Should have read classics discussion
Children's Group Read
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The Nutcracker and Mouse King
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Lisa, the usurper
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Nov 29, 2011 05:50PM
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I received my copy today! I'm looking forward to this one...
I will be reading this one soon;I used to love the movie and the ballet as a kid. Can't wait!!
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We have found the idea of the 7 headed mouse king as quite disgusting actually.
I couldn't find the version in our library either, but found a translation that's supposedly correct, and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. I finished last night! Parts of it are great, other sections seem just as mystifying as the ballet.
Just finished it today. I enjoyed Dumas' version the best, but the other one was still quite enjoyable.
I will try to get a copy at my library.E.T.A. Hoffmann is the hero of Jacques Offenbach's famous opera Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann). It's one of my favourite operas. And yet I have never read any tale written by the writer.
Even if you have never heard of the opera before you still might know this tune (It's Barcarolle - the lovely duet of Nicklausse and Giulietta):
http://youtu.be/Hdc2zNgJIpY
I haven't started the Dumas version yet, but I wasn't a big fan of Hoffman. I really didn't like his writing style. With that said, I thought that it was a creative story especially for that time era.
I'm with you Ashley - the Hoffman version wasn't my favorite. Keep going though - I'm almost done with the Dumas retelling and I'm finding it MUCH more enjoyable...
My copy of the Penguin Classics edition arrived two days ago so I hope to have finished reading by the end of the year. Zuzana - thanks for the information about the connection with Tales of Hoffmann - I didn't realise the connection.
It was a pleasurable read, especially since we've taken our four years old to see the ballet three weeks ago and she's been talking about "Casse-Noisette" ever since. She even asked Santa Claus for one, and it's her favorite gift! Even thought I've seen the ballet countless times, I had never read the tales and I found it amusing to read both Hoffman's tale and Duma's, although he says in the beginning that it is Hoffman's tale... It did make me wonder if it wasn't simply a translation? A liberal one, agreed, kind of like Baudelaire's tranlations of Poe which has gained so much in the process that it has almost become a common work, well maybe not as much as that but you get my point! I was expecting something quite different, I was surprised at the similarities. I mean what is the interest of publishing a book that contains both versions if the two are so alike, who besides the litterary types would enjoy such a book, it's not exactly mainstream, it targets a very specific audience. But then again I didn't exactly read this book, I read both Hoffman's and Duma's tales but from different books and in French (can't read Dumas in English, and Hoffman is a translation anyway so I figured I might as well read it in French) so I'm left wondering if both version in the edition that was featured as a group read were very different? I'd love an answer from those who actually read that edition, maybe the translation I read (by Émile de la Bédollière) was simply very close to Dumas?...
Don't get me wrong the stories weren't identical but they were extremely close, not only in the "big lines" but in some of the détails as well, too close to warrant, in my opinion, both being published under the same cover... but since there's been so many traductions, who knows...
As for my personnal impressions, well I enjoyed Hoffman's tale, which I read first, for all that isn't part of the ballet and added to the story that I knew through the ballet. I have to admit it was more of an intellectual interest and although I did enjoy it I wasn't really charmed or caught in the story. I kept Dumas for last knowing I'm already sold to Dumas, I've been a fan fo what seems like forever. I recognized his voice right away, that talented story teller voice who's been charming me for so long, dare I say seducing me, and I tremendously enjoyed it, having fun at discovering once more that the story is not all but that the teller makes such a différence!
I finished Hoffmann's version yesterday and I really enjoyed it. I have never seen the ballet so the story of Nutcracker was new to me and I suspect that's one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much.I read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass earlier this year and I think that both Carroll and Hoffmann showed really well in their works how wonderful children's imagination is and how easily it can create marvellous stories.
The copy I checked out from my library is just one story in a collection of the best of Hoffmann. So far I'm enjoying it much more than I expected. I like how it's written as if it's being read aloud, with asides to the audience.
I finished reading the book today. I preferred the Dumas retelling although the factual content is similar. I have loved the Nutcracker Suite (Tchaikovsky) since I was about 9 years old and now I realise that I never really understood all the details as I was focused on the Russian Dance/Chinese Dance/Arabian dance pieces.Hoffmann protrays Marie and Fritz's parents as quite nasty. They mocked Marie with laughter when she told them about their dreams. Maybe this is part of the satire intended by Hoffmann.
The Mouse King with seven heads reminded me of the beast with seven heads described in Revelation Chapter 13 of the New Testament. I wonder if Hoffmann has this imagery in mind, portraying the Mouse King as Satan?
I thought the part where the Nutcracker and Marie entered the Land of the Dolls through the wardrobe was similar to C.S.Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Maybe Lewis got this idea from Hoffmeyer?
Hoffmann had a very fertile imagination. Who would have thought of the story of the Krakatuk nut and Princess Pirlipat?
Charles
Charles wrote: "Hoffmann protrays Marie and Fritz's parents as quite nasty. They mocked Marie with laughter when she told them about their dreams. Maybe this is part of the satire intended by Hoffmann...."
I totally agree! The adults in the story definitely didn't do much to support Marie's imagination. By the end, when she became a princess it almost felt like Hoffmann was saying, "Haha! That'll show you!"
Jamey wrote: "I totally agree! The adults in the story definitely didn't do much to support Marie's imagination. By the end, when she became a princess it almost felt like Hoffmann was saying, "Haha! That'll show you!" "Stahlbaums were treating Marie, Fritz and Luise in the same manner most of the middle-class parents of that era were treating their children. Children should be seen, not heard. Anything untowards or "wild" (not only behaviour but also imagination) should be nipped in the bud.
I think that's the attitude Hoffmann was attacking in his tale. He shows us on the example of Marie and her godfather Drosselmayer how a child's imagination should/could be developed
Mod
Overall, I will say that I am glad to have read this because it is a classic but it isn't really a favorite of mine by far. I actually found the story kind of weird. I don't really know why but I really didn't like it so much. I also rented the DVD of the ballet version and we watched it as a family...needless to say, my husband fell asleep, my boys groaned through most of the first act (except for the "battle scene" with Nutcracker and King Mouse) and they begged me to turn it off. Consequently, I fast forwarded the entire second act...they actually found mild humor watching the ballet in speed mode. At least we can all say we've seen the Nutcracker now!
