The Classic Fairy Tales (Norton Critical Editions) [Paperback]

Maria Tatar (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0393972771 | ISBN-13: 978-0393972771 | Publication Date: November 4, 1999 | Edition: 1st ed

Fairy tales shape our cultures and enrich our imaginations; their narrative stability and cultural durability are incontestable.

This Norton Critical Edition collects forty-four fairy tales, from the fifth century to the present. The Classic Fairy Tales focuses on six tale types: "Little Red Riding Hood," "Beauty and the Beast," "Snow White," "Cinderella," "Bluebeard," and "Hansel and Gretel," and presents multicultural variants and sophisticated literary rescriptings. Also reprinted are tales by Hans Christian Andersen and Oscar Wilde.

"Criticism" gathers twelve essays that interpret aspects of fairy tales, including their social origins, historical evolution, psychological drama, gender issues, and national identities.

A Selected Bibliography is included.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Maria Tatar 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.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1st ed edition (November 4, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393972771
• ISBN-13: 978-0393972771
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Children's Literature Guides
  • #1 in Books > Professional & Technical > Transportation > Railroads
  • #4 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Criticism & Theory

More About the Author

Maria Tatar teaches folklore, children's literature, and German cultural studies at Harvard University. She chairs the Program in Folklore and Mythology. She is the author of The Annotated Peter Pan, which will appear in October 2011 with W.W. Norton.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mirror, Mirror..., February 1, 2001

By 

"villette" (Glasgow, Scotland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Classic Fairy Tales (Norton Critical Editions) (Paperback)

An excellent collection which highlights the grislier, taboo aspects of fairy tales that are often sanitised for today's consumption. As well as traditional versions of the most popular fairy stories, editor Maria Tatar has also included feminist re-tellings of "Bluebeard" and "Beauty and the Beast" by Margaret Atwood and Angela Carter. This fascinating anthology helps to deepen our understanding of the cultural implications of the fairy tale form, and includes essays from important contributors to the field such as Vladmir Propp, Bruno Bettelheim and Marina Warner. If you thought that fairy tales were just for children, then you'll find this collection an eye opening experience.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for storytellers, June 15, 2001

By 

Tim Sheppard (Bristol, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Classic Fairy Tales (Norton Critical Editions) (Paperback)

A good mixture of browsability and serious reading. For the storyteller this book is a godsend - several variants of each story compiled for easy comparison, with an authoritative commentary for background research. And the variants are often not obvious or well-known, so giving real discoveries and delights. The scholarly essays cover a fair range of subjects, but for those just interested in the stories there is plenty in the rest of the book to satisfy. If this book interests you, try 'The Classic Fairy Tales', by Iona and Peter Opie - same title, similar approach, except that variants are only discussed rather than given in full.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good resource for beginning fairy tale scholars, March 30, 2000

By 

Heidi Anne Heiner (SurLaLune Fairy Tales.com) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Classic Fairy Tales (Norton Critical Editions) (Paperback)

Tatar has contributed several works to fairy tale scholarship, but this is one of the best for an introductory course. The book offers essays and fictional variations for well known fairy tales including Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Bluebeard, etc. The collection includes a story by Margaret Atwood, poetry by Anne Sexton, and more traditional versions of the tales from older sources. New translations by Tatar of some tales are also presented. I highly recommend this book.