Fairytale in the Ancient World

I would give this 3.5 stars.

Fairytale in the ancient world is a scholarly nonfiction book that looks at the the connections between modern fairy tales and ancient folk tales/mythology. Broken down, it's fascinating to see how stories like Cinderella, Snow White, and rapunzel all have ties to more ancient stories. The locations may differ but key parts of the story remain the same (Cinderella stories always center around someone who was wronged or downcast, they recieve help from a mythial creature/friend, they attend a ball of some fashion, and they get a happy ending. Sometimes they also get revenge on the people who originally wronged them.)

So why only 3.5 stars? The book is very scholarly. It's well researched, but at times was drab and hard to read. Many of the names started blending together. I often found myself saying “Who are they talking about now?” I'm not as well versed in folk tales as I thought I was. Many segments ended up going over my head. I had no point of reference. Additionally, the language is very scholarly, which makes it harder to read. Between the names and the grammar, it grew to be more of a challenge than an enjoyment.

Regardless, I found the original subject fascinating, and was surprised to see the connections between some classic fairy tales and ancient myths. It goes to show that we really don't know much about the topic at all. I'd love to see more research done on this, but written in a slightly easier to read format.