Jackie Wullschläger

"He seemed ...to live in a world peculiarly his own, all his ideas, thoughts and actions differing from those around him", 20 December 2015

This review is from: Hans Christian Andersen: The Life of a Story Teller (Library Binding)
The reader comes away from this work with a vivid picture of the great Danish author. From his lowly birth, son of an illiterate washerwoman, his early love of music and theatre, his shyness yet profound self-belief which prompted him to leave home to make his show more fortune in Copenhagen aged only 14, Wullschlager conducts us through his life.
Despite his fairy tales and enjoyment of the company of children, Andersen was far from being merely the naive and child-like personality which some attributed to him. Using his diaries and accounts of those who knew him, the author shows his often depressive and difficult character, and his constant craving for approbation - "We are suffering a good deal from Andersen" wrote Charles Dickens when the latter came for a lengthy stay.
Andersen's work (not just fairy tales but novels, plays, travel works, poetry, and latterly tales aimed at a more adult audience) are shaped by events in his life, and in exerpts from his writings Wullschlager points out the parallels between them.
With a number of b/w photos of Andersen and important places and people in his life, this leaves the reader with a feeling that s/he knows and somewhat understands the writer. Most enjoyable and interesting. show less

Jackie Wullschlager explains how children's literature changed in England from the mid-1800s to the early 20th century, as the concept of what a child is like changed. Children began to be thought of as imaginative and interesting creatures on their own, and were seen less and less as little adults.

The five authors featured in this book are still popular, and Wullschlager claims they will always be. Alice in Wonderland, A Book of Nonsense, Peter Pan, Wind in the Willows, Winnie-the-Pooh, and show more their like, are classics. They have effects on how books for kids are written today.

The books were written and drawn, mostly, by men who did not want to grow up and who liked children more than adults. And, these men seemed, mostly, to be no threat to their child friends. This is a thought hard to grasp by our current-day attitudes. There are interesting ideas about the writer's upbringings, and about their personalities.

There is much in Inventing Wonderland about society and history. There might have been more about publishing business and technology and how books for children became more and more available over time. There could have been more discussion as to why the books were all written by men. But this is still a fascinating study of one kind of literature. show less

I was enchanted in my childhood of Hans Christian anderson's the Little Match Girl, The Stead Tin Fast Soldier, the Tinder Box (and many more in comic form) that left a lasting impression on me. Reading this biography was a mind altering experience for me as it gave a face , personal traits and a detailed account of the intimate life of This giant of a personality that children as well as adults the world over have heard of . Also this book takes the reader in the social circles of Denmark, show more Paris , London In the 1920's and 30's that is a treat and an experience in itself . Hans was a son of a poor washing woman who came to Copenhagen to become famous as a writer, singer, actor and struggled for years to capture the attention of rich families who could help him socially and financially to be recognized. he is seen as a nuisance and a bother at times but slowly he kind of grew on me and I willingly went along with him through his life of hardship, fame, rejection in love, his travels , his solitary life and eventually to his death at the age of 67. my first biography of an artist was of Picasso and that led me to Hans Christian Anderson and I am on a roll now. show less

This is perhaps the best and only authoritative biography of Hans Christian Andersen available today, and the only one that sheds any light on his bisexuality. A must-read for those interested in this master storyteller.