The timeless tales as collected by the Grimms brothers have had an undeniably huge impact on popular culture and continue to work their influence today. Fantasy writer Philip Pullman is next in line to reinterpret them, and his efforts are admirable. Great is the temptation to overmodernise the source texts, but despite a few personal flourishes, he stays fair and true to the classic tales. His notes at the end of each story are a delight to read, as they not only explain his decisions in adapting the tales, but he freely offers up a personal opinion on each one. Pullman's colloquial, anti-intellectual style is a treat after witnessing the common trend of intellectualising the tales to justify a scholarly examination of what are essentially, cautionary stories for children.
The collection is by no means comprehensive, but it provides a good mix of the heavy hitters like 'Little Red Riding Hood', 'Cinderella', 'Snow White', and 'Rapunzel', whilst also offering many of the more obscure entries, some of which are only a couple of paragraphs long. The length and range is well chosen, for a more exhaustive edition would soon become an utter chore to get through. Being a fantasy writer himself, it was evident that Pullman favoured the more magical and supernatural stories. Pullman's style is modern and concise enough that I was able to read some of them to my three-year old daughter without her getting confused. True to the title, they remain for 'Young and Old.'
Rating: 3/5
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