Depressing kids' stories

pickarooney

It's a cold winter's night, you're three years old and it's bedtime. What could be more comforting than a big hug and a nice fairy tale before drifting off to sleep?

I'm not one of these people who insists everything should have a happy ending (unlike yore ma in a massage parlour) but Jesus Christ what is wrong with people who write stories for kids?

When we go to the library there's not a whole lot of time to sit down and read through each book before checking it out so a quick glance at the back cover and the first couple of pages should give a good idea. So you go with the one about the little girl and her new bicycle or the little caveman or the famous cat or well-loved tales of yore. And every single one of the bastards involves children being maimed by wild animals, abandoned to die by their parents, slaughtered in some ancient internecine conflict, raped and battered by some shadowy figure in the woods or poisoned and buried alive.

Good night now, sweet dreams!

Dylan Moran wrote:

AND THEN THE CAGE COMES DOWN!.. The cage with the japanese spiders inside, your mother strikes a match off her forearm and tells you to dance in the front room for money

I'd never heard of, or mentally blocked out ,H.C. Andersen's story of the Little Match Girl so I thought that, given the hardship she endured in the beginning of the story (frostbite, parental abuse, that kind of thing) things would start to look up for her as she struck off her matches and imagined a world of warm fires, roast goose and loving grandmothers. And then

she dies of hypothermia while the world celebrates New Year's Eve

.

Why? And more to the point why do we have such fond memories, as opposed to deep-seated psychological scarring, of this kind of thing?

Are there any nice kids' stories? What are the worst ones?

My vote would probably be that hilarious tale of kidnapping, homicide, parental abandonment and confectionary-based housing which finishes happily every after with the children living out their days in a remote cottage with the father who left them to die in the woods that is Hansel and Gretel.

Claasman

thats some pretty deep ****, maaaaaannnnn

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Sometimes stories have sad endings.

It kinda depends on the treatment of the author. Take for example the scenario where a bullied and neglected schoolgirl uses here telekentic powers to bring revenge on those who wronged her. Stephen King's "Carrie" or Roald Dahl's "Mathilda"?

Pace2008

Ikky Poo2 wrote: »

Sometimes stories have sad endings.

It kinda depends on the treatment of the author. Take for example the scenario where a bullied and neglected schoolgirl uses here telekentic powers to bring revenge on those who wronged her. Stephen King's "Carrie" or Roald Dahl's "Mathilda"?

Matilda didn't end sadly. As a kid, I remember thinking the book was quite melancholy for parts, but I didn't find anything upsetting about the

downfall of a tyrant and vengeance on an abusive family.

Some of Oscar Wilde's short stories depressed me a fair bit when I was young. The Happy Prince and The Nightingale and the Rose spring immediately to mind.

OMG!!! so I am not the only one I was scared for life by the little match girl for weeks after reading it when I was going to sleep I would get very upset thinking about children who had cruel parents who let them freeze to death. There was another story that use to upset me It was about a witch who put ice in a child's heart. I think I must have been about 8 when I read those stories.

Has anyone ever seen the film the little princess.. again its very upsetting for children ( although it has a happy ending )..after watching it my youngest daughter said to me can mammy's and daddies forget that they love their children!!!!

My oldest daughter use to read children's books by some called Jackie *) cant remember her second name )..and they were so sad all about children being abused, step families, mad mothers etc.

Scarydoll

I remember we read that book Good Night Mr Tom for junior cert english. Jeebus that book is so depressing.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Pace2008 wrote: »

Matilda didn't end sadly. As a kid, I remember thinking the book was quite melancholy for parts, but I didn't find anything upsetting about the

downfall of a tyrant and vengeance on an abusive family.

Some of Oscar Wilde's short stories depressed me a fair bit when I was young. The Happy Prince and The Nightingale and the Rose spring immediately to mind.

Oh, I know, that was what I meant. The author's treatment can make it happy or sad rather than the subject matter itself.

AnonoBoy

Little Red Riding Hood.

Poor wolfie, he was just following his natural urges to eat grandmothers and dress up in their nightdresses.

It all come back to me now ..has anyone read Janey Mary we did it for the leaving cert talk about depressing and upsetting.

A lot of children's stories seem to be about being forgotten about by your parents.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

mariaalice wrote: »

It all come back to me now ..has anyone read Janey Mary we did it for the leaving cert talk about depressing and upsetting.

A lot of children's stories seem to be about being forgotten about by your parents.

Did Wuthering Heights for the leaving, how depressing can you get? Seriously. A nation of teenagers, probably angst ridden in a lot of cases, facing the biggest exam of their lives (or so they're led to believe) and what do they pick to provide some inspired motivation...?

Wuthering ****ing Heights!!

I wouldn#t be surprised if the teenage suicide rate was slightly higher every year that book showed up on the syllabus.

prinz

Life doesn't always have happy endings. Many of the first written versions weren't designed for kids anyway but were collections of folk tales and local legends.

The stories for kids were generally started as a way to warn kids of the dangers of various things (wandering about in the forests of central Europe at the time the stories originated) and impart a sense of right and wrong and morality. The Struwwelpeter book is a classic example.

AnonoBoy

prinz wrote: »

Life doesn't always have happy endings.

Bullsh*t. Of course it does.

Kimono-Girl

anyone remember Revolting Rhymes by roald dahl....



they didn't have happy endings what about those poor 3 little pigs , at least Red riding hood

survived

although she ended up with

a fur coat and pig skin bag.

:eek: