Synopses & Reviews
"Among the few indispensable, common-property books upon which Western culture can be founded . . . it should be, first and foremost, an educational 'must' for adults."and#151;W. H. Auden, The New York Times
"The one bookand#151;other than the Bibleand#151;that has truly made Western man."and#151;The New Republic
"It doesn't feel like a warning to naughty infants. It feels like a glimpse of the dreadful side of the nature of things."and#151;A. S. Byatt on "The Juniper Tree"
"In truth, most of the Grimms' tales cannot be made wholly respectable. . . . Even people who have never known hunger, let alone a murderous stepmother, still have a senseand#151;from dreams, from news broadcastsand#151;of utter blackness, the erasure of safety and comfort and trust. Fairy tales tell us that such knowledge, or fear, is not fantastic but realistic. Though Wilhelm tried to Christianize the tales, they still invoke nature, more than God, as life's driving force, and nature is not kind."and#151;Joan Acocella, The New Yorker
This new edition and translation of the darkest tales of the Brothers Grimm selected and translated by Peter Wortsman with full-color illustrations by Haitian artists Edouard Duval-Carriand#233;, Pascale Monnin, and Frankand#233;tienne restores the visceral edge and violence of these enigmatic narratives, and will include a few of Grimms' oft-neglected, grislier tales, including "The Juniper Tree."
Jakob Karl Grimm was born in 1785 in Hanau, Germany. His brother, Wilhelm Karl Grimm, followed in 1786. As court librarians, linguists, scholars, translators, and writers, they collected stories told by peasants and villagers and published them in written form, shaping the foundation of the most popular children's stories today. For most of their lives, they worked in the same room, at facing desks.
Peter Wortsman, recipient of the Beard's Fund Short Story Award, was selected as a 2010 Fellow of the American Academy in Berlin.
Synopsis
A new selection and translation of the tales of the Brothers Grimm with sixteen full-color illustrations by celebrated Haitian artists.
Synopsis
This new edition of the beloved tales of the Brothers Grimm - selected, translated and edited by Peter Wortsman - is drawn from the 1857 edition of the German original, the last edition reviewed and approved by the Brothers in their lifetime. Over The years, The Brothers¢ enigmatic narratives have been sanitized by Disney and children¢s book editors for modern consumption; this indispensable edition restores their sting and vigor og The original prose. In Wortsmans words, his translation is a return to "a tincture of concentrated man-eating ogre and ground hag tooth, diluted in blood, sweat and tears, as a potent vaccine against the crippling effects of fear and fury." These fortifying imaginative vaccines are accompanied by twenty-four full-color illustrations by Haitian artists, including Edouard Duval-Carrié, Pascale Monnin, and Frankétienne. Edwidge Danticat observes that many Haitian painters bring "forth another canvas beneath the one we see." These works imaginative scope, vitality, and evocation of the unconscious open deep channels between the two traditions, shedding new light and shadow on the classic tales.
About the Author
Brothers Grimm: Jakob Karl Grimm was born on January 4, 1785, in Hanau, Germany. His brother, Wilhelm Karl Grimm, was born on February 24, 1786. Court librarians, linguists, scholars, translators, and writers, the Brothers Grimm collected stories told by peasants and villagers and published them in written form, forming the foundation of the most popular children's stories today.
Peter Wortsman: Recipient of the 1985 Beardand#8217;s Fund Short Story Award, the 2008 Gertje Potash-Suhr Prosapreis of the Society for Contemporary American Literature in German, the 2012 Gold Grand Prize for Best Travel Story of the Year in the Solas Awards Competition, Peter Wortsman was a Fulbright Fellow in 1973, a Thomas J. Watson Foundation Fellow in 1974, and a Holtzbrinck Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin in 2010. He is the author of a book of short fiction, A Modern Way to Die: Small Stories and Microtales, 1991; the plays The Tattooed Man Tells All, 2000, and Burning Words, 2006; and the travelogue/memoir Ghost Dance in Berlin, a rhapsody in gray, forthcoming in 2013 from Travelersand#8217; Tales/Solas House. Wortsmanand#8217;s numerous translations from the German include Telegrams of the Soul: Selected Prose of Peter Altenberg; Travel Pictures, by Heinrich Heine; Posthumous Papers of a Living Author, by Robert Musil; Peter Schelmiel, The Man Who Sold His Shadow, by Adelbert von Chamisso; Selected Prose of Heinrich von Kleist; and, most recently, Tales of the German Imagination, From The Brothers Grimm to Ingeborg Bachmann, an anthology he assembled, forthcoming in 2013 from Penguin Classics. He works as a medical and travel journalist.