Under the Willow-Tree

by Hans Christian Andersen

One of Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales. Under a willow-tree, Knud and Joanna played as children. Later, years after Joanna refuses his proposal, Knud spends his happiest hour under a willow-tree.

Genres: Childrens

168 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1835

About the author

Hans Christian Andersen (often referred to in Scandinavia as H.C. Andersen) was a Danish author and poet. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, Andersen is best remembered for his fairy tales. Andersen's popularity is not limited to children; his stories — called eventyr, or "fairy-tales" — express themes that transcend age and nationality.

Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well. Some of his most famous fairy tales include "The Little Mermaid", "The Ugly Duckling", "The Nightingale", "The Emperor's New Clothes" and many more. His stories have inspired plays, ballets, and both live-action and animated films.

Reviews

[Elinor Loredan]

Andersen wrote a lot about unrequited love, which I have read he experienced himself. This one is pretty depressing. The only part I enjoy is the fable about the gingerbread man and woman who never confess their love to each other. This aspect lent a little magic to the story.

[K. Anna Kraft · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have arranged my takeaway thoughts on this short story into a haiku:

"Reality’s cruel
To dreams born of absence and
Pledges no one made."

[Amelia Bujar · Rating 3 out of 5]

FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...

This story is pretty decent coming from Hans Christian Andersen. This one wasn’t the best nor the worst.

The writing style here was pretty good. Which reminded me why I like Hans Christian Andersen’s stories so much. He has a pretty unique written style is can both speak to an child and to an adult.

All of the characters here was pretty flat, but it is acceptable because it is a short story which means we don’t have a lot of time to get to know the characters in it

I personally think that this story would do better when it was read as a child rather than an adult. But I found Hans Christian Andersen’s retellings of children stories to be very unique, interesting and fun.

[PastaSauceVampire · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a beautiful story. I had read a book in the library when I was in middle school. It was this little book with oil-paint like illustrations about a little boy, a far away willow tree, sunsets, candle light, walks and midnight. The book had a delicate beige aesthetic. I remember loving the book so much that I wrote my name on it. I still don't remember the title or the author but I've been searching for it for so long now. I searched for a few keywords and came across this story written by Hans Christian Andersen. I don't really know if this is the same story. But surprisingly this story has everything that has to do with that book. My guess is that it's the same story but it was an illustrated book. I miss that book so much. I'm pretty sure I'll never find that book ever again but this story has a lot of similarities so I'm just half-heartedly considering I've almost found the story. I don't know. It was a cozy story tho. 3/5. Loved the gingerbread love story and all of the beautiful aesthetically pleasing descriptions of various places and nature. It was very atmospheric.

[Lilly B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yet another doomed couple, imagine my shock

[starlight (saw txt ♡) · Rating 5 out of 5]

i read the chinese version when i was in elementary school and i almost cried

[Jing Ren · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a fairy tale of grownups which I recommend to everyone.