Whats grimmer than Grimms’ Tales? A collection of fairy tales skewed and
skewered with a modern sensibility and dark, wicked humor. See the dark side of a princesses’ hyper-sensitivity
to peas (a dog lick can cause a scar!), Hansel and Gretel’s vengeance, murders
most foul and terrible (and these are committed by the ‘heroes’), and where
happy ever after is the worst after of all.
Good news: this is smart, funny, dark satire that looks
at all sorts of modern, ancient, and timeless hypocrisies; and the power of
storytelling to celebrate, lament, explain, obscure, and change the best and
worst of things that cannot be explained and things we wish we could wish
away. Bad news: this excellent and
slender volume of wickedly funny verse is almost entirely unintelligible if you
don’t know the original fairy tales by heart. Conundrum! Fortunately we have a solution! You can read
the absolutely wonderful Grimms’ tales in Grimms'
Tales for Young and Old: The Complete Stories at call number 398.210943
GRIMM. And they are AWESOME! They are
creepy, dark, and filled with the fear of the unknown that makes for the best
horror and the worst sleepless nights. What’s
great is that Koertge gets that and his modern retellings just look at the same
fears, insecurities, and longings in the original stories in a modern
light. I especially enjoy the tales
where Koertge looks at the primal fascination with danger and death these
stories represent. This is a truly
unique read and it isn’t for everyone, but everyone that it is for will be very
glad they read it.
You can check our catalog for Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses here.
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