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Die Serapionsbrüder #8
The Nutcracker
E.T.A. Hoffman’s whimsical novella, originally titled Nutcracker and Mouse King and the inspiration behind Tchaikovsky’s ballet, now has a festive new look in this beautiful edition.
When Maria is given a nutcracker by her mysterious Godfather Drosselmeier, it seems like an ordinary gift. But as the clock strikes midnight on Christmas Eve, she finds her nutcracker embroiled in a fight with a sinister Mouse King—no ordinary toy after all, but a cursed hero. Together, they embark on a fantastical journey, encountering a host of charming characters.
Filled with Christmas magic and festive scenes full of presents, sugarplums, and gingerbread, this imaginative classic has been a part of annual holiday celebrations for generations.
When Maria is given a nutcracker by her mysterious Godfather Drosselmeier, it seems like an ordinary gift. But as the clock strikes midnight on Christmas Eve, she finds her nutcracker embroiled in a fight with a sinister Mouse King—no ordinary toy after all, but a cursed hero. Together, they embark on a fantastical journey, encountering a host of charming characters.
Filled with Christmas magic and festive scenes full of presents, sugarplums, and gingerbread, this imaginative classic has been a part of annual holiday celebrations for generations.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1816
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About the author
E.T.A. Hoffmann
2,256 books878 followersErnst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann, better known by his pen name E. T. A. Hoffmann (Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann), was a German Romantic author of fantasy and horror, a jurist, composer, music critic, draftsman and caricaturist. His stories form the basis of Jacques Offenbach's famous opera The Tales of Hoffmann, in which Hoffman appears (heavily fictionalized) as the hero. He is also the author of the novella The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, on which the famous ballet The Nutcracker is based. The ballet Coppélia is based on two other stories that Hoffmann wrote, while Schumann's Kreisleriana is based on Hoffmann's character Johannes Kreisler.
Hoffmann's stories were very influential during the 19th century, and he is one of the major authors of the Romantic movement.
Hoffmann's stories were very influential during the 19th century, and he is one of the major authors of the Romantic movement.
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December 14, 2025
The Nutcracker Ballet Suite, composed in 1892 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, has become an indispensable part of Christmas celebrations all over the world. Many people who would be skeptical about attending an actual live performance by a ballet company nonetheless look forward to firing up their download or CD of Tchaikovsky’s evocative music and savoring its ties to the holiday season. And therefore it was a particular pleasure for me to turn, this Christmas season, to the story that inspired Tchaikovsky’s immortal music – E.T.A. Hoffmann’s 1816 story Nussknacker und Mausekönig (The Nutcracker and the Mouse King), here published in a book volume that is titled simply The Nutcracker.
Hoffmann, who hailed from Königsberg in the old Kingdom of Prussia, was one of the leading authors of the German Romantic movement. He, and other German Romantic authors were strongly identified with literary Gothicism. Indeed, no less a Gothicist than Edgar Allan Poe once faced critics' accusations that his stories were mere recreations of German Gothicism, and wrote in response that “Terror is not of Germany but of the Soul.” One can agree with Poe’s ideas regarding the universal and archetypal qualities of the Gothic, while at the same time acknowledging that Hoffmann had a particular talent for weaving elements of the weird and the uncanny into what might otherwise have been a story of ordinary, quotidian life.
And those aspects of Hoffmann’s work certainly make their way into The Nutcracker. The story begins on Christmas Eve, in the comfortable home of Dr. Stahlbaum, where the Stahlbaum children, Fritz and Marie, await the arrival of their godfather. Their Yuletide excitement is accentuated by their knowledge that Godpapa Drosselmeier, a talented inventor, invariably brings them hand-crafted gifts that demonstrate his creativity.
Marie’s present is “a most delicious little man” – green-eyed, with a little beard of white cotton – who strikes Marie as having “a sweet nature and disposition” along with a bold and soldierly bearing: “[T]he elegance of his costume…showed him to be a person of taste and cultivation. He had on a very pretty violet hussar’s jacket, knobs and braid all over, pantaloons of the same, and the loveliest little boots ever seen on a hussar officer – fitting his little legs just as if they had been painted on them” (p. 8).
He is the Nutcracker; and when Fritz inconsiderately breaks the Nutcracker’s jaw and teeth by having the Nutcracker crack overly large nuts, Marie becomes his protector: “Marie got Nutcracker’s lost teeth together, bound a pretty white ribbon, taken from her dress, about his poor chin, and then wrapped the poor little fellow, who was looking very pale and frightened, more tenderly and carefully than before in her handkerchief. Thus she held him, rocking him like a child in her arms, as she looked at the picture books” (p. 10). As the story goes on, the Nutcracker will protect Marie in turn.
For that night, Marie’s room is invaded by an army of mice; and their leader, the Mouse King, is a giant, seven-headed mouse, with each of his seven heads adorned with a royal crown! Here, in the midst of what is ostensibly a children’s story, the reader sees Hoffmann’s particular talent for adding a particular touch of horror. As with the Lernaean Hydra, the multi-headed serpent from Greek mythology, so the Mouse King, with his seven crowned heads, seems to represent a set of non-human intelligences joined together for one malign purpose. Fortunately, the Nutcracker at once comes to life, calling out to the rest of Marie’s toys: “Ye, my trusty vassals, brethren and friends, are ye ready to stand by me in this great battle?” (p. 17)
Battle is joined at once, but Nutcracker and his side seem in danger of being overcome; in a fun allusion to William Shakespeare’s play Richard III, the Nutcracker actually cries out at one point, “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!” Marie cries out in alarm, throws her own shoe at the Mouse King, feels “a stinging pain in her left arm” (p. 23), and…
…awakens in her little bed to find that the family doctor has been treating her for a cut that Marie received when she broke a pane of the glass cupboard with her elbow! The battle between the toys and the mice was (evidently) a dream. Godpapa Drosselmeier is among the relatives who have come to check on the progress of Marie’s recovery, and among his gifts for Marie is “Nutcracker! – whose teeth he had put in again quite firmly, and set his broken jaw completely to rights” (p. 27).
