Status
Available
Genres
Collection
Publication
New York : Paddington Press, c1975.
Description
Biography & Autobiography. Nonfiction. HTML: Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen gave the world some of the most memorable stories ever written; masterpieces like "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," and "The Little Match Girl" have been stitched into the very fabric of Western popular culture. In this autobiographical volume, the author of some of the most beloved children's literature tells the remarkable and inspiring story of his own upbringing and rise to prominence..
User reviews
LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
This was a frustrating read.
There is no doubting Hans Christian Andersen's literary legacy, but this book is not a part of it. Written when he was forty, and finishing abruptly after an abortive attempt to tour Spain - Andersen was warned by a doctor that he might not survive the journey - it
The first section, which deals with the writer's childhood, is fascinating and generally draws a portrait of the writer that cannot be found elsewhere with the same immediacy. The final section, after it is revealed that Andersen is sitting in Rome, penning his autobiography, contains more vim and vigour than the middle fifty percent of the book.
And it is in that middle section that the problems arise. Andersen treats us to a gloss of his life, but seems more concerned with remembering the famous people he had met and befriended - and with settling old scores with his critics - than revealing anything of value. He talks about Jenny Lind, the singer, but does not mention that he had fallen in love with her. Indeed, he proposed to her - in a letter handed to her as she was departing by train; she turned him down.
More crucially, we learn nothing about the genesis of the stories for which Andersen is remembered. What did he do to write? Did he wander the streets, waiting for the story to form in his mind? Or did he stare aghast at the blank page and curse himself for not being able to produce? We shall not learn the answers in this book.
There is no doubting Hans Christian Andersen's literary legacy, but this book is not a part of it. Written when he was forty, and finishing abruptly after an abortive attempt to tour Spain - Andersen was warned by a doctor that he might not survive the journey - it
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covers little more than half of the writer's life.The first section, which deals with the writer's childhood, is fascinating and generally draws a portrait of the writer that cannot be found elsewhere with the same immediacy. The final section, after it is revealed that Andersen is sitting in Rome, penning his autobiography, contains more vim and vigour than the middle fifty percent of the book.
And it is in that middle section that the problems arise. Andersen treats us to a gloss of his life, but seems more concerned with remembering the famous people he had met and befriended - and with settling old scores with his critics - than revealing anything of value. He talks about Jenny Lind, the singer, but does not mention that he had fallen in love with her. Indeed, he proposed to her - in a letter handed to her as she was departing by train; she turned him down.
More crucially, we learn nothing about the genesis of the stories for which Andersen is remembered. What did he do to write? Did he wander the streets, waiting for the story to form in his mind? Or did he stare aghast at the blank page and curse himself for not being able to produce? We shall not learn the answers in this book.
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