Bluebeard (Johnson)

Bluebeard -- And Other Folklore Tales, by Clifton Johnson, 1920

I don't know how long ago I downloaded the free ebook of Bluebeard. I'm not even sure why I did. I probably was looking at the best-selling (or most-downloaded) free classics on Amazon, and it was probably there. I hadn't read it before, so why not.

This was a short, in-between other books, book to read when I didn't have something else available -- or when I was going to sleep and I had the light turned off already. (It disturbs the wife.)

The book is short (Amazon says 52 pages) and I probably could've read it in one sitting. However, the nature of the book and the times when I was reading it caused me to nod off more than once. It is a collection of fairy tales/folk tales from around the world. They might have been children's stories once upon a time, but with all the monsters and mayhem in them, I wouldn't want to read one to any child right before bed. Not unless I wanted them crawling into bed with me in the middle of the night -- or screaming for me to come to them.

The odd thing is that the book is divided up into 19 chapters, but there aren't 19 stories. For example, the story of Bluebeard is two chapters long, and then without any segue or transition, we're into the Goblin in the Bottle, which is a few chapters itself. That's an odd way to compile a book.

The stories seem a little out of time, given that they were written down in this form nearly 100 years ago. But it's a little piece of history.

I enjoyed it.

As for any 2016 GOALS: it is over 90 years old, but not 100. It is a collection of short stories. It was a short read (well under 100 pages). I check the lists later.

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