title: Converting a string of the form '[a, b, c]' to a list in python without going through list comprehension
body: <p>Python beginner question:</p>
  
  <p>Is there a way to convert a string of the form <code>'[a, b, c]'</code> directly into a list?</p>
  
  <p>As in <code>type(f('[a, b, c]')) is list == True</code>/<code>isinstance(f('[a, b, c]'), list) is True</code> for some method or function <code>f</code>? Please note, the final lists should have the elements as individual strings, i.e. <code>f('[a, b, c]') returns ['a', 'b', 'c']</code></p>
  
  <p>I have checked <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1894269/convert-string-representation-of-list-to-list-in-python">this</a> and <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5214344/converting-a-string-that-represents-a-list-into-an-actual-list-object?rq=1">this</a>. <code>ast.literal_eval()</code> Fails with error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>ValueError: malformed string
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>My input list (string) isn't unicode marked, and the items are not individually <code>string</code> or <code>int</code>. </p>
  
  <p>Is there a builtin for this kind of conversion? This is essentially a 'form' question. I am trying to understand if there is a <code>pythonic</code> way of doing this without writing a longish function using splitting the string and conversion.</p>
  
  <p>Insights would be much appreciated.</p>