| Title | : | The Brown Fairy Book |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0486214389 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780486214382 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 384 |
| Publication | : | First published March 23, 1904 |
The Brown Fairy Book Reviews
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This was yet another solid collection in the Rainbow Fairy Series, with diverse stories from around the world. The illustrations were still excellent (and still not culturally accurate) and there remained no female heroines. Some of the language in several stories was also culturally & racially insensitive so be forewarned if reading to children. There were, however, plenty of stereotypically vile ogres, wicked witches, magic boots, and happily-ever-afters and, in the end, that’s what we’re all looking for. Happy questing!!
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برخلاف اسم کتاب یه جورایی پر از خشونت بود. برای بچه ها مناسب نیست.
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I do not think I could ever get tired of read the Fairy Books by Andrew Lang.
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This one fares farther than the earlier ones, with a lot more from North America, Iceland, Egypt, etc. and fewer from Europe -- not that that doesn't demonstrate how the forms of stories can last. "The Sister of the Sun" and "The King Who Would Be Stronger than Fate" in particular are charming versions with local color of familiar tales. (Well, familiar if you read more than the Top Twenty(ish) Tales). I really don't like the first one "What The Rose Did to the Cypress," and some are more like notes on folklore than fairy tales as such.
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I am struck, as I often am when reading fairy tales that are collected from all over the world at the similarities in the stories. These stories seem to be a part of what it means to be human.
On to The Orange Fairy Book! -
It was not as boring as some other were but it wasn't that good.
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Favorites:
Father Grumbler
Habogi
Husband of the Rat's Daughter
Mermaid and the Boy
Enchanted Head
Which was the Foolishest?
Asmund and Signy
Rubezahl
Wali Dad -
2.5 stars
I can always find something to love in Lang's Fairy Books, and this one is no exception. I would never say that The Brown Fairy Book is bad or not worth reading, because even though it has the fewest stories that I would re-read out of the series so far, there were still some good ones and the reason I didn't love a lot of them is that they were so similar to ones I had read already. But the only one I recall outright hating was "What the Rose Did to the Cypress" because it was so drawn-out and tedious. These are the ones that still made it worthwhile to slog through the slow stories:
-The Bunyip
-Father Grumbler
-Habogi(loved this one!)
-The Sacred Milk of Koumongoe
-The Husband of the Rat's Daughter
-Which Was the Foolishest?(this is a near duplicate of a story from another Fairy Book, but it's a wonderful humorous tale so I didn't mind reading a slightly different version) -
Another one down.
It was a bit of a mixed bag for me. Some of the stories I enjoyed, others not so much, and a few I ended up skimming just to get them over with.
Still the same themes of brave knights, deserving peasants, damsels in distress, evil witches, deceitful kings and the like.
But not a lot of stand out stories. Although I did like the one about the humble old man who ended up playing matchmaker, because he was trying to do a good deed. I think that one was Indian based but I'm not for sure.
Overall it's a part of a collection but it's not a standout part.
Recommended? Sure
Buy/Borrow? Borrow -
I'm pretty sure that unlike the other books in this series, this one was named after the skin color of the people that most of the stories in it came from. Is that racist? Eh... I can't really say. Anyway, the stories in this book were mostly original, which was a fantastic change of pace after reading 50 different versions of the same stories in the other Fairy Books. Andrew Lang blatantly admits in the preface that some of them were censored, so it's hard to say if these versions were better or worse than the originals with no way to compare them. A few of them particularly stood out to me above the others, and the illustrations were gorgeous.
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As beautiful as this book is, with lovely illustrations, the stories simply fell flat. I struggled with most of it,only enjoying about 4 of the tales. If I'd had it read to me as a child,I likely would've loved it,but as an adult,I really only enjoy romantic fairytales and this particular volume had only a couple, surprisingly. There are lots of animal fables,silly stories and tales of youths on quests which somehow leave out any romance you'd expect. To say a book of fairytales was boring makes me wince,as I love them,but I'm afraid this is the case.
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A lot of old, interesting fairy tales and fables. They feature things that most modern fairy tales avoid - kidnapping, forced marriages, theft, princes as thieves, blatant misogyny, and general darkness. These are moralistic tales. They are dark, with a purpose of teaching children to stay within boundaries - obedience to parents, social norms and mores, parental responsibilities, etc. Very different from Disney and pretty, light-hearted fairy tales. I like them though.
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I remember this book series and its beautiful illustrations from long, loooong ago in my elementary school library. What I did not remember was the very offensive racism in the writing. How is this still being published??
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Another terrific collection of folk and fairy tales from around the world, this one included many i had never read before and thoroughly enjoyed.
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Love Andrew Lang's rewrites of collected tales.
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Racism to feed into dear little ears.
Indigenous tales DELIBERATELY altered to make them more palatable to the white readers. -
The classic collection of fairy tales, the 9th in the series. A wonderful collection of tales from varied countries. A Reader's Corner Must Read.
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While I do like this book, this is probably my least-favorite of Andrew Lang's Fairy Books. Not too many of the stories were interesting, compared to the others which have lots of stories that captured my attention. There are some good ones, though.
My favorite stories:
- The Story of the Yara (the best one in the collection IMO)
- The Cunning Hare
- The Turtle and His Bride
- Habogi
- The Sacred Milk of Koumongoe
- Rubezahl (nice to see a German story from a source other than the Grimms!)
- Story of the King Who Would be Stronger than Fate
I also kinda like Pivi and Kabo, The Enchanted Head, and Ball-Carrier and the Bad One. The rest I don't care for. -
It's impressive how uniform these stories feel given that they originate in different parts of the world and have been translated by different people before being put together for the collection. Though the subject matter and characters vary a lot, the tales somehow feel like pieces of a whole. As for the stories themselves, like all fairy tales they're fascinating and strange, with recognisable motifs repeated and adapted in all kinds of different ways. The illustrations for this edition are lovely as well.
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I liked this book! It had quite a few different fairy tales from areas relatively unheard-of in fairy tales.
The ones I liked:
- The Bunyip
- The Story of the Yara
- The Turtle and his Bride
- How Geitald the Coward Was Punished
- Habogi
- The Husband of the Rat's Daughter
- The Enchanted Head
- The Prince and the Three Fates
- Stronger Than Fate
- The Story of Wali Dad the Simple-Hearted (Absolutely awesome)
- The Knights of Fish -
finally! and i used to chew through these when i was 7 or 8. as an adult what strikes me is the sheer messiness of structure of most of the stories. i gather this is a later collection so maybe lang had run out of the more obvious stories?
[no stars because it wasn't really a question of enjoyment or quality - they are what they are, and lang was what he was:] -
Absolutely loved this book as a child. Have very pleasant memories of being curled up comforably lost in its stories. It also definitely increased my desire to read more stories and histories of other countries.
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I read these as a kid, and I could swear that I read more than two of them (I loved them because they had fairies in them), but now I can't remember a dang thing that happened in any of them, so they only get 3 stars.
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This collection is varied and entertaining, like The Green Fairy Book. Though I found the introduction distasteful because of its racial remarks. But it was originally published in 1906, a different time in history. Still, I'm glad we've moved on from that time.
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“The Brown Fairy Book,†published in 1904, is the ninth of twelve collected fairy story books that were researched, translated and compiled by Andrew Lang (1844-1912) and his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne Lang. Andrew Lang, a Scotsman, was a literary
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A good compilation from various cultures. Still has some problems with racism in the tone and illustrations, though.
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Really enjoyed this collection of fairy tales from a variety of cultures around the world.
