Charles Perrault doesn’t enjoy the household-name status of the Brothers Grimm, but he’s an important voice in folklore — important enough for Oxford University Press to compile THE COMPLETE FAIRY TALES, containing roughly a dozen works by the 17th-century Frenchman.
A few are in verse, most in prose, and nearly all familiar to the average reader … or even the non-reader, in the case of young children who’ve been exposed to the works — if not Perrault’s versions per se — through verbal stories or cartoon adaptations. But make no mistake: This book’s not exactly kid-friendly.
Take the poem “Donkey-Skin,” for example, in which a queen dies, leaving the king without a wife, so he aims to take another. No problem, right? Except that the object of his eye is also his daughter. All together now: Ewww!
Or how about the ogre who slashes the throats of his daughters in “Hop o’ My Thumb,” about a Tom Thumb-esque tiny person? Or the sexually charged meeting of girl and wolf in “Little Red Riding-Hood”? Or the spouse-slaying “Bluebeard”?
All newly translated by Christopher Betts with excellent period engravings by Gustave Doré, other tales include “Puss in Boots,” “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood” and “Cinderella.” As interesting as it is to see these stories in Perrault’s words, I got more of a kick simply learning about Perrault himself. Betts provides a rather thorough introduction to the man and his work, full of insightful commentary. —Rod Lott
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