The True Story of My Life By Hans Christian Andersen

by Hans Christian Andersen

The autobiography of Hans Christian Anderson, the author of numerous children's fairytales is an amazing look into his heart, mind and soul. Prepared to be inspired and enlightened as you read his words.

Genres: Biography, Classics, Childrens, Memoir, Nonfiction, Danish, Autobiography

156 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1847

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

[sAmAnE · Rating 3 out of 5]

وای از کتاب جوجه اردک زشت...یکی از بهترین و عمیق ترین و هوشمندانه ترین کتابی که میشد در حوزه ی کودک نوشت... هیچوقت فراموش شدنی نیست... این کتاب هم اتوبیوگرافی نویسنده هست و من چون کلا بیوگرافی و اتوبیوگرافی ها رو دوست دارم این کتاب رو خوندم ... خیلی کوتاه بود و به نظرم یکم خسته کننده بود... به نظرم یه نویسنده هنگام نوشتن از خودش و معرفی خودش خیلی باید قوی تر عمل کنه....
او سعی کرده در این کتاب علاوه بر آشنایی خواننده با دوران کودکیش و چگونگی نویسنده شدنش، از چالش‌ها و افراد اثرگذاری که در زندگی نقش داشتند هم بنویسد... با هدف اینکه چگونه خود و دیگران و تجربه‌ها و سفرها، احساسات و چالش ها و اتفاقات مهم زندگی، می توانند به شکل گیری هنر و ادبیات کمک کنند...و نقطه های روشنی را برای سوق نویسنده در ذهن او ایجاد کنند...

[ولاء شكري · Rating 4 out of 5]

الكتاب سيرة ذاتية لرائد حكايات الجن الدنماركية وأحد رواد الشعر والمسرح والقصة القصيرة والرواية ألا وهو "هانز كريستيان اندرسين"

وكما قال كاتبها فى البداية:

( توضح قصة حياتى للعالم حقيقة ظهرت أمامى ألا وهى أن الله العظيم هو الذى يهيئ لنا كل العلم الصالح ) وهى فعلاً تختصر كل ما مر به وصولاً إلى النجاح

سيرته الذاتية تعبر عن :

* طفل عاش فى كنف أسره فقيرة وأب مغرم بالقراءة فى المسرحيات والروايات والكتاب المقدس على الأخص... عميق التفكير والتأمل فى كل ما يقرأ

* طفل حالم متأثر بكل ما حوله من طبيعة وقصص ألف ليلة وليلة وقصص النساء العجائز

* طفل كان يمضى معظم وقته فى صنع الدمى وتحريكها متخذ منها شخصيات لمسرحه الخيالي الصغير

* طموحه والذى دفع به لترك بلدته فى سن الرابعة عشر ومعه ١٣ دولار فقط من أجل العمل بالمسرح ومحاولة تحقيق أحلامه

* شخص متدين حسن الأخلاق يحرص على التقرب إلى الله فى السراء والضراء مؤمناً بالقضاء، حتى عندما شعر بالإحباط والاكتئاب وبدا له أن الموت أفضل الحلول نما إلى ذهنه فكرة أن الله فى السماء هو ميسر الأمور، خجل أن تهتز ثقته فى الله وأحجم عن الانتحار.

* شخص يقدر ما فعله له كل من مر بحياته من شخصيات حتى لو كان كل ما فعله له بعضهم مجرد العطف عليه

كتاب مفعم بالعاطفة والمشاعر ❤

[Tasnim · Rating 3 out of 5]

از سری کتاب‌هایی بود که در سن دوازده سالگی با پول‌توجیبی‌های هفتگی‌ام خریدمش؛ اونم در یه نمایشگاه فصلی کتاب که از طرف مدرسه رفته بودیم و تخفیف‌های خوبی داشت... هنوزم شروع کتاب رو یادمه: « زندگی من بدقصه‌ای نیست.»

[Emily Ekstrand-brummer · Rating 2 out of 5]

super boring, even for me. super self-centered, not much about his fairytales or scandinavian literature.

[Christine Stowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

His story as told by himself. He travelled well and net many interesting people

[Clive Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting insight into the life of the great author and social misfit. Hans Christian Andersen's biography helps to shed light on the inspiration for some of his fairy stories, as well as revealing his complicated and fragile personality. A useful companion for readers of his many works.

