BOOK REVIEW – ANGELA
CARTER (EDITOR) THE VIRAGO BOOK OF FAIRY TALES 1991
A terrific varied collection of fairy tales 9though few with fairies0 from around the world, collected by the Company Of Wolves author, Angela Carter.
Some familiar tales are here, in disguise, with darker workings of Little Red Riding Hood, Rumplestiltskin & Cinderella mixed in with many more wide ranging folk tales, fables, and revenge stories, often given a powerful feminist twist.
An Eskimo tale, TWO WOMEN WHO FOUND FREEDOM is perhaps the darkest, concerning two ladies beaten and thrashed by a man, who hide in a rotting whale carcass on the coast, and find they like it enough to stay there forever. Somehow, dead animal for a home seems preferable to their former torment. THE OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED IN A VINEGAR BOTTLE is an English tale of a greedy, ungrateful woman who wishes for many better things and eventually annoys her magical wish-granter so much that she is sent right back to living in her vinegar bottle forever.
MRS NUMBER THREE (A Chinese tale) turns out to be a powerful demon, which her wise husband despatches with aid from local wise men.
THE BABA YAGA (Russian) tells of a young girl pursued by a demon, who gains respect from the Baba Yaga’s allies for treating them nicely until they defy the wishes of their terrifying mistress.
A POTTLE O’BRAINS has a fool discover that his quest for a brain, that leads to his loss of animals, his Mother, and much more, ends when his lover promises to do his thinking for him. A man’s brains are in his wife being the morale.
The THREE SILLIES features a man who finds out that no matter how silly someone is, someone even sillier will be found if you look hard enough. An eclectic and fascinating collection, that is never boring and ever clever –some stories are certainly too mature for this to be a children’s book though.
© Copyright. Arthur
Chappell
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