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The Fairy Tale of My Life: An Autobiography
Danish poet and novelist Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) is best known for the dozens of fairy tales he wrote, including "The Little Mermaid," "The Ugly Duckling," and "The Snow Queen." Andersen's sense of fantasy, power of description, and acute sensitivity are strikingly evident in his autobiography. Andersen masterfully depicts the extreme poverty of his provincial childhood and the international celebrity of his later years, and also provides insights into the sources of many of his most famous tales.
610 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1855
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September 5, 2009
As I taught a unit to third graders on folklore I decided to read Hans Christian Andersen's autobiography. I had read a children's version of his life in a reader at one time and wondered how much of it was true that he was a bit of an ugly duckling himself.
While he didn't often fit in in his younger life he did travel extensively throughout Europe during his adulthood and much of his book explains that. He did have many friends but there did seem to be a sense of loneliness about him. It was fascinating to learn more about Europe at the time as he give insights into the cities he visits and the well-to-do people whose circles he traveled in. Interesting title - fairy tale of my life.
While he didn't often fit in in his younger life he did travel extensively throughout Europe during his adulthood and much of his book explains that. He did have many friends but there did seem to be a sense of loneliness about him. It was fascinating to learn more about Europe at the time as he give insights into the cities he visits and the well-to-do people whose circles he traveled in. Interesting title - fairy tale of my life.
June 22, 2019
Lovely memoir. Andersen met many famous people of his day. His descriptions of other countries make me want to read his travel books. My favorite part is the style, his wonder at life and childlike love and gratefulness towards all his friends and benefactors and towards God.
May 18, 2022
Qua cuốn này thì biết được nhiều hơn về cuộc đời của Andersen cũng như các gương mặt tri thức đương thời của TK 19. Nhưng nó bị trùng lặp quá, tới 2 3 phần nói về các cuộc du ngoạn; cũng như văn phong bay bổng của ông khó lòng giữ lại người đọc tới hết cuốn sách, còn chưa nói các văn sĩ Bắc Âu đa phần còn quá xa lạ với độc giả VN nên hứng thú để đọc nó cũng không được giữ trọn vẹn.
November 5, 2014
An interesting tale about this iconic man who was the ultimate self-starter, rising up from a very humble origin to becoming one of Denmark's most famous authors. He was in many ways "The Ugly Duckling" in his fairy tales. In his early teens he headed to Copenhagen to try to become an actor. Anderson weathered years of criticism and difficulty achieving his dreams. He persisted though to the point where he became widely recognized and appreciated.
The book starts in an interesting way, telling Anderson's amazing rags-to-riches story. It bogs down when he describes at length his many trips to visit nobility in surrounding European Countries. We learn that Anderson does not like excessive heat and that he is very sensitive to criticism.
At the end, Anderson summarizes how his life has indeed been a fairy tale, and how we can all learn from the challenges we face. In his words "All the injustice I thought I suffered and every hand that clumsily interfered in my development brought good results after all."
The book starts in an interesting way, telling Anderson's amazing rags-to-riches story. It bogs down when he describes at length his many trips to visit nobility in surrounding European Countries. We learn that Anderson does not like excessive heat and that he is very sensitive to criticism.
At the end, Anderson summarizes how his life has indeed been a fairy tale, and how we can all learn from the challenges we face. In his words "All the injustice I thought I suffered and every hand that clumsily interfered in my development brought good results after all."
January 3, 2021
He writes better stories than he did his autobiography. It was interesting to read his conversations with people like Charles Dickens, Jenny Lind, his time with Mendelssohn and Strauss, but most of the book was traveling to a spot, being invited into a house of a locally known person and lots of lamenting about his reviews.
I guess I was looking for more background on how he created the stories he's famous for, but he spent more time being sad over its reception and reviews of critics than how he got the ideas.
I will admit that I skipped a lot of the travel from city to city. It's a 589 ph book and that became tedious very quickly.
I guess I was looking for more background on how he created the stories he's famous for, but he spent more time being sad over its reception and reviews of critics than how he got the ideas.
I will admit that I skipped a lot of the travel from city to city. It's a 589 ph book and that became tedious very quickly.
February 4, 2013
Delightful visit with the highly sensitive passionate egotistical tale teller.
June 18, 2022
Sau tất cả những lời tự sự dài như áng văn xuôi mượt mà đó, đối với tôi việc đi đến được dấu chấm câu cuối cùng thật chẳng khác gì một bài thơ. :3
February 19, 2024
Aún recuerdo la portada del libro con el dibujo de una niña montada en un pájaro que destacaba en la biblioteca familiar y que tanto disfrutamos con mis hermanos. Gracias a Liliana Bodoc y su texto sobre la vendedora de cerillas en su libro Salamandras volví a interesarme en Andersen y sus cuentos infantiles. Descubrí que tenía una autobiografía, uno de mis géneros favoritos, así que me lancé a leer “El cuento de mi vida”.
Lo hice casi de un tirón porque es bastante ameno, mantiene el interés y aparecen como actores de reparto personajes relevantes de la historia y el arte -en especial daneses y alemanes-. En eso me recordó a las autobiogrfías de Harpo Marx y Charles Chaplin que de tanto nombrar famosos hace pensar que todos se conocen entre sí.. Me salteé el prólogo de la traductora María Pilar Lorenzo para no sesgarme y también porque que ocupase el diecisiete por ciento del texto total del libro (Kindle sirve también para esos datos inútiles) me parecía un exceso. Sin embargo, leído al final me parece que aporta mucho porque además de dar contexto contrasta lo que pone Andersen con otras fuentes y trae otras voces que difieren de la verdad que presenta el autor. Ella es el motivo de puntuar 4/5 y no 3/5.
Mi principal interés estaba en encontrar el origen de sus grandes cuentos. A diferencia de la autobiografía de Roald Dahl no es tan obvio o directo sino más bien tangencial. Nos ayuda a entender cómo sus vivencias van moldeando lo que después va a transmitir a través de su arte. Me sorprendió que fuera cantante, bailarín, actor: para ser temeroso e introvertido, como plantea, le gustaba bastante el escenario. Hay una faceta de creatividad manual con juguetes de madera y títeres también muy interesante. A su vez me gusta su mirada sobre la Europa que fue recorriendo, en especial Italia y Alemania. Me molestó un poco enterarme que en la edición en español que leí hay un recorte del original porque no lo vi aclarado en ninguna parte: sólo tradujeron tres capítulos y textos seleccionados de los otros. Para ver qué me estaba perdiendo descargué de Proyecto Gutenberg una traducción al inglés “The True Story of My Life: A Sketck -de Mary Howitt y realizada en vida del autor-. Luego de hojear parte de lo no incluído me parece que está bien el criterio: lo que omitieron es la parte más autocomplaciente en la que cuenta la gente importante que conoce y que lo aplaude así que no suma tanto.
Andersen escribió este libro a los cincuenta años y ya tenía publicados sus grandes éxitos, aunque seguiría escribiendo cuentos. Entiendo que agregó a este libro sus últimos veinte años en una nueva edición, seguramente menos interesantes que todo el arco que va de su niñez hasta su consagración como escritor. Coincido con la traductora Lorenzo en que esta autobiografía consigue mostrarnos a Anderson pero uno distinto del que él pretendía. No al niño pobre que era rechazado en su país y que a fuerza de talento y reconocimiento en el extranjero terminó recibiendo la gloria predestinada. Sino a una personalidad compleja, narcisista (siempre tiene que aclarar cuando las canciones son de él, por dar una muestra) y acomodaticia. Y que a pesar de eso (o gracias a eso, por qué no) nos dio algunos de los cuentos infantiles más bellos.
Algunas de mis frases favoritas:
“Por entonces escribí yo mi primera pieza, nada menos que una tragedia donde morían todos, como es natural.”
“Consejo: no escriba mucha poesía en estos años de estudio y solo para desahogar sus sentimientos, no escriba nada para lo que necesite buscar palabras e ideas, sino sólo cuando el alma está poseída por una idea y el corazón henchida de sentimiento [...] Elija pequeños motivos de las cosas que le rodean, considere cuanto vea desde todos los puntos de vista, antes de coger la pluma. Sea poeta, como si no hubiera habido poeta en la tierra antes que ustedes y como si no tuviera que aprender nada de nadie.” (H. Bastholm)
“(...) cuanto más monótona es la vida que se lleva, más necesidad se siente de anotar y retener lo vivido, y por eso se lleva un diario.”
“No se figure usted que es poeta por el hecho de escribir unos versos.” (dicho a Andersen)
“A menudo un alma entera puede caber en una breve poesía.”