[Zohreh Samiei · Rating 3 out of 5]

ایمان این مرد برایم جذاب و ستودنی بود، و مسئله ای که در خوانش این خود نوشت برایم جالب بود، آشنایی بیشتر با روحیات یک نویسنده بود بصورت خاص

[Kristina Wojtaszek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andersen's amiable and highly sensitive personality comes through clearly and almost painfully in this autobiography, and the entire section covering his childhood and early adolescence, including his incredibly brave journey from home, is completely engaging. I loved some of the little details, such as how his father once saw the figure of a woman in the frosted glass and said she had come to take him, and later, when his father died, Hans's mother told him the ice maiden had taken him at last. This, of course, was his first inspiration for the story he later wrote by the same name. But I wanted to hear more of that-- more of what inspired his fairy tales, especially.

One of the more interesting facts you'll take away from this book is that Andersen saw himself as a poet and an author of novels and plays first and foremost, and doesn't even mention his fairy tales until well into his career (even though several became public immediately after the publication of his first novel). When he does refer to them, he calls them "my little stories," as though he were inclined to dismiss them as frivolous meanderings from his true art.

But be prepared for a heft of travel notes and personal thanksgivings. He kept a serious account of the many places he'd been and every person he ever met, most of which was lost on me. Though I did sit up in excitement at his short mention of meeting the brothers Grimm. There is a lot to wade through, here-- and I found myself frustrated by his constant self justifications, and yet that is how we know he was very sensitive to criticism and he certainly went through quite a lot. Even being so far removed from our times, he had a few gold nuggets to share about self publication and rising above the doubts of his peers and editors that can serve as wonderful inspiration for any writer today.

Although this autobiography could easily have been renamed "The Extensive Travels of Hans Christian Andersen," as he speaks a thousand times more about various landscapes and households than he does about his personal life, it is still a very personal account and well worth reading.

[Elinor Loredan]

I had trouble staying interested in this one, and I feel awful about it, but I can't help it. It's mainly a sequence of events in Andersen's life, which I feel I should be interested in, but I wanted more of his inner thoughts and struggles and his process and inspirations when writing his stories. I enjoyed reading about famous artists he met--Hugo, the Grimms (!!), Mendelssohn, Dumas. I think he knew Dickens as well, but that must have come after he wrote this. And he repeats that overall his life is blessed, but somehow I am left with a rather cold, lonely feeling. He did not seem to be very close to anyone and casually mentioned his mother's death. Despite the gratitude he expresses in this autobiography, his life seems to have been pretty dark and lonely, which is reflected in many of his stories. Altogether, I feel that I become acquainted with Andersen much better through reading those!

[ดินสอ สีไม้ · Rating 2 out of 5]

ชีวิตของเขาก็ไม่ต่างจากเทพนิยายเท่าไรนัก
เขามีชีวิตวัยเด็กที่ยากจนที่สุด
และฝ่าฟันชีวิตมาจนประสบความสำเร็จ
นั่นทำให้นิทานของเขามีตัวละครที่หลากหลาย
มีทั้งเด็กที่ยากไร้ที่สุด มีตัวละครเป็นเจ้าชายหรือพระราชาที่ร่ำรวย
บ้างไร้แก่นสาร บ้างทำคุณประโยชน์ บ้างบูชาความรัก ฯลฯ

ครึ่งแรกอ่านสนุกดี
ครึ่งหลังเหมือนฟังเขาระบายความน้อยเนื้อต่ำใจที่ผลงานถูกตำหนิไม่เลิก
ก็เข้าใจนะ แต่มันเยอะไปหน่อย

[Kristen (belles_bookshelves) · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Life lay bright with sunshine before me."

50/50

Torn between the half of the book that is incredibly beautiful depictions of imagery and scenery of the places HCA traveled to and the little drops of inspiration for his stories.

And the other half that is needless explanations for things that don't matter and tons of name-dropping.

[Alina Cristea · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very interesting for me to learn more about the works of Hans Christian Andersen, besides his well-known and beloved fairy tales, about the struggles he went through until he found his place in the Danish and international literature, about his travels abroad and his encounters with the greats of the era.

[Krisette Spangler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this autobiography to be extremely tedious. It was more of a travel log than a biography. I really wanted to know about his fairy tales, but he only touches on those briefly. I do thing Mr. Andersen was a delightful person, and he gave thanks to God often in the pages of this autobiography. It just wasn't what I was looking for.

[Christopher Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a frustrating read.

There is no doubting Hans Christian Andersen's literary legacy, but this book is not a part of it. Written when he was forty, and finishing abruptly after an abortive attempt to tour Spain - Andersen was warned by a doctor that he might not survive the journey - it covers little more than half of the writer's life.

