The Book Depository Russian Fairy Tales by Alexsandr Afanas'Ev
299 ratings
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Price: £18.99
Brand: The Book Depository
Description: Russian Fairy Tales : Paperback : Random House USA Inc : 9780394730905 : 0394730909 : 02 Jun 2006 : Beautifully illustrated, here is the most comprehensive collection of classic Russian tales available in English. This comprehensive collection introduces readers to universal fairy-tale figures and to such uniquely Russian characters such as Koshchey the Deathless, Baba Yaga, the Swan Maiden, and the glorious Firebird. The more than 175 tales culled from a landmark multi-volume collection by the outstanding Russian ethnographer Aleksandr Afanas'ev reveal a rich, robust world of the imagination. The Book Depository Russian Fairy Tales by Alexsandr Afanas'Ev - shop the best deal online on thebookbug.co.uk
Category: Books
Merchant: The Book Depository
Product ID: 9780394730905
MPN: 0394730909
GTIN: 9780394730905
Author: R. Hakemulder
Rating: 5
Review: This is one of the great treasures on my bookshelves, and has been so for thirty years - one of the few books that accompanies me whenever I have to move to another country. I have read most of these tales many times, and have read them to my kids, my wife and many others. Russian fairy tales are in a class of their own, fantastic, full of the unexpected, and with a strange, lovable and unforgettable set of characters. Before you know it you find yourself in a world familiar but weird, where everything can change from one line to the next without much ado, and that you will find difficult to leave again. These tales are also .... fast. Philip Pullman in the introduction to his Grimm Tales writes, "Swiftness is a great virtue in the fairy tale. A good tale moves with a dreamlike speed from event to event, pausing only to say as much as needed and no more". These tales, in these classical versions presented by Afanesyev, epitomize this.They are as close to the oral tradition as can be, since Afanesyev did little of the editing and merging of different versions the brothers Grimm ended up doing, and there is none of the padding, beautifying and rationalising that "retold" versions suffer from. This is also not Andersen in Russia but the tales you might have heard in the village square or the tavern, or from your nyanya. If you think, like I do, that Calvino's Italian Folk Tales and Pullman's Grimm Tales are great .... Afanesyev is even better.
Author: Karoline
Rating: 1
Review: I had great expectations for this book but was very disappointed when it arrived. These are not the stories I remember from my childhood. The translation is crude and cold, all the magic has gone. The production is also cheap with a terrible typeface that seems to be all in bold. DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK.
