When Dreams Come True: Classical Fairy Tales and Their Tradition

Rating:
Summary: Helpful compilation of Zipes' works
Review: This book is a collection of introductions and essays from previous books Zipes has published, usually his collections of fairytales. The texts have been somewhat reworked and it is great to have them all gathered into one place for reading. Since this is a smaller volume, it is easier to carry around than his Grimms, Beauty and the Beast, Aesop's Fables, etc. when you just need to read the scholarly works and not the primary texts of the tales. Zipes has made great contributions to this field and this volume serves as a reminder of the breadth of his work.

Rating:
Summary: Helpful compilation of Zipes' works
Review: This book is a collection of introductions and essays from previous books Zipes has published, usually his collections of fairytales. The texts have been somewhat reworked and it is great to have them all gathered into one place for reading. Since this is a smaller volume, it is easier to carry around than his Grimms, Beauty and the Beast, Aesop's Fables, etc. when you just need to read the scholarly works and not the primary texts of the tales. Zipes has made great contributions to this field and this volume serves as a reminder of the breadth of his work.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, shame about the proof-reading
Review: Zipes is always interesting, thought provoking and he knows a lot, though his essays always seem to promise more than they deliver. These essays range widely across the field of his interests. Having said that, i wish someone had done a better job of proof-reading the book. The essay on the French fairy tale, in itself a fascinating and informative piece of work, is spoilt by the bizzarre dating. If Louis 14 died in 1715, how could he be waging war in 1788? On one page you read that Madame D'Aulnoy published four volumes of fairy tales between 1697 and 1698, on the next page you read that she wrote her first fairy tales in 1790. If you're trying to use the information for study purposes it's frustrating and makes you wonder how reliable the other facts in the book are. End of grumble. If you're looking for a good, readable introduction to the study of folk and fairy tales, this is a good place to start.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, shame about the proof-reading
Review: Zipes is always interesting, thought provoking and he knows a lot, though his essays always seem to promise more than they deliver. These essays range widely across the field of his interests. Having said that, i wish someone had done a better job of proof-reading the book. The essay on the French fairy tale, in itself a fascinating and informative piece of work, is spoilt by the bizzarre dating. If Louis 14 died in 1715, how could he be waging war in 1788? On one page you read that Madame D'Aulnoy published four volumes of fairy tales between 1697 and 1698, on the next page you read that she wrote her first fairy tales in 1790. If you're trying to use the information for study purposes it's frustrating and makes you wonder how reliable the other facts in the book are. End of grumble. If you're looking for a good, readable introduction to the study of folk and fairy tales, this is a good place to start.