashed by mainstream modern thinking that I almost wouldn’t allow myself to enjoy these stories for what they truly are, brilliant.

I think the main two reasons I didn’t give this book a five is: 1. that I would never actually read these to any child under the age of 10. If a nine-year-old happened to pick these up and love them, good for them, but I’m not planting crazy dreams into the minds of any kids anytime soon…oh and fables these are not; not many good lessons to be learned here. 2. Some of the stories seemed to overlap or repeat. I know that in this day and age, everyone borrows ideas from everyone else, but I figured back then, these guys should have been able to come up with a collection of stories that didn’t all sound the same…but of course, I’m exaggerating. Most of the stories were quite original, but the little bit of repetition there was, drove me crazy.

I must give the brothers Grim and whoever influenced them, some French guy I can think of, a clap of praise for inspiring and influencing storytellers for centuries beyond their time. I might, just for fun, one day write my own versions of these wonderful stories. I mean, they are now permanently stained onto my brain, I might as well do something with them…Truthfully, I’d recommend this to anyone ten or over, but a mature adult mind may appreciate them better.

This review has been posted to GoodReads. If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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ToiBox Blog Weekly Recap: 10/25/14

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Check out my Recent Posts links or visit the ToiBox Topics to see what I was up to this week, but first try…

Which Classic Literature Character Are You?

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I’m still posting daily for the 31 Days Challenge.

Last Saturday I posted a Weekly recap, but over at YouTube I posted an episode of, So Yeah, Cards: Episode Two.

I started out this week with Sample Sunday 55- It’s Like the Full Moon.

On Monday, I posted a Listography of my favorite restaurants.

On Tuesday was my birthday. I added to my Character files Michael’s opinion on the Eternal Curse and then I posted an interview about Isolation with author Denise R. Stephenson.

On Wednesday, I did not post my Blogdom, but instead shared, “Things are a little whacky.”

On Thursday, I posted a Count Your Blessings about transportation.

And yesterday, I posted a special Friday Forecast to clarify some issues and update Blogdom. I’m pretty sure I took on way too much this month.

Thanks for hanging out with me this week. I hope to see you again next week.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Books

Review: Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I give this book a 4.

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This is a story that I thought that I’d already read. I have read other Austen books in the past and since so many people talk about this book, I guess I just felt that I’d already read it. I even thought maybe I saw a film adaptation of it and that was the reason I hadn’t read it. Going back and truly thinking about it, I realized that I had made it to the ripe old age of, none of your business, without reading this book and then decided to rectify that.

When I started reading the book I remembered why I hadn’t read it in the past. I read Sense and Sensibility in high school and it was a really tough read for me. The language is almost Shakespearean but not so poetic, and the conversation are more humorous. I quickly remembered that back then I was not much of a fan of Elizabethan culture and I’m still not, but this is still a good story.

It doesn’t take too much imagination to get to the core of this book’s overall message and apply it to modern times, thus the title. This book is the perfect example of how pride, perceived pride, jealousy, prejudice, stereotypes, and so much more are a part of our everyday lives and how they can twist things about so innocently, and not so innocently.

Since I read mostly fantasy and sci-fi, my classic literature muscles were strained when reading this, but it was a good strain. Austen’s creativity is obvious and the amount of emotion she is able to express is astounding. Always one to consider the high and low points of social interaction, I found the ideas of etiquette in this story to be quite amusing.

I wish there was more I could say, but I am at a loss for words. This is an excellent story and one I feel more young people should read or maybe even be used as a tool to explain the pros and cons of social etiquette. I must, however, admit that I prefer reading a more modern vernacular. For that reason, I can’t say that I love this book, but I do really like it.

This review has been posted to GoodReads. If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords