The definitive life, re-issued to coincide with the extensive celebrations building up to mark the bicentenary of Hans Christian Andersen's birth in 2005
The first English language biographer to have returned to the original Danish sources, Wullshlager creates a fascinating picture of Andersen as a deeply troubled man, as far from Danny Kaye's all-singing version as it is possible to imagine. Desperately sensitive, sexually confused and socially awkward, Andersen found grace and acceptance through the creation of a distinct and beguiling literary world, becoming, as was once said of Tolkien, 'the creative equivalent of a people'. Wullschlager's achievement is to demonstrate the unity of his troubled life and and the soaring achievement of his work. He appears in this biography more various and more flawed, but also more convincing and more impressive, than ever before.
By:
Jackie Wullschläger
Imprint: Penguin
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 198mm,
Width: 129mm,
Spine: 35mm
Weight: 500g
ISBN: 9780140283204
ISBN 10: 014028320X
Pages: 528
Publication Date: 25 October 2001
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction: life stories. The country, 1805-12; master comedy-player, 1812-19; the city, 1819-22; Aladdin at school, 1822-7; fantasies, 1827-31; my time belongs to the heart, 1831-3; Italy, 1833-5; first fairy tale, 1835; walking on knives, 1836-7; le Poete, c'est moi! 1837-40; I belong to the world, 1840-43; Jenny, 1843-4; Winter's Tales, 1844-6; the princess'poet, 1845-6; the shadow, 1846-7; lion of London, 1847; between the wars, 1848-51; Weimar revisited, 1851-6; Dickens, 1856-7; experiments, 1858-9; kiss of the muse, 1860-65; Aladdin's palace of the present, 1865-9; so great a love of life, 1869-75.
Jackie Wullschlager is Deputy Literary Editor of the FT, and one of their principal reviewers. Her last book was INVENTING WONDERLAND: THE LIVES AND FANTASIES OF LEWIS CARROLL, EDWARD LEAR, JM BARRIE.
Reviews for Hans Christian Andersen: The Life of a Storyteller
'The history of my life will be the best commentary on my work' wrote Hans Christian Andersen in one of his many memoirs (he wrote one for each decade of his life). In her lucid, perceptive biography, Wallschlager shows how many of his stories seem to be based on his own characteristics. In telling the story of this son of a country cobbler and a washerwoman, who went to Copenhagen to try to make a living in the theatre, Wallschlager reveals a complex, often contradictory character: a man who fell in love with both men and women, who was on the side of the underprivileged, 'the little matchgirl', 'the steadfast tin soldier', who identified with the suffering outsider and yet was enthralled by his rich patrons. Using letters, diaries and contemporary accounts, the author places her subject firmly in the context of his times, introducing us to an unfamiliar Andersen, who wrote plays, novels and erotica as well as fairy tales, who visited both brothels and palaces, had many grand friends and admirers and yet needed constant reassurance. An excellent biography that will see readers returning to his fabled stories with new insight. (Kirkus UK)