“Cuando uno se aleja de las montañas es cuando las ve en toda su magnitud, y eso es también lo que me ocurrió a mí con los seres queridos al marcharme.”
“Ya Goethe hablaba de la impresión fúnebre que produce la góndola veneciana, catafalco flotante, vestida de luto con sus flecos negros, sus borlas negras y sus cortinas negras [...] Me sentía como entre los despojos de un gigantesco buque fantasma [...] Venecia, reina del Adriático, de día un cisne muerto en el agua fangosa, cobra entonces vida y belleza.”
“Se puede hacer llegar a cientos de personas lo que no iban a leer más de diez” (Carl Bagger, acerca del teatro)
“Estos primeros momentos del regreso bien valen por el viaje entero.”
“La política es una desgracia para muchos poetas [...] A esa poesía le pasa lo que a la prensa diaria, que se coge, se lee, interesa un momento y después se tira.”
“Había llamado a mis narraciones Cuentos para niños, aunque mi idea era que fueran también para los mayores.”
“Lo que más divertía a los niños era lo que podríamos llamar la fachada; a los mayores, en cambio, lo que les interesaba eran las ideas que había detrás.”
“Amaba las flores y ellas cubren / como un manto hoy su caja.”
Lo hice casi de un tirón porque es bastante ameno, mantiene el interés y aparecen como actores de reparto personajes relevantes de la historia y el arte -en especial daneses y alemanes-. En eso me recordó a las autobiogrfías de Harpo Marx y Charles Chaplin que de tanto nombrar famosos hace pensar que todos se conocen entre sí.. Me salteé el prólogo de la traductora María Pilar Lorenzo para no sesgarme y también porque que ocupase el diecisiete por ciento del texto total del libro (Kindle sirve también para esos datos inútiles) me parecía un exceso. Sin embargo, leído al final me parece que aporta mucho porque además de dar contexto contrasta lo que pone Andersen con otras fuentes y trae otras voces que difieren de la verdad que presenta el autor. Ella es el motivo de puntuar 4/5 y no 3/5.
Mi principal interés estaba en encontrar el origen de sus grandes cuentos. A diferencia de la autobiografía de Roald Dahl no es tan obvio o directo sino más bien tangencial. Nos ayuda a entender cómo sus vivencias van moldeando lo que después va a transmitir a través de su arte. Me sorprendió que fuera cantante, bailarín, actor: para ser temeroso e introvertido, como plantea, le gustaba bastante el escenario. Hay una faceta de creatividad manual con juguetes de madera y títeres también muy interesante. A su vez me gusta su mirada sobre la Europa que fue recorriendo, en especial Italia y Alemania. Me molestó un poco enterarme que en la edición en español que leí hay un recorte del original porque no lo vi aclarado en ninguna parte: sólo tradujeron tres capítulos y textos seleccionados de los otros. Para ver qué me estaba perdiendo descargué de Proyecto Gutenberg una traducción al inglés “The True Story of My Life: A Sketck -de Mary Howitt y realizada en vida del autor-. Luego de hojear parte de lo no incluído me parece que está bien el criterio: lo que omitieron es la parte más autocomplaciente en la que cuenta la gente importante que conoce y que lo aplaude así que no suma tanto.
Andersen escribió este libro a los cincuenta años y ya tenía publicados sus grandes éxitos, aunque seguiría escribiendo cuentos. Entiendo que agregó a este libro sus últimos veinte años en una nueva edición, seguramente menos interesantes que todo el arco que va de su niñez hasta su consagración como escritor. Coincido con la traductora Lorenzo en que esta autobiografía consigue mostrarnos a Anderson pero uno distinto del que él pretendía. No al niño pobre que era rechazado en su país y que a fuerza de talento y reconocimiento en el extranjero terminó recibiendo la gloria predestinada. Sino a una personalidad compleja, narcisista (siempre tiene que aclarar cuando las canciones son de él, por dar una muestra) y acomodaticia. Y que a pesar de eso (o gracias a eso, por qué no) nos dio algunos de los cuentos infantiles más bellos.
Algunas de mis frases favoritas:
“Por entonces escribí yo mi primera pieza, nada menos que una tragedia donde morían todos, como es natural.”
