Helpful Score: 1
This is a powerful book, but I wouldn't recommend it to most, even if they love the Grimm brothers' work.
The tale focuses on Jacob Grimm's last days, noting his ill health that include a heart attack and a stroke. Many of the people he meets while traveling with his niece know Jacob for his work gathering fairytales, but most people don't know the other side of his life, which was greatly affected by the changes in government/rulers of his "fatherland" over the years. Most of his energy was spent caring for his family at the expense of a personal life. He did, however, take a stand against political leaders at one point, which pushed him into exile far from his family.
I had a lot of tears during the last third of the book. There's the sense that Jacob was under-appreciated in his life and in history, that his passions for words and history and country were undervalued (mostly because passion can't always pay the bills). [Spoiler coming up!] After Jacob's stroke near the end of the book, he can't move the right side of his body, cannot speak, and can write very little with his left hand. It's noted that this would drive a writer crazy - being deprived of his passion for writing, not having that outlet. As a writer (for myself), this thought terrifies me. As the daughter of a stroke patient, this saddened me more than I already am, regarding my mother's health. In the end, Jacob is said to cope by just dwelling in the dream-world in his mind, almost a relief perhaps that he is no longer required to write it all out, and lives through his "last fairytale". [Spoilers done now.]
In conclusion, this is not a tale for someone looking for more of what the Grimm brothers collected. This piece of historical fiction is more likely to make a reader examine and appreciate their lives and influence on the world. This is not an escape from reality like most books. It's an example of how imagination will loop back to real life, how one cannot exist without the other, how we have to awaken from our dreams first in order to return to them again later. It's a serious read, but it's worth it for its context in history and the importance of these tales, on the Grimms and on the world.
The tale focuses on Jacob Grimm's last days, noting his ill health that include a heart attack and a stroke. Many of the people he meets while traveling with his niece know Jacob for his work gathering fairytales, but most people don't know the other side of his life, which was greatly affected by the changes in government/rulers of his "fatherland" over the years. Most of his energy was spent caring for his family at the expense of a personal life. He did, however, take a stand against political leaders at one point, which pushed him into exile far from his family.
I had a lot of tears during the last third of the book. There's the sense that Jacob was under-appreciated in his life and in history, that his passions for words and history and country were undervalued (mostly because passion can't always pay the bills). [Spoiler coming up!] After Jacob's stroke near the end of the book, he can't move the right side of his body, cannot speak, and can write very little with his left hand. It's noted that this would drive a writer crazy - being deprived of his passion for writing, not having that outlet. As a writer (for myself), this thought terrifies me. As the daughter of a stroke patient, this saddened me more than I already am, regarding my mother's health. In the end, Jacob is said to cope by just dwelling in the dream-world in his mind, almost a relief perhaps that he is no longer required to write it all out, and lives through his "last fairytale". [Spoilers done now.]
In conclusion, this is not a tale for someone looking for more of what the Grimm brothers collected. This piece of historical fiction is more likely to make a reader examine and appreciate their lives and influence on the world. This is not an escape from reality like most books. It's an example of how imagination will loop back to real life, how one cannot exist without the other, how we have to awaken from our dreams first in order to return to them again later. It's a serious read, but it's worth it for its context in history and the importance of these tales, on the Grimms and on the world.
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