Customer Reviews

Nutcracker and Mouse King and The Tale of the Nutcracker (Penguin Classics)

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

 

 

For weeks, I debated whether or not I should buy this particular version when there are others much cheaper. In the end, this was a fantastic find!

This version of "Nutcracker and the Mouse King" is the original work written by E.T.A. Hoffman. The beginning comes with a brief introduction examining both the story and the ballet. Mr. Dumas, who wrote the alternate version, is also briefly described in the introduction. The differences among the stories are quickly apparent, though, also described for you in the introduction.

As a much loved holiday classic, I was astounded at the differences between the original work and the ballet. Both are structured to be absolutely beautiful works that speak for themselves and each contains meanings beyond words. If you are looking for a lovely holiday book for yourself, a friend, or young one, this is the perfect gift.

Penguin was able to turn the short classic `Nutcracker and Mouse King` (1816) into a standalone volume by adding a scholarly Introduction, and a later re-telling of the story `The Tale of the Nutcracker` by Dumas (of Three Musketeers fame) which composes half the book. Most importantly the translations are new, although that doesn't always mean better, but it seems OK to me.

The most important insight from the Introduction is that Hoffmann wrote the story as a critique of the middle-class in Germany in the early 19th century - serious, ridged, strict and conformist (not only German, the same could be said for 19th century Victorian culture). Children are stifled and kept in emotional check, expected to act like mini adults. For Hoffmann, freedom from this condition can be obtained by means of the imagination. In the story, time and again we see reality and fantasy merge as the children escape from the ridged confines imposed by their parents and strict social convention by way of make believe. Once the perspective of Hoffmann's critique is seen, the story takes on a new dimension, certain passages make more sense and the story seems less "weird" or dark. It is more than just a fairy-tale about toys that come to life, but a serious work of art about people.

As for the Alexandre Dumas' version in the second half of the book, I found it to be inferior to Hoffmann; I didn't want alter my memory with the retelling, so I quit it early on. I may return another time as I understand it was influential in the ballet adaptation. Thus the four stars.

This book seems rather scholarly, maybe a thesis? It gives you the original story , plus the Dumas version used in many ballets. I own several different "Nutcracker Ballet DVDs, I watch them all each Christmas. They all vary and now I know where the differences come from! I didnt realize the Godfather Drosselmeyer really had a nephew--I thought it was just added as a job for Macaulay Culkin! The Mouse King varies tremedously, too . If you the love this ballet---you have to have this book!

Like many Americans, I have grown up watching the Nutcracker ballet. It was really nice to read the story that inspired the ballet. Both versions of this story are really great reads.

Both Hoffmann's original story and Dumas' simplified & softened retelling are presented here, prefaced with an introductory discussion to provide historical and cultural context.

The translations tend towards the literal and prosaic, occasionally using harsh or clunky modern English and American idiom, rather than being recast into softer expressions and archaic-quaint phrasing, as one would expect of a 19th-Century European period piece. Some phrases are translated that become puzzling, or assume an understanding of context two hundred years gone.

Fortunately what shines through are Drosselmeier's dark/complex character, the love and understanding between Marie (aka Clara) and Nutcracker, and the fairy-tale antecedents that give rise to the necessarily stripped-down conflict and drama seen on modern Ballet stages.

In this edition, understanding of the historical-cultural underpinnings will be difficult unless one first trudges through the book's introduction. The editors and translators could profitably dig deeper next time around, enriching later editions with footnotes and annotations to the numerous German and French figures of speech and allusions.

I wanted the FULL story, not the ballet, of the Nutcracker. This one not only has it, but an alternate version as a bonus.