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| The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 7 reviews)
Sales Rank: 160111
Category: Book
Author: Hans Christian Andersen
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Studio: W. W. Norton
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
Label: W. W. Norton
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.1
Dimensions (in): 10.1 x 8.6 x 1.6
ISBN: 0393060810
Dewey Decimal Number: 839.8136
EAN: 9780393060812
ASIN: 0393060810
Publication Date: November 12, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A richly entertaining and informative collection of Hans Christian Andersen's stories, annotated by one of America's leading folklore scholars.
In her most ambitious annotated work to date, Maria Tatar celebrates the stories told by Denmark's "perfect wizard" and re-envisions Hans Christian Andersen as a writer who casts his spell on both children and adults. Andersen's most beloved tales, such as "The Emperor's New Clothes," "The Ugly Duckling," and "The Little Mermaid," are now joined by "The Shadow" and "Story of a Mother," mature stories that reveal his literary range and depth. Tatar captures the tales' unrivaled dramatic and visual power, showing exactly how Andersen became one of the world's ten most translated authors, along with Shakespeare, Dickens, and Marx. Lushly illustrated with more than one hundred fifty rare images, many in full color, by artists such as Arthur Rackham and Edmund Dulac, The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen will captivate readers with annotations that explore the rich social and cultural dimensions of the nineteenth century and construct a compelling portrait of a writer whose stories still fascinate us today. 146 illustrations including color.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
The Personal, the Political, The Poignant and the Poetic September 24, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is a fascinating. I read the "Annotated Alice in Wonderland" as a kid (which like this with the annotations contains some information that would be distressing to children or above their level) and could peer into the world of the author and in this case since I was familiar with only some of the stories (as some have dated) to see a complete sociological, psychological and cultural analysis really brings them into a new light and sees Hans Christian Anderson as more than just a writer of "fairy tales" (actually cultural mythology) and a full fledged writer. This is a perfect read to an autobiography about his life and his complete lack of relations with either sex, repression of his sexuality and disability but the analysis is here is not just about him, its about the stories in a larger context. For example, "The Little Match Girl" is in reference to his mother who was forced to beg on the streets, in its reference to her obstracizement by society was clearly referring to how he was treated and its references to being "left out in the cold" refer to both the experience of depression as well as the literal frigid climate of Denmark. This still is a children's classic but in this light it is understood much better but one that is a story that could be appreciated by adults "Aunty Toothache" speaks of the cynicism of an ominous repressive, Freudian, maternal figure who forces him not to write poetry or he will suffer massive toothaches (which he did throughout his life). This was written at the end of his life as he was dying and it was a lament to how he forced himself not to write poetry perhaps to avoid confronting his sexuality. And it is a disturbing semi-gothic story. And if these aspects escaped you they didn't escape Oscar Wilde who was directly inspired by them. So who's to say who had the last laugh? So you can find the more appropriate stories and read them to your young children and then appreciate the annotations and both of you will gain something although you exist in seperate worlds.
Another gem in the 'annotated' series May 3, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Ever since taking some literature courses to complete my degree, I've been fascinated by fairy tales. These stories can be enjoyed on a very basic level, but in order to understand the context, one often needs to know more about the author, the time of the writing, and what the characters and story line connote for the writer and his or her readers - at the time it was written. Using a very simple format of narrow text with wide margins to contain the annotations, this book allows the reader to read the story only, or read the notes only, or read a combination thereof, or, just look at the fascinating pictures and engravings as copied from the original editions. The dust jacket is colorful and ornate, and the paper is crisp, easy on the eye, with error free print. In short, this book will appeal to old and young, scholars and casual readers, and even those just looking for a pretty book to put on the shelf.
Once upon a time February 10, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This beautifully produced book contains 12 tales for children and 12 short stories for adults. There are almost 150 illustrations, many in color, from classic editions of Andersen's works. The colored images by Clarke, Dulas, Nielsen and Lorenz Frolich are splendid, as are the many ink drawings by W. Heath Robinson.
Maria Tatar edited The Annotated Brothers Grimm and The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales. She and Julie K. Allen translated the stories, and Tatar provides many annotations. Example: "The Ugly Duckling" is "the most deeply personal of Anderson's stories, a narrative that traces his trajectory from humble origins to a literary aristocracy."
Tatar is eloquent on the importance of Andersen: "We need to engage our critical faculties in order to understand what makes these stories so emotionally addictive. Why have these Danish cultural stories taken hold in the United States to become instruments for navigating childhood? How do the stories enable the reader to get lost in the book, to drink the heady elixir of fantasy? And how do they arouse the intellectual curiosity of children?"
Tatar argues that Andersen's descriptive techniques create moments with "ignition power" that kindle the imagination. "Andersen's descriptions of beauty can weave spells. They create an adrenaline rush so that you begin to read with the spine rather than the brain. These luminous moments energize the mind, leading the reader to read on to explore perils and possibilities, but also to dig deeper."
"The Emperor's New Clothes" exemplifies Andersen's narrative powers. "When I reread the tale I remembered how as a child I had started to imagine what the cloth looked like. Even though it is invisible, the swindlers and the adults describe the cloth as silky and beautiful, with gossamer designs ... and Andersen invests so much narrative energy in describing the invisible cloth that, ironically, it begins to dazzle in the mind's eye. That is what Andersen can do -- he lights up the imagination."
The short stories were new to me and have some interest seen through Tatar's eyes. But these new translations of the old favorites like "The Snow Queen" or "The Little Mermaid" are just as magical as ever.
Robert C. Ross 2008
Stories Which Appeal On Many Levels December 31, 2007
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
Many people dismiss Hans Christian Anderson as a mere author of now outdated children's stories. Anderson, as this volume of his annotated stories makes clear, was a poet, folklorist, historian, and commentator as well as a children's writer. In fact, many of his stories were written for adults, not children, and even those aimed at the young have side passages and comments which were meant for grown up men and women to hear and ponder. This volume contains a good sampling of both of these types of Anderson's stories. Each story is copiously annotated, a real pleasure for the modern reader who may not recognize references to customs and people now far in the past. There are many beautiful illustrations from the multiple published versions of the stories. Most importantly, the stories have been newly translated from the original Danish, so that as much of the original emphasis and focus is present as possible.
This annotated volume not only allows the reader a fresh view of some famous stories, it also makes the enormously complex original author much more comprehensible and even more likeable.
Great quality at a low price. December 24, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I ordered this as a Christmas gift for a friend with young children. The quality of the book exceeded my expectations. The wonderful stories and illustrations are perfect for kids, whilst the scholarship and annotations are excellent for adults.
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