Following an introduction to Andersen's life and personality, Zipes explores his subject's prodigious output of works including travel books, essays, novels, plays, autobiographies, and 156 fairy tales, only a few of which were actually written for children. Two further chapters, The Discourse of the Dominated (a discussion of Andersen's deep ambivalence about class issues) and The Discourse of Rage and Revenge: Controlling Children (a discussion of Andersen's attitudes toward children and childhood) are revised versions of essays previously published elsewhere. A final chapter, The Cinematic Appropriation of Andersen's Heritage: Trivialization and Innovation, looks at both American and European films made from his works. Zipes compares those that build on Andersen's own messages and those that simply use his motifs and characters as commodities to be repackaged and sold. The book is illustrated with prints from 19th- and early-20th-century editions of his works that help to place Andersen in a historical context. A bibliography, film bibliography, and extensive notes are included. This book belongs in libraries with readers who are interested in critical interpretations of folklore and film, and those with collections of critical biographies or extensive collections of Andersen's works. Readers interested in Andersen's contributions to the literature of Denmark, to the modern fairy tale, and a more authentic look at a less-than-happy life, as presented for children in Hjørdis Varmer's Hans Christian Andersen: His Fairy Tale Life (Groundwood, 2005), will find this volume valuable.–Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie
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Review
This work is recommended for larger academic libraries and those with Germanic or Scandinavian studies departments. -Martha Stephenson, University of Wisconsin Library, Library Journal Reviews
Fans of Andersen and any who would study his works would do well to include Jack Zipes’ Hans Christian Andersen: The Misunderstood Storyteller.- Scandinavian Studies
[T]he book is useful to anyone who wants to understand the dynamics and interconnections of fairy tales and literature. -Maria Kaliambou, University of Lille 3, France
This work is recommended for larger academic libraries and those with Germanic or Scandinavian studies departments.
--Martha Stephenson, University of Wisconsin Library, Library Journal Reviews
Fans of Andersen and any who would study his works would do well to include Jack Zipes’ Hans Christian Andersen: The Misunderstood Storyteller…
--The Literary Shelf
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