A real treasure! | Russian Fairy Tales (Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library)

Very different from what I grew up on. | Russian Fairy Tales (Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library) | Aleksandr Afanasev

books:


	• Russian Fairy Tales (Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library) Aleksandr Afanasev Pantheon, 1976 - 672 pages average customer review:based on 13 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Gives me a deeper fascination with Russian culture

I really enjoyed reading these Russian Fairy Tales collected by Alexander Afanasev. These stories are (at least in the Western world) very surreal, but they don't lack a good flow and a good sense of imagination at all. I especially enjoyed the tales that involved talking animals and mythological creatures (such as the Firebird and Baba-Yaga). Much of these are short and very simplistic (partyl because of the English translation), but sometimes less is more.

The only problem I've had with these tales is that they're sometimes repetitive. Some stories have the same structure: third time being the charm, boy gets girl in the end, boy is resurrected from the dead, the bronze and silver and golden kingdoms appear, etc. It's this repetitive structure that makes later stories seem predictable.

That one problem aside, this book is a must-own for those who are fascinated with Russian mythology, or Russian culture, or Russian fantasy, or just Russian in general.

for more information click here

A real treasure!

What can I say? Although I am getting into "advanced years", I am still a child at heart who is delighted and entranced with fairy tales of all kinds. This is a recent purchase, so for the most part will be held for winter reading by the fire side. I became interested in Russian fairy tales from admiring beautiful hand painted, lacquered Russian boxes on a web site which included snippets of the fairy tales which the decorations portrayed. How fortunate that I could find this large book of Russian fairy tales translated into English for my reading enjoyment!

for more information click here

Very different from what I grew up on.

These stories are great. I wouldn't read some of them to small children as they are much more scary than what we are used to with say Hans christian Anderson. I love the exotic adventures and the mystery of these tales. They take you to places so enchanting. I got it for myself as an adult and am in no way disappointed.

for more information click here

Superb for general reading or for serious folk tale study

I am a relatively serious student of fairy tales and folk tales. I was fascinated to find this book, and it did not disappoint at all.

I knew that Fairy Tales and folk myths in original (non-Disney) form offer a frightening glimpse into the medieval world, with death, violence, starvation, hunger, privations the norm.

This is a glimpse into the history of the world and one very well worth remembering.

Some themes are similar to those one might find elsewhere, such as in Grimm's. This does not detract from the value of this book, as many themes in world literature recur, as they are part of our collective unconscious.

A fascinating read.

for more information click here

Russian Fairy Tales

I find the stories in here comparable to Grimms and Hans Christian Anderson. They are magical and a fantastic read and a source of discovery of tales from another culture. It is part of my fairy tale collection which I will savour to pass on to my grandchildren for their enjoyment.

I love that its set in a more adult format; which I feel adds to the longevity of the collection remaining in the home as it can be enjoyed by young and old, no matter your age.

Keep the child in you 'alive' I say. Remain in awe of the wonders of the world.

for more information click here

Nearly 200 characteristic and colorful traditional folk and fairy tales are brought together in the only comprehensive edition available in English. Of the original 1945 edition, Eudora Welty wrote, "These Russian tales are rambunctious, full-blooded and temperamental. They are tense with action, magical and human, and move in a kind of cyclone of speed....These tales are gorgeous."

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

hot