Customer Reviews

Hans Christian Andersen: The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories (Anchor Folktale Library)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book presents the stories of Hans Christian Andersen in their original form (translated). These original stories contain undertones that are lost with Disney-like euphemisms and euphemistic adaptations. This also means there are some ghastly contents to children, so be attentive. As well, it is unillustrated, and may be more difficult to relay to children, but any effort will be well worth it, in my opinion. At any rate, it could be good reading for adults who wish to discover the original version of some of the fairy tales they might have heard as a child.

It is a pity that most people only know Hans Christian Andersen for a few of his "easiest" fairy tales. What springs to mind for almost everyone is stories like "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Ugly Duckling" and perhaps "The Snowqueen". But Hans Christian Andersen has written a vast array of profoundly touching tales. In Odense, Denmark the Danish actor Troels Møller said (two years ago in a lecture on "H.C.A. & God"),

"We are all going to die. H.C.Andersen knew this, he worked with it and he used it to show us all the beauty of life - the beauty of all life."

His stories are not only for children they are for everyone. The likes of H.C.Andersen can be found nowhere. If you want to discover the full grandeur of his genius you MUST read more than just his popular works. I would even urge you to go to Odense to learn Danish - Much is lost in translation. But although the English translation doesn't reach the heights of the original Danish text I still give it one of my 5 star sets. And don't think that it's a case of petty nationalism - you will find no other Danish writer that I'll grant 5 great ones. It is entertainment, philosphy and religion.

The Ugly Duckling. The Little Mermaid. The Tinderbox. The Emperor's New Clothes. The Princess and the Pea. It's all here!

C. S. Lewis, in his preface to "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," observed that as children we grow out of hearing fairy tales, but as an adult we can come back to them with fresh eyes and be enchanted in a different way. HCA stories have that amphibian quality of living above and below the supposed age limits.

I find it surprising that HCA writing in a minor language would be so popular, but he is a genius at writing fairy tales. The Grimm Boys just collected and edited the German fairy tales, but HCA was generating new and original fairy tales. I hope we don't sluff off this unique talent he had solely on the ground that he was writing to children. After all, how many naked Emperors have we seen? The comic Dilbert gets it's life blood from the fact that so many emperors can be smooth-talked by so many charlatans, and be sustained in their delusion by smarmy sycophants, and only brought to light by a child.

If children can understand this, why can't we adults?

On the printing-side of the book, I would like to see this in a hardbound, with durable paper, and not the thin and fragile newsprint. I am almost afraid to read this book since the opaper is so delicate!

(This review compares Haugaard's translation to the Jean Hersholt version, available at Barnes and Noble in a one-volume, leather bound, gift edition)
Reliability or readability -- what is more important in a translation? Most versions aim at a balance between the two, but whether one is translating the Bible or H.C.A., translations invariably tend more towards one than the other!
The Haugaard version reads extremely well. It runs very smoothly and is made to be read out loud. But experts have pointed out that at times, it tends to sacrifice accuracy to readability. Andersen's original Danish prose does not always run smoothly, and is sometimes choppy and deliberately awkward.
Andersen's original style is reflected better in the Jean Hersholt version, which does not read as well out loud, but tends to be more faithful to the original Danish. It is better suited for silent reading or study, often sacrificing readability for accuracy. (Also available on-line at the Hans Christian Andersen Centre Website, set up by the University of Southern Denmark)
In short, storytellers will prefer Haugaard for storytelling and reading out loud, while scholars will give prority to Hersholt for study purposes. But why not buy both?

I received this book as a gift for my 20th birthday. I am very pleased with it. I recomend it, and especially for its beautifully crafted and translated material. Enjoy! There are so many so many tales... I love it!

This book provides a comprehensive collection of Hans Christian Andersen's works. There is no rhyme or reason to their arrangement in the book and it can be a little hard to find a particular tale in the table of contents. My book is also missing pages 467-470 which is the end of "The Piggy Bank" and the beginning of "Ib & Little Christina". If you need all of the tales this is pretty much it!

This is a collection of Andersen's Fairy Tales - just what I was looking for in paperback. My son's still a little too young for them, but I look forward to reading them to him at bedtime soon.

Exactly what I ordered and in the condition as advertised. Received it on the date given to me. Very good read.

My review is not based on any particular version of this book, but solely on the H.C.A. imaginative and timeless writing. It's such a pity that major of his work is so little known, underrated and unappreciated by many. For those reasons contemporary youngsters are not influenced any more by such deeply moral, richly spiritual and mesmerizing stories, which shaped the characters of previous generations. I agree that Disney company creations made some of H.C.A. tales, well-known, unfortunately most of them have little to do with original. They are tear down from Christian and ethical depth in order to create more successful, glamorous, happy-ending products - ticket-box-money-makers.
Many say that reasons for H.C.A. lack of popularity is the sadness, suffering, depictions of extreme poverty and disregarded love. As much of that is deeply present in some of his tales, it doesn't necessary mean the absence of hope, happiness, justice and fulfillment in life, but all of that depends on reader's perception, philosophy or religious believes. For those who believe in God and transcendental world, none of those stories would be sad or tragic, but rather highly-ethical, human, precious. What's beautiful in his writing is presence of deeper understanding of unselfish love, hope for those who are poor, lost, undermined, unjustly treated and mocked... and for little ones... just mesmerizing world inhabited by queens, king, wizards, fairies, talking home appliances, angels and magical galoshes....

Now some of these tales are out there, but all offer some amusement. Some may not make any sense (i.e. the endings seem incomplete or "off") and they may not be on par with the Grimms tales, but it's nice to have all of these in one place and to be able to read tales that I have never heard of or come across over the years. If you are making a collection of myths and fairy tales, this collection is a must.