Customer Reviews

Fractured Fairy Tales

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

When I happened to find this book, I was instantly swept back to the 1960s: Rocky & Bullwinkle, Edward Everett Horton, Aesop, etc. I hoped this book would continue that pleasant nostalgic feeling.

Instead, Jacobs' book took me on a boring, fractured, intolerable ride. The only similarities between what Jay Ward did back then and what Jacobs has published are the artwork (which is minimal) and a few story titles.

Jacobs is neither clever, witty, nor original. All he has done is to introduce some fractured 1990s' buzzwords (for example, Beverly Hills 90210) into these charming classics.

Don't waste your money...watch the reruns on The Cartoon Network instead.

I bought "Fractured Fairy Tales" thinking I was going to get the original fairy tales that were in "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show" instead; I got a modern version of the fairy tales they were not as good as the original but were still good just the same. I suggest that if u want the original stories save your money and watch the reruns but if you just want I good laugh buy this book.

No, it's not Edward Everett Horton. This is a derivative work of the original Jay Ward Version. If you liked the old - you should like these. They are hysterical and relayed with the same wit as the ones from the Rocky & Bullwinkle TV show; however, they are not those stories!!

I bought this book for my dad for hannukkah and he LOVED it! It really brought us closer as a family, every night he would read one story to the family and each night we would beg for more! I just thought that this book is so wonderful. If you feel bad it gives you a good laugh, if your happy and you just want to read it then its great also! I HIGHLY recommend this book!

Fractured Fairy Tales, by A.J. Jacobs, is a slightly offbeat, occasionally funny book of fairy tale parodies. I rate it three out of five stars because the tales are parodied, which makes the writing style inconsistent. Though the changes to the tales make them funnier, after a while they seem repetitive. These are the main reasons I dislike this book.

Though as a collection of stories, I dislike this book, a few of the remade tales are absolutely hilarious, like The Seven Chickens, where a prince finds seven chickens and must tell which chicken is a princess. Unfortunately, when he finds the princess he is disguised as a woman, and, well...you better find the rest out yourself. Another hilarious story is called Prince Hyacinth and the Dear Little Princess, in which there is a prince born with a nose like a casaba melon. He will always have his weird nose until he says, "I have a nose like a casaba melon". Also making an appearance is a fairy godmother...with a New York accent? Funny stories like these, along with some funny changes to the some of the stories salvage my overall rating of the book.

It was a joy to read the fairy tales I remember watching on TV with my children when they were very young. The best ones were at the beginning. The ones toward the end weren't as cute, which made it tougher to finish the book - although I read it at one sitting. I will loan this book out instead of suggesting someone else spend their money on it.

I bought the book hoping for reasonable reproductions of the original "Fractured Fairy Tales" from Bullwinkle. For example, Pinocchio wakes up and wants a cup of "Joe"? Come on, how nineties can you get? That is just one example of how the original fractured fairy tales have been bastardized by this book.

The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show was probably one of the most intelligent "children's shows" ever on television. Its "Fractured Fairy Tales" was clever enough for the most sophisticated adults, and its droll cynicism entertaining for teenagers (I was one when it came out). Children loved it, too.

In today's coarser world which thinks there is something "sophisticated" about ugly cartoon characters (not to mention unshavenness even in Brooks Brothers catalogs, wearing black, getting tatooed and pierced, and looking as slovenly as one can get away with), cartoons no longer have the sweet charm combined with the insidious and far more constructive cynicism of "Fractured Fairy Tales."

There is something deeply endearing about this lost "innocence".

Why can't we "epater la bourgeoisie" (or, at least, the bourgeoisie's fairy tales) like this anymore, instead of in more despairing and ugly ways? We could gently mock naive optimism without acting as if life is (and ought to be) nasty, brutish, and short.

Sondheim's playful musical "Into the Woods" is the closest parallel to "Fractured Fairy Tales" that I can think of. I wonder if he watched them as a child, too...

I received this book in wonderful condition and very quickly. I am using it my Summer Reading Program.

Nostalgia struck me when I saw the book of Fractured Fairy tales from the Rocky and Bullwinkle show. Even though I found the stories amusing, the lack of ANY pictures from the Rocky and Bullwinkle show ruins the book.