STORIES FROM THE ENGLISH AND SCOTTISH BALLADS

by Ruth Manning-Sanders ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 30, 1968

Mrs. Manning-Sanders made a noteworthy contribution with A Bundle of Ballads (1961); here she elaborates upon the events in fourteen of the ballads (plus eight about Robin Hood) and turns them into stories. Read as stories, they're interesting and amusing enough but the transformation seems pointless: her versions of the ballads were emended to be readily comprehensible and they are; they are also pithy, rhythmic and compelling, qualities which are altogether lost here. To say nothing of the emasculation of language. It's not at all certain that youngsters who read the stories will go back to the ballads, and certainly those who read the ballads don't need the stories.

Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1968

Categories: NONFICTION