Book description
In her most ambitious annotated work to date, Maria Tatar celebrates the stories told by Denmark's "perfect wizard" and re-envisions Hans Christian Andersen as a writer who casts his spell on both children and adults. Andersen's most beloved tales, such as "The Emperor's New Clothes," "The Ugly Duckling," and "The…
Why read it?
1 author picked The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I love Andersen because his stories almost out-Kafka Kafka.
His animal characters are not exactly philosophers, but they observe, they dread, they dream. Animals—like humans—rarely challenge the natural order of things, but they must deal with the world as it actually is.
One Danish critic said that Andersen wrote more self-portraits than Rembrandt ever painted. Andersen’s great contribution to literature is recognizing how little is needed to produce a story and how little a great story really needs to say.
One story tells of a chance meeting and spurned friendship between two toys in a drawer. Andersen seems capable of…
From Alberto's list on contemplating and appreciating laziness.
If you love The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen...
Minor Sketches and Reveries
These introspective tales feature animals, allegories and melodramas of everyday life. At the center of the stories are tiny creatures (a sparrow, earthworm or paperclip) struggling to make sense of larger mysterious forces. Human protagonists are equally perplexed by ordinary events – like searching for a lost key, watching late…
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