The Improvisatore
by Hans Christian Andersen
On This Page
Description
A semi-autobiographical novel inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's travels in Italy--and one of the author's best-known works in his native Denmark Published to great acclaim in 1835, Hans Christian Andersen's debut novel, The Improvisatore, initially eclipsed his fairy tales, which first appeared in the same year. Andersen, the captivating teller of enchanted tales, is very much in evidence in this classic Bildungsroman inspired by his travels in Italy earlier in the decade. The novel's show more hero, Antonio--much like Andersen himself--rises from impoverished beginnings to become a successful artist, at every turn learning charming and often alarming lessons in the ways of the world. Adopted by a nobleman, smitten with an opera singer, challenged to a duel, captured by bandits, beset by a temptress, Antonio follows a dizzying itinerary on his path to enlightenment and, perhaps, happiness. Along the way he experiences the delights of Italian culture and nature so clearly and deeply absorbed by his peripatetic author--from the inescapable power of some of the world's most enduring paintings and sculptures to the drama of an erupting Mount Vesuvius and the rampages of wild buffalo on the Roman campagna, all in the shadow of classical mythology and in the company of characters from every level of Italian society: beggar, brigand, priest, and poet. This first English translation since the 1840s captures the brilliance and brio, the sweep and the nuance that made The Improvisatore one of Hans Christian Andersen's most widely read and best loved works. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Bogen er Andersens gennembrud som romanforfatter (1835).
Den italienske natur, folkelivet og seværdigheder beskrives intenst af digteren. Ikke mindst opdagelsen af Den Blå Grotte på Capri. Historien om den fattige digter Antonio, der går så meget grueligt igennem, før han bliver anerkendt og vinder sin elskede Annunziata er både spændende og farverig.
Synd at Andersens romaner aldrig har opnået samme klassikerstaus, som hans eventyr!
Den italienske natur, folkelivet og seværdigheder beskrives intenst af digteren. Ikke mindst opdagelsen af Den Blå Grotte på Capri. Historien om den fattige digter Antonio, der går så meget grueligt igennem, før han bliver anerkendt og vinder sin elskede Annunziata er både spændende og farverig.
Synd at Andersens romaner aldrig har opnået samme klassikerstaus, som hans eventyr!
Nov 27, 2007Danish
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Scandinavian Fiction of the 19th Century in English Translation
77 works; 2 members
150 Best Novels Selected by Brander Matthews (1883)
150 works; 7 members
Author Information
Hans Christian Andersen, one of the best known figures in literature, is best know for combining traditional folk tales with his own great imagination to produce fairy tales known to most children today. The Danish writer was born in the slums of Odense. Although he was raised in poverty, he eventually attended Copenhagen University. Although show more Andersen wrote poems, plays and books, he is best known for his Fairy Tales and Other Stories, written between 1835 and 1872. This work includes such famous tales as The Emperor's New Clothes, Little Ugly Duckling, The Tinderbox, Little Claus and Big Claus, Princess and the Pea, The Snow Queen, The Little Mermaid, The Nightingale, The Story of a Mother and The Swineherd. Andersen's greatest work is still influential today, helping mold some of the works of writers ranging from Charles Dickens to Oscar Wilde and inspiring many of the works of Disney and other motion pictures. Andersen, who traveled greatly during his life, died in his home in Rolighed on August 4, 1875. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Improvisatore
- Original title
- Improvisatoren
- Original publication date
- 1835
- Important places*
- Italië
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Historical Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 839.813 — Literature & rhetoric German & related literatures Other Germanic literatures Danish and Norwegian literatures Danish Danish fiction
- LCC
- PT8110 .I5 — Language and Literature German, Dutch and Scandinavian literatures Danish literature Individual authors or works 19th century Andersen, Hans Christian
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 66
- Popularity
- 470,903
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.83)
- Languages
- 6 — Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, German
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 15
- ASINs
- 4