The first section, which deals with the writer's childhood, is fascinating and generally draws a portrait of the writer that cannot be found elsewhere with the same immediacy. The final section, after it is revealed that Andersen is sitting in Rome, penning his autobiography, contains more vim and vigour than the middle fifty percent of the book.

And it is in that middle section that the problems arise. Andersen treats us to a gloss of his life, but seems more concerned with remembering the famous people he had met and befriended - and with settling old scores with his critics - than revealing anything of value. He talks about Jenny Lind, the singer, but does not mention that he had fallen in love with her. Indeed, he proposed to her - in a letter handed to her as she was departing by train; she turned him down.

More crucially, we learn nothing about the genesis of the stories for which Andersen is remembered. What did he do to write? Did he wander the streets, waiting for the story to form in his mind? Or did he stare aghast at the blank page and curse himself for not being able to produce? We shall not learn the answers in this book.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I have a goal of going through all of his fairy tales, and have struggled some with them, I thought that reading his autobiography would perhaps help. I guess my main struggle with his writing is that he sees the veins in the leaves of the forest, as well as gives them human emotions and experiences. I wanted to see the forest instead.

He came from poverty, but kind people along the way helped him gain education and experience. There were many along the way who provided stiff criticism as well. He took all these gifts and wrote page after page to the point that he was not only recognized in his native country, but enjoyed time with many other famous artists in Europe. He doesn’t speak too much about his fairy tales in the book, but describes other things he wrote.

[Jeff Clifton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much of the book was very tedious descriptions of the social circles he had contact with and his travels. However, if you can get through that, there are numerous deeply profound gems to be found throughout. One such being the insight provided into the kind of poverty which he grew up in and the corresponding emotions and struggles. The best parts could probably be extracted and stand on their own in a short read.

[Valorie Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of hard to read because the formatting is not great. As far as memoirs go, this one is particularly unreliable because HCA was deliberately formulating a mythology of his life that would feed into the new Romantic ideals of children and childhood. He cuts out large swaths of his childhood that historians know to be true in favor of an image of a happy idyllic home where he was an only child (he wasn't). He also discards nuance in many of his relationships in favor of simplistic enemy or ally characterizations.

[Arina · Rating 4 out of 5]

На самом деле слушала ее в русском переводе. Очень много интересных фактов о Дании и о современниках Андерсена (хотя я, конечно, необъективна). Сам Андерсен, безусловно, тщеславный, как бы ни старался это скрыть, но от этого не менее удивительно узнать , какой жизненный путь он проделал, чтобы остаться в вечности.

[Larosenoire299 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chẳng có lý do gì để không rate câu chuyện từ thơ bé của bạn 5* cả. Nhớ ngày nào mua cả bộ Andersen vs Grim nó chia thành 4 hay 5 tập nhỏ 1 bộ gì đó, nâng như nâng trứng hứng như hứng hoa :D giờ cũng thất lạc hết rồi cơ mà vẫn nhớ như in cảm giác sung sướng khi cầm trên tay bộ truyện.

[Nghia Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truyện cổ Andersen rất đáng đọc cho con trẻ nhưng cần tương đối chọn lọc dành cho các lứa tuổi phù hợp, vì không như truyện cổ Grimm tương đối tươi sáng, thì các truyện của Andersen đa dạng, có những truyện rất đen tối và ám ảnh.

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Một bộ truyện mà nếu có con mình nhất định bắt em ý phải đọc.
Truyện có rất nhiều nội dung sâu sắc và giáo dục mà những giá trị tư tưởng ấy không hề lỗi thời một xíu nào

[Nhóm 5 vui vẻ_ bá đạo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cuốn sách gồm nhiều câu chuyện ngắn hay

[Katherine Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd gotten an edition of this from the 1800s, probably the First American edition, for my used books store. When it sold, I had to read it before sending it. Luckily it took the customer a few days to pay because I was entranced.

Hans Christian's Andersen's life was a fairytale. The son of a shoemaker and the grandson of a comic actor, he wanted an education and the chance to do the stage from childhood. This lead to poverty in Copenhagen while he sang and danced, a benefactor who obtained funds from royalty for his education, many tragic days due to criticism of his poetry and his tragedies, and his travels. After he wrote his children's tales, he met royalty, the Grimm's Brothers, Dickens, and Mendelssohn. His autobiography always has that fairytale hope, obstacles, clownishness, and the almost unreal scenes with royalty, Jenny Lind, and other artists, all because he did what he wanted.

