Hi all!
Due to some technology issues of late I’ll post my tribute to Hans Christian Andersen now with other authors to follow later.
As I stated at the outset of this thread, it’s main intended purpose is it to increase people’s general awareness of authors of the past, who still continue to influence the modern day writers of speculative fiction and who have contributed their own relevant body of work to this Genre. To this end, I’m focusing more on fantasy than Sci Fi per se but I can always maybe cover some of these authors at a later date, so please be patient if not all of your favourite authors are mentioned here!!
Also, I am by no means a literary expert or authority on these writers. The presentations will focus on a summary of the writer’s life and major works and are intended to throw up a discussion and hopefully for some of you who are not familiar with these featured authors, a desire or interest to discover or rediscover the works of these pioneers of the past. Having said that, if there’s something specific I’ve missed that one of the forum’s resident scholars may wish to elaborate on then please do so, the more the merrier. In fact I’d be surprised if members don’t add additional details to these summaries, as that is what they will literally be, as long as it is recognized as such.
OK, I thought I’d start with Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, whose recent 200th Anniversary since his birth; millions of people all around the world are now celebrating.
Hans Christian Andersen (HCA) was born on April 2 1805 in Odense, Denmark. His exact birthplace remains within the realms of speculation but suffice to say he was the father of a Danish shoemaker and ‘labourer’ mother, born into a life of some poverty. In the first of 3 autobiographies he was to write “Levnedsbogen” (*never completed*) that reflected his early childhood years, he detailed how the “oral” folk tales of Odense both influenced and gave rise to his later and original “literary” works. Some of his earliest literary influences included The Bible, Arabian Nights and Shakespeare, which would later show in his fairy tales as a mixture of morals, sheer invention, quirky and ironic humour and reflections on his own life story.
As a young person wishing to rise above his current social status, HCA gravitated towards the arts and especially the Theatre in Odense, which ultimately gave rise to his decision to leave his hometown in 1819 at the age of 14, to seek his fame and fortune on the Copenhagen stage. Whilst not successful in his early endeavours to become an entertainer, he did write numerous plays as well as adapting foreign plays for local audiences. The theatre directors decided to put him into schooling and at the same time he came under the influence of 2 families in particular who were at opposite ends of the social spectrum, allowing him to view life’s contrasts that would prove a major influence in his literary career. This began with his first major published work (his first attempt labeled The Ghost At Palnatek’s Grave under the pen name of Villiam Christian Walterin in 1822 had a less than rapturous reception) in 1829 called "A journey on foot from Holmens Canal to the east point of Amager in the years 1828 and 1829" and his vaudeville play "Love in Nicolai Tower or What Says The Pit" in that same year, both at his own expense.
In the early 1830s he embarked on his funded European travels in which he met Victor Hugo, Balzac and Alexander Dumas among others, publishing his first contemporary adult novel 'The Improvisator' in 1835 to critical acclaim in Germany and later in other parts of Europe. In fact he published six novels in all and interestingly enough was famous as an adult novelist long before his ‘fairy tales’ came into prominence, a fact he apparently neither wished for nor aspired to be most famous for.
The first fairy-tale according to Andersen’s own writings was ‘The Diving Bell. A Fairy-tale from the Bottom of the Ocean", which appeared in a literary magazine in 1827. However because this story is more a “Story Of The Fantastic” most scholars generally agree that his first genuine fairy tale was published in 1830 as part of a collection of poems and was titled The Dead Man, a folktale whose story may be found in other world literary sources. He subsequently rewrote this in terms of his own narrative style calling it The Travelling Companion. In 1835 he published his first collection of 4 children’s fairy tales in a two-booklet format bearing the title Fairy Tales Told To The Children ("The Tinder Box", "Little Claus and Big Claus", "The Princess and the Pea" and "Little Ida's Flowers”).
