Revolting Rhymes

Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes is a collection of poems by Roald Dahl, published in 1982. It consists of six poems, each telling a familiar tale new, the plot takes surprising, often cynical twists. The book was illustrated by Quentin Blake.

Content

The poem Cinderella is a reinterpretation of the fairy tale of Cinderella. In the first verse is announced, this is the true version of the tale, which was much more brutal than the well-known. The prince is presented as extremely violent, which is why Cinderella decides in the end, not to marry him, but the fairy asks, instead, to give it a decent man. She marries a jam seller and leads a happy life.

The English fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk is changed so that the protagonist is spared in front of the Giants, by bathing thoroughly and the giant so you can not smell it. He decides to take a bath every day.

The poem of Snow White starts off as the well-known fairy tale. However, the seven dwarfs are here seven former jockeys who live on horse betting. Snow White steals the enchanted mirror of her stepmother and uses it to predict the outcome of horse racing, which helps them all to great success. The poem ends with the ironic morality that gambling is not a sin, provided you always win.

The poem Goldilocks and the Three Bears is less a retelling as a commentary on the tale of Goldilocks and the three bears. Roald Dahl, the story goes section by section and by doing puts himself in the situation of the bear family. He disapproved of that Goldilocks in the fairy tale of it comes unscathed, although it shows no manners and more crime is committed, and proposes an alternative ending in which the child bears Goldilocks eaten instead of his stolen from her breakfast.

The poem of Little Red Riding Hood essentially follows the plot of the tale, with the difference that Red Riding Hood is far more independent in this version, it can not outsmart the wolf and shoots instead of the hunter the wolf itself. In the end she proudly wears a cloak of wolf's clothing.

The fairy tale The Three Little Pigs is first told in accordance with the original version. When, however, the wolf threatens the third little pig, calls this Little Red Riding Hood in which already has experience with wolves, and asks it for help. Little Red Riding Hood intervenes and also defeated this wolf. The moral of the story is, however, that one should not trust the young ladies from the upper class, as Little Red Riding Hood can tailor a second coat not only from the wolf's clothing, but also from the skin of the piglet a travel suitcase.

Reception

Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes is considered a classic of English children's literature. The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English called it as an example of Dahl's linguistic dexterity. However, it was not invariably well received. So is the book - as well as other books Roald Dahl - has often been relegated to complaints from parents out of U.S. schools, as it was not suitable because of its depictions of violence and its irreverent language for children. His seven years later published book of poems Rhyme Stew, in which he processed more fairy tales ( including Hansel and Gretel, The Emperor's New Clothes, Ali Baba and Aladdin ) in a similar form, Dahl knew himself by saying it was for " little people " ( " small people " ) unsuitable.

German translation

Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes is not fully published in German. Four of the fairy tale ( Cinderella, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs ), however, are in a German paraphrase of Heinrich Maria Ledig - Rowohlt part of the 1983 anthology confetti.

Audiobooks

Audio recordings of Pam Ferris and Geoffrey Palmer, which additionally contains Roald Dahl's Dirty Beasts collection of poems, was published in 2005 at Puffin Audiobooks. A new edition of the Scottish actor Alan Cumming appeared in 2008.

Expenditure

• Roald Dahl: Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes, Perma- Bound Books, 1982 ( first edition )
• Roald Dahl: Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes, Puffin Books, 1995, ISBN 978-0140375336

• Roald Dahl: confetti. Uncomfortable and naughty, Random House, Reinbek 1983, ISBN 3-498-01245-2

• Revolting Rhymes & Dirty Beasts, read by Pam Ferris and Geoffrey Palmer, Puffin 2005, ISBN 978-0141806365
• Revolting Rhymes & Dirty Beasts, read by Alan Cumming, Puffin, 2008 ISBN 978-0141807812