Good but not perfect

Some of the stories are better than others and are often sad (lots of broken hearts), but worth listening to, especially with all-star list of narrators.

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Enjoyable tales

It was lovely to hear these stories even though most of them had a sad note in them. Great narration I creased the enjoyment🙂

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Some better than others

Lovely bunch of narrators made it sound good.

Some tales better than others. Worth the listen.

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dated but interesting

dated but interesting to listen to from a historical perspective. narators are good, worth listening to them.

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Okay

Well this was (obviously) a book of fairy tales and all the elements were here, princesses, giants, talking animals and plants - even a conscious firework. Some read like parables with a message. Some are a bit dark. Most were fairly forgettable. I appreciate that at 59 I am maybe not the target market for these stories, but as I know Oscar Wilde as a witty and accomplished author I was expecting something more from this collection. If I had my time again I am not sure I would bother but …. It was okay

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Fairy tales excellent, "The Actress" missing

i am deducting a star because this audiobook claimed to include a bonus chapter, Elaine Stitch's performance of "The Actress", which is not listed in the index and does not play immediately after the last story.

Now back to the stories themselves. Knowing that Oscar Wilde was exceptionally proud of his fairy tales, I decided that, as a fan of his plays and literature, I should broaden my experience of his works, especially since I could only recollect one of his fairy tales, "The Happy Prince" from my childhood. The line-up of distinguished actors involved with this audiobook made it seem the perfect vehicle to achieve this - and I wasn't disappointed with the performances. The stories were as dark as fairy tales should be and "The Happy Prince" even more devastating than I remembered it. I am sure I shall listen to these tales again.

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Great story telling great stories

A bit on the Grimm side as the stories I have heard before but the tellers gave no clue in the telling of the ending. I had the sinking feeling towards the twist in the tale.
I don t think I should listen to these in COVID times although brilliant stories and vividly read I am too stressed and had to pause a lot before reading on.

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Fabulous

Wonderful fairy stories read by masters of their craft. I can't recommend it highly enough.

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Not for me

These fairytales are very repetitive in nature and many of them repeat themselves over and over. A common trend is something happening the exact same way. A bird lamenting for a rose, death punishing avarice, egoman pushing his friend around, birdhostage, soul nagging, etc.

I can't enjoy these, and I don't see how Oscar Wilde is anything unique in his writings. The morals are extremely on the nose and the writing drags.

The performance had varying audio levels. One performer I could barely hear with max volume, then proceeded by the loudest one yet making me hurt and rapidly lowering the volume.

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9 people found this helpful

loved it

not your traditional happy ending fairy tales, I really enjoyed it. I will be buying the book to read to my children.

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