Rate this book

There Once Lived A Woman Who Tried To Kill Her Neighbour's Baby: Scary Fairy Tales (Penguin Modern Classics) (2009)

by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya(Favorite Author)

3.64 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0718192079 (ISBN13: 9780718192075)

languge

English

genre

Horror

publisher

Penguin Books

review 1: Unfinished. Considering my usual unending love of Russian/Slavic fairy tales, I expected to tear through this one; but maybe it was the stark narrative voice, or the (to me) utter lack of anything actual fairy tale-esque, or any mysticism at all beyond vague feelings of dread--I don't know. I think had this been pitched to me as "vignettes about soviet life with a slightly surreal bent" instead of "scary fairy tales," I might have been more into it. I just don't think I was in the right mindset. It definitely wasn't bad, but coming off the very lyrical and folkloric In the Night Garden, I wasn't really in the mood for something this straightforward. The first few stories in particular read to me like something a weird relative might tell over family dinner: decent lead up ... morewith a sudden end less bizarre than bewildering, and leaving everyone unsure how to change the topic of conversation tactfully. But again, maybe this will appeal to me more at another time! I'll likely grab it from the library again at...some point.
review 2: A rather quirky collection of modern fairy tales. Some stand out such as the story of the lady who carries around her droplet sized baby in a matchbox, and the secret or Marylene, a fat woman, who split into two young beautiful sisters every night when they have to dance under a wizard's spell. The most outstanding is perhaps the story "My Love" which describes marital love in a very tender yet subtle way. The fairy tales claim to portray life under soviet rule, that could also be just a publisher's selling claim. What it does achieve is to portray the struggles of an individual in an unforgiving and massive world. Drawbacks: many of the stories start out brilliantly, the first lines are typically shocking yet humorous in some way; however, many of the stories have a weak ending, running out of steam after the initial burst of morbid creativity. less

Download links for: There Once Lived A Woman Who Tried To Kill Her Neighbour's Baby: Scary Fairy Tales (Penguin Modern Classics)

Advertising