Book – Mythology of Grimm

The Mythology of Grimm – The fairy tale and foklore roots of the popular TV show by Nathan Robert Brown (2014)

NBC has found an interesting source for a hit television show, the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm.  Most people are familiar with the sterilized modern versions of these stories but the originals are usually much darker.  In this book the author gives a look at the background of the stories used on the show and the original versions as collected by the German folklorists.

Brown does a nice job of giving us a little depth on some stories that seem so familiar.  The downside on the book is that it suffers from an enormous case of “author intrusion”.  What begins as a breezy, conversational style slides very quickly into an over done attempt at being “clever”.  More often than not it fails and distracts from the otherwise interesting material.

Why I Liked It – Backgrounds on the familiar stories that manage to offer both some depth while still keeping it brisk.

Why You Will Like It – An awful lot of what you think you know about these familiar stories is probably wrong.  You’ll have fun discovering whole new aspects of them.  And if you’re already a fan of the show, you’ll enjoy getting some new insights to the stories there.

Rating – *** Worth  A Look