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octoberdad's review
5.0
In this new collection, Michael Newton has pulled together an exemplary set of what he terms "literary fairy tales" – literary not as a value judgment, but in contrast to the oral tradition that had been occupying the likes of the Grimm brothers and others in the preceding eras. In writing their tales, Victorian writers "transform[ed] a form based in the shared telling of tales into self-conscious, authored literary texts," and, Newton argues, they "experimented with the form to explore political and social concerns, as well as questions of identity, love, and the moral life."
Newton selected the stories in this volume for "their representative nature, in order to give the reader a sense of the kinds of literary fairy story that were available in the Victorian period." He surrounds the main collection with two pre-Victorian tales on the front end, and four Victorian essays on the fairy story, including MacDonald's "The Fantastic Imagination." A chronology of the literary fairy tale and notes on the text round out the volume.
All in all, this is an excellent work of scholarship for anyone who is interested in the history, development and impact of fairy tales. Even if Victorian fairy tales are not your favorite, as they are not mine, the anthology is worth checking out, especially as it contains some pieces that are not easy to come by elsewise.
A full review is forthcoming in the May 2015 issue of the Signum Eagle.
Newton selected the stories in this volume for "their representative nature, in order to give the reader a sense of the kinds of literary fairy story that were available in the Victorian period." He surrounds the main collection with two pre-Victorian tales on the front end, and four Victorian essays on the fairy story, including MacDonald's "The Fantastic Imagination." A chronology of the literary fairy tale and notes on the text round out the volume.
All in all, this is an excellent work of scholarship for anyone who is interested in the history, development and impact of fairy tales. Even if Victorian fairy tales are not your favorite, as they are not mine, the anthology is worth checking out, especially as it contains some pieces that are not easy to come by elsewise.
A full review is forthcoming in the May 2015 issue of the Signum Eagle.
astrangegirlsmind's review
1.0
This looks and sounds like something I’d love and cherish forever, right? Wrong! I had really high hopes for this book and I was let down.
There’s the possibility that I’m spoiled when it comes to fairy tales. Growing up, I was read the fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm and I revisited those a couple of times and they are still my absolute favourite fairy tales. Those Victorian Fairy Tales however felt like they were written by people who had never read any fairy tales and they were just ridiculous and absurdly long. And not in the fun way, some of these are 50 to 100 pages long and it’s just not a fun reading experience (I kid you not, I fell asleep in the middle of the day at one point). There are two in here that I enjoyed (“The Wanderings of Arasmon” by Mary de Morgan and “The Selfish Giant” by Oscar Wilde) but they took a really weird religious turn towards the end. I’m glad I’ve read them but by the time I had reached the last story I was also really glad that it was finally over.
There’s the possibility that I’m spoiled when it comes to fairy tales. Growing up, I was read the fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm and I revisited those a couple of times and they are still my absolute favourite fairy tales. Those Victorian Fairy Tales however felt like they were written by people who had never read any fairy tales and they were just ridiculous and absurdly long. And not in the fun way, some of these are 50 to 100 pages long and it’s just not a fun reading experience (I kid you not, I fell asleep in the middle of the day at one point). There are two in here that I enjoyed (“The Wanderings of Arasmon” by Mary de Morgan and “The Selfish Giant” by Oscar Wilde) but they took a really weird religious turn towards the end. I’m glad I’ve read them but by the time I had reached the last story I was also really glad that it was finally over.
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