When it comes to series of books, I'm sort of a catch-and-release collector; I like to spend a few years collecting a series, then another year reading it, and then I either sell it in complete form to a used-bookstore or pass it on as a gift to someone who I think would really enjoy it).
For the last few years I've been working on the Everyman's Library Children's Classic Collection, collecting various versions of fables and fairy tales from throughout the world. But as I'm reading a science fiction update of the classic story The Snow Queen later this month, I thought it would be a good idea to check out the original.
Danish author Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), most famous in much of the world as the creator of a number of fairy tales, including "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Little Mermaid", "The Ugly Duckling", and the "Princess and the Pea", often told stories from multiple points of view (often of inanimate objects, and yes, I think it's fair to say his "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" is a literary ancestor of Toy Story), and although they don't all end "happily ever after" they are compelling and entertaining none the less.
The collection I read was at times humorous, heartbreaking, and in the case of a few stories, horrifying "Big Claus and Little Claus" comes immediately to mind as it focuses on one man tricking another into destroying his own livestock, murdering his grandmother, and committing suicide - for laughs!?!
Although I wasn't familiar with all of the stories, I found them to be quite readable, and am definitely looking forward to enjoying more of this collection when time allows.
Growing up I read a lot of books, through elementary and junior high and even into high school I averaged four to five books a week, every week without fail.
As I've always been a fan of Fantasy, Horror and Science Fiction, I made my way through a lot of children's fables and fairy tales, which are filled with some of the most awful things you can imagine and then tend to aim them at kids (Cooked in an oven, eyes pecked out by birds, or bed-time forever, anyone?)
Like most people however, I've read a lot of what you'd expect and not a lot of what you might assume - like Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883). I saw the movie as a child, enjoyed the magical transformations, the epic adventure and even singing along with "When You Wish Upon a Star", but had never actually read the original source material.
So a couple weeks ago I picked up the Gris Grimly illustrated version (which is pretty darn amazing), and set down to learn about this little wooden boy.
The book is a really quick read (less than a day for me and largely I'm talking about coffee breaks, my lunch hour and the bus trips to and from work. The story is a delight to read, although may work better chapter-by-chapter over a series of readings, as much of the narrative is repetitive (Pinocchio is willful, told to think about what he is doing, acts without thinking, and is punished), and there are some very sudden and violent acts portrayed throughout the story as well (let's just say things don't fare very well for the cricket...).
In the end, the original Pinocchio is a pretty fun read, the boy is likable and the semi-self awareness of all puppets in the story is more than a little thought provoking.
Over the weekend I decided to read A.A. Milne's classic stories and poems of Winnie-the-Pooh, and completely fell in love with them.
I'm about 60% sure I've read at least some of these in my life, but as with most people of my generation, my introduction to the character came from the Disney shorts (and later feature film) of the 60s and 70s. Reading the original text, I was really impressed by how close the films stuck to the source material and just how sweet these original stories were.
I don't know if I could pick a personal favourite character (my wife has long been a fan of Eeyore), but it's probably either Pooh or Piglet as they have some of the best interactions in the stories.
If you've never read the original works, I strongly recommend them, as they are in turns fun, whimsical, enchanting, and honestly, a wonderful look at childhood through the eyes of a young boy's toys.