“Consejo: no escriba mucha poesía en estos años de estudio y solo para desahogar sus sentimientos, no escriba nada para lo que necesite buscar palabras e ideas, sino sólo cuando el alma está poseída por una idea y el corazón henchida de sentimiento [...] Elija pequeños motivos de las cosas que le rodean, considere cuanto vea desde todos los puntos de vista, antes de coger la pluma. Sea poeta, como si no hubiera habido poeta en la tierra antes que ustedes y como si no tuviera que aprender nada de nadie.” (H. Bastholm)
“(...) cuanto más monótona es la vida que se lleva, más necesidad se siente de anotar y retener lo vivido, y por eso se lleva un diario.”
“No se figure usted que es poeta por el hecho de escribir unos versos.” (dicho a Andersen)
“A menudo un alma entera puede caber en una breve poesía.”
“Cuando uno se aleja de las montañas es cuando las ve en toda su magnitud, y eso es también lo que me ocurrió a mí con los seres queridos al marcharme.”
“Ya Goethe hablaba de la impresión fúnebre que produce la góndola veneciana, catafalco flotante, vestida de luto con sus flecos negros, sus borlas negras y sus cortinas negras [...] Me sentía como entre los despojos de un gigantesco buque fantasma [...] Venecia, reina del Adriático, de día un cisne muerto en el agua fangosa, cobra entonces vida y belleza.”
“Se puede hacer llegar a cientos de personas lo que no iban a leer más de diez” (Carl Bagger, acerca del teatro)
“Estos primeros momentos del regreso bien valen por el viaje entero.”
“La política es una desgracia para muchos poetas [...] A esa poesía le pasa lo que a la prensa diaria, que se coge, se lee, interesa un momento y después se tira.”
“Había llamado a mis narraciones Cuentos para niños, aunque mi idea era que fueran también para los mayores.”
“Lo que más divertía a los niños era lo que podríamos llamar la fachada; a los mayores, en cambio, lo que les interesaba eran las ideas que había detrás.”
“Amaba las flores y ellas cubren / como un manto hoy su caja.”
January 6, 2026
The Fairy Tale of My Life is a fascinating and reflective autobiography by Hans Christian Andersen that takes readers through his remarkable journey from humble beginnings to international recognition. Andersen shares how growing up in poverty shaped his life and imagination and offers insight into the many experiences that influenced the creation of his most beloved stories.
Goodreads
What I enjoyed most about this book was how Andersen’s life itself feels like a story full of perseverance and wonder. His descriptions of his youth, his struggles to find his voice, and his travels across Europe are rich with detail and humanity. It was inspiring to see how his sense of fantasy and sensitivity to life’s beauty and hardship fed into the fairy tales that continue to resonate with readers around the world.
Goodreads
If you enjoy literary memoirs that reveal the personal side of a legendary author and how life experiences inform creative work, this is a rewarding read. Whether you come to this book as a fan of Andersen’s fairy tales or simply out of curiosity about his life, there is much here that will stay with you long after you finish reading.
Goodreads
📧 With admiration and respect for the craft of storytelling feel free to reach out to me at authorsarahalderson@gmail.com
Goodreads
What I enjoyed most about this book was how Andersen’s life itself feels like a story full of perseverance and wonder. His descriptions of his youth, his struggles to find his voice, and his travels across Europe are rich with detail and humanity. It was inspiring to see how his sense of fantasy and sensitivity to life’s beauty and hardship fed into the fairy tales that continue to resonate with readers around the world.
Goodreads
If you enjoy literary memoirs that reveal the personal side of a legendary author and how life experiences inform creative work, this is a rewarding read. Whether you come to this book as a fan of Andersen’s fairy tales or simply out of curiosity about his life, there is much here that will stay with you long after you finish reading.
Goodreads
📧 With admiration and respect for the craft of storytelling feel free to reach out to me at authorsarahalderson@gmail.com
December 28, 2021
"Si de niño, cuando salí a recorrer el mundo, solo y pobre, me hubiese salido un hada prodigiosa que me hubiera dicho: escoge tu camino y tu meta, que yo te protegere y te guiare... no pudiera mi suerte haber sido más feliz."
December 12, 2019
Andersen was amazing person and amazing writer !!!
August 2, 2020
He was wonderful and unique!
Read
September 20, 2020(The version I read was a much shorter one. Read it for school.)
August 20, 2022
Quả là nếu không có những cách tân sau này trong lối viết ở thể loại Hồi kí thì dến cả Andersen cũng lê thê, nhạt nhẽo!
