Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Short-Story Collection
Review: After reading several of Hermann Hesse's novels, I saw this book in a local bookstore and, admittedly attracted at first by it's lovely cover, I decided to purchase it. And what a joy it was to read! It provides a nice selection of Hesse's short-stories, in very readable translation. I'm very happy that I bought it, and I think that it is a must-have for anyone who wants a good introduction to Hesse's short stories. Includes the memorable story "Iris".
Rating:
Summary: A felicitous pairing
Review: For readers of a certain age (like myself), the pairing of Hermann Hesse & Donovan will be a delight in itself. But I hasten to add that Donovan is a superb reader for these evocative stories: always articulate, precise, and just a touch ethereal. Add to that the tasteful scattering of guitar notes at appropriate junctures, and you have the words of a master conveyed by a masterful performer. Joyfully recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: Importance of Imagination...
Review: Herman Hesse takes us back to the basics of imagination and dreaming. The stories do transmit very essential concepts of life principles and the way to pursue what we believe in...Very easy reading, the humor in some of the stories takes you by surprise since the transition between the different stages of the story is just so smooth... A book that will take you places, and make you have conversations you always thought not possible...
Rating: 
Summary: very pleasant listening experience
Review: I admit also that I prefer reading Hesse in the original German...but this audio cassette version I picked up at my local 1/2 Price Bookstore was well worth the cost and time spent absorbing it. The narrator speaks in a soft Scottish brogue which is pleasing to the ear and lends a kind of JRR Tolkien-like atmosphere to all the stories... Yes, the stories are more moving in the original, but this format was acceptably pleasing to me, and the musical accompanyment was a nice touch, too. All in all an acceptable rendering of Hesse's genius.
Rating:
Summary: very pleasant listening experience
Review: I admit also that I prefer reading Hesse in the original German...but this audio cassette version I picked up at my local 1/2 Price Bookstore was well worth the cost and time spent absorbing it. The narrator speaks in a soft Scottish brogue which is pleasing to the ear and lends a kind of JRR Tolkien-like atmosphere to all the stories... Yes, the stories are more moving in the original, but this format was acceptably pleasing to me, and the musical accompanyment was a nice touch, too. All in all an acceptable rendering of Hesse's genius.
Rating:
Summary: mixed feelings
Review: i read this because a friend of mine had recommended it to me.. Overall, i could see that the stories ( more of short stories with morals - or at least his own philosophies - than actual fairy tales, except for some supernatural stuff, style, and/or the setting ) were crystals of some great thoughts...
BUT it wasn't.. exactly enthralling (to read).
I'm not sure if it's the translation or personal preference.
Rating:
Summary: magical
Review: Me, my best friend, and his girl, read these to each other on the beach one night. The stories and the seting were perfect. They lean more towards hesses surreal stuff, and they're simple and beautifull.
Rating: 
Summary: The translation was a bit of a downer.
Review: The art work is very tasteful but I find the translation slightly disappointing. Having read Hesse's fairy tales and legends in German as well as 'Strange news from another star', which contains about 10 fairy tales and short stories, I think that this book's translation doesn't do Hesse's romantic and at times poetic style of writing justice. I suppose that is is impossible to capture any writer's original tone and style in a translation but in a way it appears to me that Jack Zipes either hasn't read the originals properly ('properly' properly) or couldn't be bothered to get subtleties across. It almost becomes apparent when comparing either versions of 'Augustus' and while 'Strange news from another star' allows the reader access to the character's sensual world (especially when he spends time at his godfather's house) Jack Zipes in a way puts you into the position of a not-involved third party or an on-looker. Just one example but in my opinion representative for the whole book (or both).
Rating:
Summary: Stories have been translated better in other collections
Review: Though the book claims that this collections translates most of these stories for the first time, almost all of them have appeared in English in other books previously. Zipes' translations are fairly clunky and do not capture the nuances of Hesse's original text -- nor do they match up to previously translated collections of Hesse's shorter works. You'd be better of hunting down Hesse's stories at the used book stores.
Rating:
Summary: Great stories . . . Not so great translation
Review: Though the dust jacket claims that the bulk of these stories are appearing here in English for the first time, only a handful haven't appeared in English elsewhere. Hunt down copies of "Stories of Five Decades," "Strange News from Another Star," "If the War Goes On . . .", "Pictor's Metamorphasis," and "Tales of a Student's Life" and you'll have 18 out of 22 of these stories. Zipes' translations themselves are a bit lackluster, and do not really capture the spirit of these texts. That being said, the stories themselves are brilliant, and he does present a good cross-section of Hesse's shorter works.
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