HCA continued to publish both fairy tales and novels, one of the most highly acclaimed being Only A Fiddler in 1837. Popularity in his fairy tales continued to grow in the early to mid 1840s and he became increasingly more famous throughout Europe for both his novels and tales, publishing his third series of children’s tales in 1845. In 1847 he visited England and Charles Dickens, who would later allegedly base his unctuous character Uriah Heap (David Copperfield) on Andersen.
He started publishing the second of his autobiographies in German loosely translated as The Fairy Tale Of My Life Without Poetry from 1847 onwards in addition to more of his fairy tales and plays. The German biography was to form the basis of his Danish autobiography The Fairy Tale Of My Life published in 1855 and updated in subsequent revisions to include the year 1867. His next novel came in 1857 called To Be Or Not To Be. During this period he also published A Poet's Day Dreams in 1853, his dedication to Dickens as well as his more experimental realist stories (vs. fairy tales) in Picturebook Without Pictures in 1852. He continued to write fairy tales and several European travel books in addition to his final novel The Lucky Peer in 1870.
His final instalment of fairy tales appeared in 1872 called Fairy Tales and Stories including the last story he wrote titled What Old Johanne Told. HCA fell badly ill around this time although his story The Flea And The Professor was printed soon after this in addition to some pieces of poetry prior to his death.
HCA suffered serious bouts of illness until he eventually died on August 4 1875 from liver cancer in a villa in Rolighed, Copenhagen. He had several works published post humously including a poem called Funen and Switzerland that refelcted on apsects of his life and the theme of death, which he recited 1 month before dying.
He was buried at Assistens Cemetery in Copenhagen. At his grave are inscribed 4 verses from the poem The Old Man from 1874.
As this short biography hopefully displays, Hans Christian Andersen was a lot more than just a spinner of children’s fairy tales although this is what he is now most famous for. He published something like 156 fairy tales himself plus other tales and ‘stories’ accounting for over 200 pieces of work in total! These included The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Little Ugly Duckling, The Snow Queen, The Princess And The Pea, The Red Shoes and The Little Match Girl to name but a few. However in addition to these, he also published 6 adult novels, 100s of poems, wrote or adapted around 30 plays, 5 travel books, 3 autobiographies and several other papers, articles and letters in addition to his post humous publications. He also influenced several writers including Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde (who subsequently wrote The Nightingale And The Rose) and C.S. Lewis. His works have been translated into almost 150 languages and enjoyed and reread by generations of readers.
HCA the man however, according to several researchers, was not perhaps the most liked, confident, secure or happy of people as possibly portrayed by Danny Kaye in MGM’s 1952 musical production of Hans Christian Anderson. He is often described as being gawky or awkward, which helped to ostracize him to some extent from society, a person often at odds with himself who had problems developing relationships but who was always optimistic of the future like many of his characters. HCA was also a religious person who believed feelings and nature were inextricably linked to a belief in God. Thus his stories often reflected his own life struggles and may be interpreted on a more adult level as well as retaining an eternal appeal to children. For example, his story “Little Ugly Duckling” has been paralleled to his own rise from poverty, an unreciprocated love where life doesn’t always end happily and the alienation endured by a life originating from the “other side of the tracks” in The Little Mermaid and the novel O.T. and a desire for material goods in The Emperor’s New Clothes amongst many others. He was also not afraid to conclude several of his stories like The Little Mermaid and The Little Match Girl with unhappy endings, although plenty of his stories also ended with Good triumphing over Evil as reflected in The Snow Queen. As a result of this HCA has often been regarded by critics as something of a bridge between the older style Romanticists and new age Realists of the time and in addition to his pioneering narrative, many original tales and innovative treatment of idioms and use of allegory has resulted in him being placed on a similar literary pedestal to Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Goethe etc.. At this point I will leave that particular analogy and further discussions on HCA to greater minds than myself on this forum.
So till next time folks, hoped you found this modest offering perhaps at times both entertaining and educational as the first of my forays into the Classic Pre 1980s Fantasy Authors and hopefully for some of you, a motivation into further investigating this author and his works.
Bye for now.
Due to some technology issues of late I’ll post my tribute to Hans Christian Andersen now with other authors to follow later.
