Russian Magic Tales from Pushkin to Platonov

Russian Magic Tales from Pushkin to Platonov | Elizabeth Chandler, Robert Chandler

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This one has been on my TBR for several years so #FoodandLit gave me a great excuse to finally read it! This book is organized chronologically, exploring different eras of what we would normally think of as fairy tales (despite the lack of fairies haha) Some of these stories were plain bizarre, but I quite enjoyed them on the whole. I've been reading some of this book every day throughout the month & I think it worked well broken up like that ⬇️

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) I'm not sure I would have enjoyed reading this as much if I had just tried to do the whole thing in one go. It was interesting to see common themes between these tales & the Grimm/Anderson tales most of us are more familiar with (sets of three, the youngest usually being the most clever, evil stepmothers!) but there were also plenty of differences - I was intrigued at how while most of the tales I grew up with focus on rewarding the ⬇ 3y

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) hero/ine who is the kindest or most compassionate, here it is often the more aggressive who triumphs. I'll put an extremely offensive quote with a spoiler in the comment under this as an extreme example haha All in all, if you've read & enjoyed collections of Grimm, Anderson, or the like, there is plenty to explore & enjoy here as well. However, I do recommend reading the appendix about Baba Yaga before the rest of the book - I do wish ⬇ 3y

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) that essay had been at the beginning as it had a lot of useful & interesting insight into the concept of the Baba Yaga.

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#FoodandLit @Butterfinger @Texreader
#20in4 @Andrew65 3y

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TheAromaofBooks In this story the young man is seeking information from the Baba Yaga. The brother who went before him was meek & mild & got nothing. But here is what the hero says when the Baba Yaga asks him a question: “I'll knock you about the lughole so air comes out of your cunt-hole. I'll smash you across the ears so sand flies out of your arse. Old woman, you should learn not to ask too many questions. A fighting man needs his food & drink!“ 😳 3y

Riveted_Reader_Melissa That example….😬 wow, you are right, that‘s a huge difference in who‘s the good guy vs the bad guy. 3y

TheAromaofBooks @Riveted_Reader_Melissa - I'll admit that that was definitely the most extreme example. The others weren't quite as intense. And it also felt like the concept somewhat mellowed through time. But some of the older stories, it's definitely the demanding warrior-type who gets the win! 3y

Texreader Whoa!!!! 3y

Cinfhen Damn!!! That‘s dark 3y

TheAromaofBooks @Texreader @Cinfhen - Right?! Like I said, most of the stories weren't nearly that strong. There were also several stories where, while the girl wasn't as crude, she was just as demanding/aggressive. It's just interesting to see what behaviors were empathized throughout different periods of time. 3y

Andrew65 Well done 👏👏👏 3y

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