Thursday, 29 December 2022

Politically Correct Bedtime Stories

This book by James Finn Garner is as you would expect off the tin - cleverly rewritten classic fairy tales to skewer the "political correctness" prevalent at time of publication (in this editions, the mid 1990's, which is fun, isn't it? I was a toddler then, so I was obviously well plugged in to such cultural sensitivities.)

   No, I jest - I got this book in my Christmas stocking from Ma & Pa, so I was obliged to read it - and it was actually pretty funny. Cinderella, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel - and more; there's a bunch of classic fairy tales who get redrawn in "politically-correct" fashion. It is vaguely amusing, but I'm still not entirely sure why my parents thought I would be that keen about this notion. Isn't the whole point of older stories that they are less "woke"? That's how one observes cultural evolution over literary time, isn't it?

   I don't even know if or what I'm joking about any more.

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