[Dang Minh Ngoc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truyện Cổ Andersen by Hans Christian Andersen

Khi không biết đọc gì, mình chọn truyện cổ tích. Những câu chuyện Andersen đã xuất hiện trong giấc mơ của tôi từ những ngày bé. Cây chuyện về cảnh nghèo, về sự bất công, về tình yêu và lòng trung hậu, về sự dũng cảm. Câu chuyện về chú lính chì, vịt con xấu xí, ngôi nhà cổ, bà chúa tuyết, nàng Tiên Cá, cây thông... mãi mãi không chỉ là những câu chuyện dành cho trẻ con. Ẩn sâu trong đó là những câu chuyện mà cả thời xưa hay thời nay, dù ở đâu cũng có.
Gấp lại cuốn sách, mình có cảm giác như mình vừa chạy đua một chặng đường dài, chạy qua mười mấy năm vừa qua để trở về với những ngày là đứa bé ngồi trong một góc nhà cầm quyển truyện dày và ngấu nghiến đọc.

10.12.2019
N

đọc thêm review/ tóm tắt sách của mình tại: https://nhungghicheplinhtinhcuangoc.w...

[Christy Olesen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very interesting. HC Andersen really started with nothing, traveling to Copenhagen when he was only 14, without much schooling, acting on his dream to be an actor and a poet in the early 1800s. My only complaint is that the book was written when he was in his 40s and he live to his 70s. But it contained all the struggles he went through until he was recognized as the talent he was. Technically, and I've found this with other ebooks, some of the special characters didn't come across in the ebook. The Danish alphabet has some characters not in the English alphabet, and they were just left blank. Being half Danish, I've had an interest in HC Andersen since I was a child. It was interesting to learn how much more he did other than the fairy tales he is best known for.

[San San · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tự nhiên mấy hôm trước lôi ra cuốn này. Cùng với truyện cổ Grim nữa. Chả nhớ đã đọc nó từ bao giờ, có lẽ là hồi lớp 3, 4 gì đấy. Hồi ấy, chỉ có 2 cuốn này, ngày nào cũng đọc 1 câu chuyện nhỏ. Đây là tuổi thơ, là ước mơ, là món quà quý giá nhất của mình chứ không còn là cuốn truyện nữa. Có lẽ, cũng chính vì nó nên mới dưỡng ra cái cô gái hay mơ mộng trong 1 quãng thời gian dài nào đó ;(.
Giờ thật ra, lại muốn được mơ mộng như thế, được đắm chìm trong thế giới đầy phép mầu nhiệm như thế. Cuộc sống hiện tại, có gì đó đã và đang dần mất đi. Thật may, vẫn còn những cuốn sách nhỏ làm bạn với mình;) Cứ sống như mình muốn thôi, phép mầu nhiệm sẽ tới, bởi vì, mình đã thấy nó hiện hữu rồi....

[Anh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cùng với "Truyện cổ Grim" và "Nghìn lẻ một đêm", đây là một trong những cuốn sách tui đã đọc đi đọc lại đến gần như thuộc lòng khi còn nhỏ. Những mẩu chuyện ngắn, nhỏ nhỏ xinh xinh nhưng đầy nhân văn và đáng yêu - hết thảy là một phần tuổi thơ tui.

Đến giờ, lâu lâu khi cảm thấy quá mệt mỏi với thế giới phức tạp của người lớn, tui vẫn chờ trời mưa lâm thâm, pha một ly Milo nóng bốc khói rồi chui vào chăn cầm "Truyện Cổ Andersen" lên đọc lại :) Một cuốn sách dành cho trẻ con và những người vẫn chưa quên mình từng là trẻ con ^^

[Lavinia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to believe you're reading a selfie here. It's more like you're in one of his stories. Beautifully written, I was completely absorbed first into 19th century Odense when HCA lived a beautiful childhood, and then through some of his travels.

I would love to re-read his stories, this time with the eyes of an adult, I hope I won't forget :)

[Brit · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting to read this autobiography of H. C. Andersen. I enjoyed the early years most. In many ways he could have been a character in his own fairy tales and maybe he was. Once he became recognized, he met many well known people. The book reads like a who is who of the 19th century.

[Valerie Wicke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was bored throughout most of this book, which surprised me because I enjoy Hans Christian Andersen's stories. This book really dragged for me.