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Title: The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris, A. B. Frost, Richard Chase ISBN: 0-395-06799-5 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company Pub. Date: 09 September, 1955 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.78 (9 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Classicly wonderful
Comment: Loved 'em as a kid, still love 'em now! Watch out, though, there's a little known new guy out there with similar style, great new stories: Bob Morgan's Bob Tales.
Rating: 5
Summary: The best folktales.
Comment: These animal stories were banned in the late sixties from many schools and libraries for being racist (the storyteller in the book, Uncle Remus, is a slave and uses the "n" word). But it seems that it's now ok to like these stories again, and a good thing that is, because they are not only hilariously funny, they are also deeply revealing of the foibles of us humans. But perhaps most importantly, they are a treasure trove of African American folklore.
The stories combine folktale motifs brought from Africa by slaves with those of the native peoples of the south, particularly the Cherokee and Choctaw. Since both cultures had stories with animal characters, and specifically trickster rabbit characters, ethnologists have not been able to completely determine which elements are the African and which are the Native American. No matter, since the two cultural traditions blend together seamlessly.
This edition is the most encyclopedic of all the Uncle Remus collections, and contains many different types of tales. There are origin tales, like how Mr. Dog originally came to live with Mr. Man and why Mr. Cricket has elbows on his legs. There are satirical tales, like the one in which Brer Rabbit convinces Brer Fox that it's the fashion in town for up-to-date foxes to have their heads cut off, which is information that Brer Fox, out of vanity, acts on in the way Brer Rabbit hopes. There are Trickster tales --mostly involving Brer Rabbit and Brer Tortoise (who is the only character who can out-trickster Rabbit). And there are tales of witches, magic, and superstition specific to Africa.
It's written in Southern African-American dialect of the 19th century, which can be tough going for some, but there is a glossary in the back (which I didn't realize was there for over a year) that helps. Also, the stories demand to be read out loud, being originally of an oral tradition, and I think you will find that reading them aloud while just following the given spelling will make the dialect more understandable than just reading it silently.
These stories are so wonderful that my teenaged sons, who think it's "babyish" to be read to, will still allow me to read Brer Rabbit tales to them. If you are looking for great Literature that's funny and easy to read, buy this book and have a really good time!
Rating: 4
Summary: Not bad, but
Comment: This book is a good collection of Harris, Uncle Remus tales. Some of the posters have gone into the history of these tales, so no need to repeat that here. However, these tales are best taken in small doses, as Chandler's "Negro dialect" (as it was known at the time) is a bit much on the eyes of the modern reader (I'm an African-American from South Carolina myself and I had a lot of trouble trying to decipher some of this). But the illustrations are quite fitting and wonderful. So if you have a lot of patience and love some good stories, go for it.
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Title: The Favorite Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris ISBN: 0395068002 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 30 January, 1973 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: Brer Rabbit: From the Collected Stories of Joel Chandler Harris by David Borgenicht, Don Daily, Joel Chandler Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings Harris ISBN: 1561385832 Publisher: Courage Books Pub. Date: September, 1995 List Price(USD): $9.98 |
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Title: Tar Baby by Joel Chandler Harris, Thomas Deryk ISBN: 1840680202 Publisher: Creation Pub Group Pub. Date: 2000 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings (Penguin American Library) by Joel Chandler Harris, Robert Hemenway ISBN: 0140390146 Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: September, 1982 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: Adventures of Brer Rabbit and Friends by Karima Amin, Eric Copeland, Joel Chandler Harris ISBN: 0789449250 Publisher: DK Publishing Pub. Date: 01 November, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.99 |
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