May 19, 2025
Extremely sad. Don't see this as being a story for children.
December 9, 2025
სასიამოვნო წასაკითხია.
სამწუხაროდ ჯერ მხოლოს პირველი ნაწილი გვაქვს ქართულად.
ამბებს ფონად მიჰყვება რთულ სიტუაციებში, რომელთა ნაკლებობას არ უჩიოდა ანდერსენი, უკეთესი მომავლის მუდმივი რწმენა.
სამწუხაროდ ჯერ მხოლოს პირველი ნაწილი გვაქვს ქართულად.
ამბებს ფონად მიჰყვება რთულ სიტუაციებში, რომელთა ნაკლებობას არ უჩიოდა ანდერსენი, უკეთესი მომავლის მუდმივი რწმენა.
April 24, 2024
I loved the first half of the work that described the struggles of Andersen and the way he slowly got the education, contacts and funding needed to become a writer. His descriptions of his childhood in Odense were beautiful and indeed fairytale like, so was the gloomy and hopeful youth in Copenhagen. It was easy to read between the lines about Andersen's feelings of inadequacy, coming from such humble background and basically illiterate at the time!
However, the novel's second part was a pain to read, as Andersen got famous and decided to mostly go into listing all kinds of aristocrats and writers and local celebrities he met. What I found almost insulting was how Andersen did not really elaborate on his fairytales: it is unclear how, when and why he wrote them. I would have really liked to know so much more about their inspiration sources and the way they got published initially. I think this hole is especially too vast in the last 1/4 of the memoirs, where Andersen constantly recalls reading his fairytales to this and this king or queen or baroness or marquess. Andersen, Andersen... He mentions in the end that he somehow felt obliged to write about all the celebrities he met in order to explain his travel expenses, well, maybe that explains it. I don't believe that his memoirs were successful in Germany, a wish he expressed on the last page of the work.
In general, however, I felt lots of warmth towards Andersen, and in some strange way thinking about him brings me lots of joy and creativity. He was a true artist, wanting to write down his rich visions and emotions, and living for that! He really felt like a small Nordic bird that likes to fly wherever its heart and curiousity leads, finding shelter wherever possible and eating bread crumbles from hands that he trusted so easily. Really lonely and really social, happy and sorrowful, sure and unsure of himself. So relatable.
However, the novel's second part was a pain to read, as Andersen got famous and decided to mostly go into listing all kinds of aristocrats and writers and local celebrities he met. What I found almost insulting was how Andersen did not really elaborate on his fairytales: it is unclear how, when and why he wrote them. I would have really liked to know so much more about their inspiration sources and the way they got published initially. I think this hole is especially too vast in the last 1/4 of the memoirs, where Andersen constantly recalls reading his fairytales to this and this king or queen or baroness or marquess. Andersen, Andersen... He mentions in the end that he somehow felt obliged to write about all the celebrities he met in order to explain his travel expenses, well, maybe that explains it. I don't believe that his memoirs were successful in Germany, a wish he expressed on the last page of the work.
In general, however, I felt lots of warmth towards Andersen, and in some strange way thinking about him brings me lots of joy and creativity. He was a true artist, wanting to write down his rich visions and emotions, and living for that! He really felt like a small Nordic bird that likes to fly wherever its heart and curiousity leads, finding shelter wherever possible and eating bread crumbles from hands that he trusted so easily. Really lonely and really social, happy and sorrowful, sure and unsure of himself. So relatable.
January 3, 2018
I'm on page 295, just so I remember when I get it back. This is an absolutely great tie-together between all the other books of this period I've read. And while Andersen wasn't perfect, and I hear he did things that offended polite society of that time, he and his life sound like me and mine in so many ways (and the results he got out of any given incident are very familiar). And I don't think that's a bad thing, mostly. Anyone who got to be Mendelssohn's friend is worth getting to know :)
June 3, 2023
Creo que si Hans viviera en la actualidad sería un auténtico pringao. No parece que tuviera mucho talento natural para la narrativa ni para ninguna otra cosa pero, pese a todo, su extraño amor propio le hizo interpretar las críticas como si fueran alabanzas y así, a lo tonto, ha llegado hasta nuestros días.
February 7, 2017
No me ha entusiasmado, mucha información sobre personajes daneses de principios del siglo XIX que no aportan nada a un lector español del s. XXI.
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