Unfairy Tales is a retelling of the old, original fairy tales we enjoyed as kids. All of us would have regaled our kids with various versions of these stories but never like this. Carthick has put his own unique spin on the tales. Each story has a different flavour and makes them good and a different read. I would never be looking at the fairytales in the same light again.
This book, Unfairy Tales brings a unique take on the characters of the stories who may be secondary or the antihero in the original tale. It stands apart from the various other retelling or spinoffs of the fairytales that abound on Amazon and cover various genres from romance to erotica. The stories are well chosen and connect to the theme of being Unfair or Unfairy like.
I found the unique perspective of the little pig against Goldilocks so endearing. He was right in being mighty upset after all his things got ruined in the story, No Country For Wild Beasts.
What the Hobgoblin Did had the poor dear Rumpelsliltskin was a nice guy after all, spinning gold, wasn’t he? Read the book to be totally sure!
A Tale of One City is about The Pied Piper, I always found him to be brooding, aloof and mysterious and Carthick has reaffirmed that. If you still need to know what he did and why did he actually take away all those kids you have to read Unfairy Tales. Intrigued enough?
Of Mice and Horses, a mouse who remembers the transformation he experienced. It is right out of an alien abduction scenario 😀 😉 and guess which fairy tale it talks about?
The Frog Who Would Be King showed the intentions of people are never quite like what they seem. The maiden and the frog with their thoughts made such a fun read. What a devious mind we have.
The Beans of Avarice is the story of those magical beans and the man who actually had the beans, what did he want, why was he looking for a poor boy? Such a different side of the story.
The Hunger Diaries is a twisted tale of humanity. It reminded me of poor children who face famine and hunger but what if your own family wants you to stay hungry?
The villains of the stories in #UnfairyTales are not always who we always thought them to be. The alternate stories make us think, ponder and wonder what the world was like when these were originally written. Unfairy tales are short stories that make us think and reflect on our humanity.
But what if the father’s real concern is for the dragon’s hoard; What if the damsel’s reason of distress is the marriage proposal by her pompous and vicious savior; and what if the story is told by the horse who bears not only the overweight knight but also his heavy, shining armor all the way to the dragon’s lair and back, facing certain death in the process?
What if there was more – much more – to all your favourite fairy tales than met the eye?
This book chronicles not one but seven such unfairy tales – tales told by undead horsemen and living cities. Tales of mistreated hobgoblins and misunderstood magicians. Tales of disagreeable frogs and distressed rats and bears baring their souls. Once you read these stories, you will never be able to look at a fairy tale the same way ever again.
“They keep barking all night. They just don’t let us sleep,” they had complained.
And they began to make a big fuss of how dogs were a public menace and exaggerated stories of dogs attacking humans started spreading, till finally the town council had to yield. Dog-catchers were commissioned and the dogs were done away with. With the elimination of their natural predators, wasn’t it natural that rats should multiply? But people just don’t realize these kinds of things. That is how people have been all the time. They wanted quick-fix solutions to all their problems then, and they want quick-fix solutions to all their problems now. They never learn.
Also, I suppose the mayor probably thought he would never be called upon to follow through upon his promise. So, he promised a grand reward just to appear to be doing something. That is another folly of humans, especially the leaders. They care more about perception than actually getting things done. And often initiatives undertaken to manage perceptions end up doing more harm than good.
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About the author
He is an Engineer and MBA from India’s premier institutes IIT, Madras and IIM, Ahmedabad and currently works as an Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Consultant at one of the world’s leading Consulting Firms.
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