Customer Reviews

Fairy Tale As Myth Myth As Fairy Tale (Thomas D. Clark Lectures)

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Zipes' qualifications for writing about this subject are impeccable, and his years of teaching show easily here. Chapters include stuff about traditional fairy tales, sure, but also writeups on Disney animation (hint: he's not real thrilled at some ways Disney has "tidied up" fairy tales). You'll never watch "The Little Mermaid" in quite the same way again.

This is more of a philosophical treatment than anything else. There isn't extensive hard history here; they're writeups of lectures, not papers, though sources are cited. Consider these ruminations on fairy tales and their relevance to modern culture -- how they are treated, how they are disseminated, how they've changed in the past couple hundred years. The book isn't very long, but it has a lot of good observations in it.

I found it invaluable for its insights; Zipes has found a sincere admirer in me. If you are interested in fairy tales in modern culture, this is definitely somewhere you might enjoy playing.

Jack Zipes' Fairy Tale As Myth; Myth as Fairy Tale was a deeply insightful and intriguing book to read. He traces the evolution of the fairytale, beginning with how it was conveyed through oral tradition as the voice of the community; commandeered by the aristocrats with the advent of the printing press and used as a tool to socialize children; then reconstructed again by film and absorbed by the culture industry. He explores what happens every time the narrator is shifted - women to men, poor to aristocrats, the many to one - and evaluates what worldviews and life values these tales portray, specifically looking at only a couple of well-known stories and showing how their values evolve over time as they are retold by different narrators who place their own perspectives on the work.

I got this book and other of Zipes' works to aid in my research for my senior thesis and have been particularly fascinated by what he has to say. He writes in a very understandable and interesting manner (not like some sociologists whose texts are exhaustingly dry) and brings continual fresh perspectives to stories that are hundreds of years old. I do not feel like I agree with him all the time; he seems to take Theodor Adorno's position on the culture industry which is a deeply captivating argument but it undermines the masses' ability to think for themselves and cheapens the very provocative messages imbedded within every film for those willing to look hard enough to see them. He is not as extreme as Adorno, but he sometimes does seem to dismiss fairytale films as vapid commodities and contrast them with the cultural richness of oral tradition. He does have a great point here, but I cannot help but feel that though the medium for and narrator of the story has changed, orally conveyed tales and films both express the values/worldviews/philosophies of their society, revealing what that society thinks is ideal/beautiful/evil/heroic/appropriate/etc. Regardless, this book is a terrific and enlightening read that brings a new understanding to the times we live in as compared to the past.

Would I/Did I buy it? Yes

Would I read it again? No

Would I recommend it to friends? Yes

This is a collection of essays, rather than a full-length study. I found all the essays to be interesting and insightful. And fun. If you are interested in the stories behind the stories, these essays could be a good starting place--after which you will want to read more of Zipes' work.

Jack Zipes is perhaps the most renowned critic in writing about Fairy Tales. I love his style because he doesn't really show what he really thinks about them butt how the Fairy Ta;es have been shaped through out the centuries.
Some how or another he is able to find excellent resources and drawings for the book. I highly believe it is for any one who is interested in starting to study, the true origins of Fairy Tales.