Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen.
Seriously.
Why do people like him so much?
I used to like his fairy tales when I was a kid, and there's some interesting stuff in there, but when you look at all his stories as a whole, you have to wonder why no one's realized he FUCKING SUCKS yet.
Maybe I can blame Disney for this. They like to take his stories and turn them into something palatable--and then everyone whines that the Little Mermaid doesn't die in the end, HOW COULD DISNEY DO THAT? But really, what they should be asking is "Why did Disney cut out the fifty pages of monologues from when the littlest mermaid's sisters went to the surface and had horrible experiences?" Because the answer; "IT IS A BETTER STORY NOW" is the same both ways.
How much do you want to bet the new Snow Queen movie from Disney cuts out the part where she talks to all the flowers in the garden, and they each tell her a novella about what they saw that day--except not whatshisname the boy, which is what she wants to know--AND NO ONE WILL NOTICE? I might have to go trolling about it on the 'nets just to be difficult.
There is some variation of readability due to translations for HCA, it's true, but at some point you're still stuck with the same dull, depressing tales. You really just get variations from 'zzzzz...' to 'I read three paragra...zzzzz'
Moreover, HCA wrote the stories from his head, he didn't copy them down from the local populace ala John Jacobs, or those benighted Grimm's bothers. So it's not like sticking to the gruesome, morbid endings of HCA's tales are staying true to the story's roots. Because...it HAD NO roots before him. It's like our great-grandchildren claiming Twilight is folklore from the 21st century, and indicative of ALL writing nowabouts. Terrifying.
So. You know. I was trying to read another translation of HCA's tales this week--except it wasn't a translation, but rather some guy who took all the translations on the market, and then combined them. I...didn't get very far. I generally love the repetition from rereading fairy tales, since they are almost always different each time, but I think I've capped out my tolerance for Hans Christian Fucking Andersen.
Seriously.
Why do people like him so much?
I used to like his fairy tales when I was a kid, and there's some interesting stuff in there, but when you look at all his stories as a whole, you have to wonder why no one's realized he FUCKING SUCKS yet.
Maybe I can blame Disney for this. They like to take his stories and turn them into something palatable--and then everyone whines that the Little Mermaid doesn't die in the end, HOW COULD DISNEY DO THAT? But really, what they should be asking is "Why did Disney cut out the fifty pages of monologues from when the littlest mermaid's sisters went to the surface and had horrible experiences?" Because the answer; "IT IS A BETTER STORY NOW" is the same both ways.
How much do you want to bet the new Snow Queen movie from Disney cuts out the part where she talks to all the flowers in the garden, and they each tell her a novella about what they saw that day--except not whatshisname the boy, which is what she wants to know--AND NO ONE WILL NOTICE? I might have to go trolling about it on the 'nets just to be difficult.
There is some variation of readability due to translations for HCA, it's true, but at some point you're still stuck with the same dull, depressing tales. You really just get variations from 'zzzzz...' to 'I read three paragra...zzzzz'
Moreover, HCA wrote the stories from his head, he didn't copy them down from the local populace ala John Jacobs, or those benighted Grimm's bothers. So it's not like sticking to the gruesome, morbid endings of HCA's tales are staying true to the story's roots. Because...it HAD NO roots before him. It's like our great-grandchildren claiming Twilight is folklore from the 21st century, and indicative of ALL writing nowabouts. Terrifying.
So. You know. I was trying to read another translation of HCA's tales this week--except it wasn't a translation, but rather some guy who took all the translations on the market, and then combined them. I...didn't get very far. I generally love the repetition from rereading fairy tales, since they are almost always different each time, but I think I've capped out my tolerance for Hans Christian Fucking Andersen.
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