As I stated at the outset of this thread, it’s main intended purpose is it to increase people’s general awareness of authors of the past, who still continue to influence the modern day writers of speculative fiction and who have contributed their own relevant body of work to this Genre. To this end, I’m focusing more on fantasy than Sci Fi per se but I can always maybe cover some of these authors at a later date, so please be patient if not all of your favourite authors are mentioned here!!
Also, I am by no means a literary expert or authority on these writers. The presentations will focus on a summary of the writer’s life and major works and are intended to throw up a discussion and hopefully for some of you who are not familiar with these featured authors, a desire or interest to discover or rediscover the works of these pioneers of the past. Having said that, if there’s something specific I’ve missed that one of the forum’s resident scholars may wish to elaborate on then please do so, the more the merrier. In fact I’d be surprised if members don’t add additional details to these summaries, as that is what they will literally be, as long as it is recognized as such.
OK, I thought I’d start with Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, whose recent 200th Anniversary since his birth; millions of people all around the world are now celebrating.
Hans Christian Andersen (April 2 1805 – August 4 1875)
Hans Christian Andersen (HCA) was born on April 2 1805 in Odense, Denmark. His exact birthplace remains within the realms of speculation but suffice to say he was the father of a Danish shoemaker and ‘labourer’ mother, born into a life of some poverty. In the first of 3 autobiographies he was to write “Levnedsbogen” (*never completed*) that reflected his early childhood years, he detailed how the “oral” folk tales of Odense both influenced and gave rise to his later and original “literary” works. Some of his earliest literary influences included The Bible, Arabian Nights and Shakespeare, which would later show in his fairy tales as a mixture of morals, sheer invention, quirky and ironic humour and reflections on his own life story.
As a young person wishing to rise above his current social status, HCA gravitated towards the arts and especially the Theatre in Odense, which ultimately gave rise to his decision to leave his hometown in 1819 at the age of 14, to seek his fame and fortune on the Copenhagen stage. Whilst not successful in his early endeavours to become an entertainer, he did write numerous plays as well as adapting foreign plays for local audiences. The theatre directors decided to put him into schooling and at the same time he came under the influence of 2 families in particular who were at opposite ends of the social spectrum, allowing him to view life’s contrasts that would prove a major influence in his literary career. This began with his first major published work (his first attempt labeled The Ghost At Palnatek’s Grave under the pen name of Villiam Christian Walterin in 1822 had a less than rapturous reception) in 1829 called "A journey on foot from Holmens Canal to the east point of Amager in the years 1828 and 1829" and his vaudeville play "Love in Nicolai Tower or What Says The Pit" in that same year, both at his own expense.
In the early 1830s he embarked on his funded European travels in which he met Victor Hugo, Balzac and Alexander Dumas among others, publishing his first contemporary adult novel 'The Improvisator' in 1835 to critical acclaim in Germany and later in other parts of Europe. In fact he published six novels in all and interestingly enough was famous as an adult novelist long before his ‘fairy tales’ came into prominence, a fact he apparently neither wished for nor aspired to be most famous for.
The first fairy-tale according to Andersen’s own writings was ‘The Diving Bell. A Fairy-tale from the Bottom of the Ocean", which appeared in a literary magazine in 1827. However because this story is more a “Story Of The Fantastic” most scholars generally agree that his first genuine fairy tale was published in 1830 as part of a collection of poems and was titled The Dead Man, a folktale whose story may be found in other world literary sources. He subsequently rewrote this in terms of his own narrative style calling it The Travelling Companion. In 1835 he published his first collection of 4 children’s fairy tales in a two-booklet format bearing the title Fairy Tales Told To The Children ("The Tinder Box", "Little Claus and Big Claus", "The Princess and the Pea" and "Little Ida's Flowers”).
HCA continued to publish both fairy tales and novels, one of the most highly acclaimed being Only A Fiddler in 1837. Popularity in his fairy tales continued to grow in the early to mid 1840s and he became increasingly more famous throughout Europe for both his novels and tales, publishing his third series of children’s tales in 1845. In 1847 he visited England and Charles Dickens, who would later allegedly base his unctuous character Uriah Heap (David Copperfield) on Andersen.
