Week 13 Reading: Literary Works Hans Christian Andersen Part A

Week 13 Reading:

Literary Works Hans Christian Andersen Part A

So I decided to read the Hans Christian Andersen version of some of the European fairytales. I think this experience in reading went better for me than the last unit ended because it had endings that made sense! Based on the actions of the main character and their outcomes, they got the endings they deserved. I loved that everything led to one point and it felt like I got closure from each story. I was elated. I really like the European versions of these stories over the Disney ones I believe. It seems a bit more "relatable" while still being abnormal and fairytale-like. I was invested and excited as I kept reading and that's what I hope to do to people who read my works in this class! The sentence structure seemed so proper to me as it went forward. I'm a stickler for finding character dialogue when I'm reading, and so far, I didn't really see a different separation between the characters and the narration. That was utterly okay though for this! I didn't need quoted dialogue to build out the elements further for me; each member of the tale was given just enough personality to paint a picture in my mind. Most of the wording is picked in a method that traces out the characters and the scenery enough to get the mood and imagery of each make. I know that it's probably cheating to think this only because I've seen adaptations of these works before and might already have a hint of a visual. The stories are mostly different though! That's another fantastic thing for me. The way these stories are told is very mature and more adult than the current child adaptations. I've very excited to get into the Little Mermaid stories next for my second reading and see how the differences add to the story!

Image: Princess and the Pea (Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography: Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Andersen, translated by H. P. Paull (Un-Textbook)