Literary Fairy Tales

Famous quotes containing the words fairy tales, literary, fairy and/or tales:

    What is a novel? I say: an invented story. At the same time a story which, though invented has the power to ring true. True to what? True to life as the reader knows life to be or, it may be, feels life to be. And I mean the adult, the grown-up reader. Such a reader has outgrown fairy tales, and we do not want the fantastic and the impossible. So I say to you that a novel must stand up to the adult tests of reality.
    Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)

    Criticism occupies the lowest place in the literary hierarchy: as regards form, almost always; and as regards moral value, incontestably. It comes after rhyming games and acrostics, which at least require a certain inventiveness.
    Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880)

    When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies. And now when every new baby is born its first laugh becomes a fairy. So there ought to be one fairy for every boy or girl.
    —J.M. (James Matthew)

    ech of yow, to shorte with oure weye,
    In this viage shal telle tales tweye
    To Caunterbury-ward, I mene it so,
    And homward he shal tellen othere two,
    Of aventures that whilom han bifalle.
    Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)