Fairy Tales

Name: Fairy Tales
Rating: 3.851851851851851 (27 reviews)
Author: Hans Christian Andersen
ISBN: 9780140448931

by Hans Christian Andersen

3.9

(27 ratings)

496 pages2005Penguin ClassicsISBN 9780140448931

fiction fantasy young adult science fiction

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About this book

Containing an enchanting mix of familiar favourites and hidden gems, the "Penguin Classics" edition of Hans Christian Andersen's "Fairy Tales" is translated by Tiina Nunnally and edited with an introduction by Jackie Wullschlager. The first writer to create timeless, universal fairy tales from his own imagination, Hans Christian Andersen conjured up a world of icy queens, match girls and tin soldiers, rewarded virtue and unfulfilled desire. Rich with popular tales such as "The Emperor's New Clothes" and "The Ugly Duckling", this revelatory new collection contains many later, darker and rarely collected stories, such as "Auntie Toothache" and "The Shadow", in which a man's shadow slyly takes over his life. This sparkling new translation captures the eccentric charm of Andersen's original, colloquial Danish style as never before. The introduction vividly describes his changing style and there are notes on every tale

Publication Details

Publisher: Penguin Classics
Published: 2005
Pages: 496
ISBN: 9780140448931
Language: en

About Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark, to a father who claimed to be related to nobility. After school, he worked as a weaver's apprentice and as a tailor's assistant. At 14, he moved to Copenhagen to be an actor, and was accepted into the Royal Danish Theatre. His career ended when his voice changed, and he decided to become a writer. He published his first story, The Ghost at Palnatoke's Grave, in 1822. An acquaintance paid all expenses to send him to grammar school in Slagelse. He also attended school at Elsinore until 1827. He later admitted that his school years were the darkest and bitterest of his life. After school, Andersen resumed writing. In 1829, he started to see his first successes, publishing a short story, "A Journey on Foot from Holmen's Canal to the East Point of Amager", and a collection of poems. In 1833 he received a traveling grant from the King and set out to travel through Europe. He published his first novel, The Improvisatore, in 1835. He also published the first set of Fairy Tales, following up with more stories in 1836 and 1837. Although they were not initially successful, they have become his best-known works. He wrote a well-received poem, Jeg er en Skandinav, which celebrated Scandinavism, in 1839. In 1857, following a visit to Charles Dickens in England, Andersen met Danish actor Lauritz Eckardt and Danish ballet dancer Harald Scharff in Paris. In 1860, he met them again in Bavaria, and the three of them spent a week in Munich together. Anderson fell in love with Scharff, and started corresponding with him when Scharff and Eckardt left Munich. They were united when Andersen returned to Copenhagen in 1862. Their affair lasted for over a year before it was ended by Scharff, and Andersen did not have another serious relationship. In 1872, Andersen was injured in a fall, and he died of his injuries in 1875.