He started publishing the second of his autobiographies in German loosely translated as The Fairy Tale Of My Life Without Poetry from 1847 onwards in addition to more of his fairy tales and plays. The German biography was to form the basis of his Danish autobiography The Fairy Tale Of My Life published in 1855 and updated in subsequent revisions to include the year 1867. His next novel came in 1857 called To Be Or Not To Be. During this period he also published A Poet's Day Dreams in 1853, his dedication to Dickens as well as his more experimental realist stories (vs. fairy tales) in Picturebook Without Pictures in 1852. He continued to write fairy tales and several European travel books in addition to his final novel The Lucky Peer in 1870.
His final instalment of fairy tales appeared in 1872 called Fairy Tales and Stories including the last story he wrote titled What Old Johanne Told. HCA fell badly ill around this time although his story The Flea And The Professor was printed soon after this in addition to some pieces of poetry prior to his death.
HCA suffered serious bouts of illness until he eventually died on August 4 1875 from liver cancer in a villa in Rolighed, Copenhagen. He had several works published post humously including a poem called Funen and Switzerland that refelcted on apsects of his life and the theme of death, which he recited 1 month before dying.
He was buried at Assistens Cemetery in Copenhagen. At his grave are inscribed 4 verses from the poem The Old Man from 1874.
“The soul which God in his image created,
Is incorruptible, can not be lost.
Our life on earth is the seed of eternity,
Our body dies, but the soul can not die!”
As this short biography hopefully displays, Hans Christian Andersen was a lot more than just a spinner of children’s fairy tales although this is what he is now most famous for. He published something like 156 fairy tales himself plus other tales and ‘stories’ accounting for over 200 pieces of work in total! These included The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Little Ugly Duckling, The Snow Queen, The Princess And The Pea, The Red Shoes and The Little Match Girl to name but a few. However in addition to these, he also published 6 adult novels, 100s of poems, wrote or adapted around 30 plays, 5 travel books, 3 autobiographies and several other papers, articles and letters in addition to his post humous publications. He also influenced several writers including Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde (who subsequently wrote The Nightingale And The Rose) and C.S. Lewis. His works have been translated into almost 150 languages and enjoyed and reread by generations of readers.
HCA the man however, according to several researchers, was not perhaps the most liked, confident, secure or happy of people as possibly portrayed by Danny Kaye in MGM’s 1952 musical production of Hans Christian Anderson. He is often described as being gawky or awkward, which helped to ostracize him to some extent from society, a person often at odds with himself who had problems developing relationships but who was always optimistic of the future like many of his characters. HCA was also a religious person who believed feelings and nature were inextricably linked to a belief in God. Thus his stories often reflected his own life struggles and may be interpreted on a more adult level as well as retaining an eternal appeal to children. For example, his story “Little Ugly Duckling” has been paralleled to his own rise from poverty, an unreciprocated love where life doesn’t always end happily and the alienation endured by a life originating from the “other side of the tracks” in The Little Mermaid and the novel O.T. and a desire for material goods in The Emperor’s New Clothes amongst many others. He was also not afraid to conclude several of his stories like The Little Mermaid and The Little Match Girl with unhappy endings, although plenty of his stories also ended with Good triumphing over Evil as reflected in The Snow Queen. As a result of this HCA has often been regarded by critics as something of a bridge between the older style Romanticists and new age Realists of the time and in addition to his pioneering narrative, many original tales and innovative treatment of idioms and use of allegory has resulted in him being placed on a similar literary pedestal to Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Goethe etc.. At this point I will leave that particular analogy and further discussions on HCA to greater minds than myself on this forum.
So till next time folks, hoped you found this modest offering perhaps at times both entertaining and educational as the first of my forays into the Classic Pre 1980s Fantasy Authors and hopefully for some of you, a motivation into further investigating this author and his works.
Bye for now.