In order to amuse Marie during her recovery, Godpapa Drosselmeier tells the children “The Story of the Hard Nut,” a sort of origin story for the Nutcracker. Once again, mice are the villains in this tale of a long-ago royal family whose princess daughter, Pirlipat, was cursed by Dame Mouserink, and immediately turned from her formerly beautiful appearance into a creature with “An enormous bloated head…at the top of a diminutive, crumpled-up body, and green, wooden-looking eyes” (p. 35). It is the kind of bizarre metamorphosis that is characteristic of this thoroughly Gothic story, as the lines between the organic and the mechanical, between human and toy, are regularly crossed and recrossed.
Drosselmeier is himself a character in the story – a clockmaker of Nuremberg, who is charged by the king with restoring Princess Pirlipat’s beautiful appearance, on pain of death. He learns from the Court Astronomer that the princess can only be restored by someone who can crack the uncrackable nut Crackatook to extract the nut’s sweet meat.
After a long search, it turns out that the hero who can accomplish this quest may be Drosselmeier’s young cousin – “a nice-looking, well-grown young fellow who “stood in his father’s shop exceedingly lovely to behold, and from his native galanterie…occupied himself in cracking nuts for the young ladies, who called him ‘the handsome nutcracker’” (p. 40).
The king has promised Pirlipat’s hand to the man who can crack the nut Crackatook and restore the princess’s beauty. Young Drosselmeier, whom the princess already loves, “received the nut from the hands of the Clerk of the Closet, put it between his teeth, made a strong effort with his head, and – crack – crack – the shell was shattered into a number of pieces” (p. 42).
The princess’s beauty is at once restored, but just then Dame Mouserink reappears and invokes one final curse, this time against young Drosselmeier: “Oh, misery! – all in an instant he was transmogrified, just as the princess had been before: his body all shrivelled up, and could scarcely support the great shapeless head with enormous projecting eyes and the wide gaping mouth. In the place where his pigtail used to be, a scanty wooden cloak hung down, controlling the movements of his nether jaw.” In short, a young and human nut-cracker has become a toy Nutcracker.
With the end of Godpapa Drosselmeier’s “Story of the Hard Nut,” Marie reflects upon her new awareness “that her Nutcracker was none other than young Mr. Drosselmeier, of Nuremberg, Godpapa Drosselmeier’s delightful nephew, unfortunately under the spells of Dame Mouserink” (p. 45).
In the back-and-forth between dream-life and waking life that characterizes the remainder of the story, the mice renew their aggressions against Marie’s candy and toys, until the Nutcracker returns to life and asks Marie for a sword. Her brother Fritz sportingly offers the sword of one of his toy soldiers, and soon the Nutcracker is able to furnish Marie with good news: “The treacherous King of the Mice lies vanquished and writhing in his gore!” (p. 53)
At this point, the Nutcracker celebrates the victory over the Mice by taking Marie into the mystical realm of Toyland, where toys frolic and play in a landscape made up entirely of candy and sweets. These passages of The Nutcracker, with different groups and peoples among the the toys offering introductions and presenting themselves to Marie, no doubt inspired those “Land of Sweets” passages from Tchaikovsky’s ballet in which personified candies from Russia, Denmark, Spain, Arabia, and China appear and dance before the protagonist.
In the royal court at Marzipan Castle, Marie is introduced by the Nutcracker as “the daughter of a most worthy medical man and the preserver of my life”, and Marie is welcomed by the ladies of the court as the “noble preserver of our beloved royal brother!” (p. 65)
Another of the story’s unsettling shifts back and forth between “dream” and reality and “dream” takes place, at the end of which Marie finds the restored young Drosselmeier, a handsome prince once again, proposing to her: “Ah! Most exquisite lady! Bless me with your precious hand; share with me my crown and kingdom, and reign with me in Marzipan Castle, for there I am now king” (p. 70). And on that note The Nutcracker concludes, with an ambiguous “happy ending.”
Fans of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet will no doubt enjoy reading the original German story that provided the genesis for this beloved musical tradition of Christmastime – and they may find themselves appreciating the manner in which the great Russian composer “cleaned up” some of the more openly bizarre and Gothic elements of Hoffmann’s original tale.
Hoffmann, who hailed from Königsberg in the old Kingdom of Prussia, was one of the leading authors of the German Romantic movement. He, and other German Romantic authors were strongly identified with literary Gothicism. Indeed, no less a Gothicist than Edgar Allan Poe once faced critics' accusations that his stories were mere recreations of German Gothicism, and wrote in response that “Terror is not of Germany but of the Soul.” One can agree with Poe’s ideas regarding the universal and archetypal qualities of the Gothic, while at the same time acknowledging that Hoffmann had a particular talent for weaving elements of the weird and the uncanny into what might otherwise have been a story of ordinary, quotidian life.
And those aspects of Hoffmann’s work certainly make their way into The Nutcracker. The story begins on Christmas Eve, in the comfortable home of Dr. Stahlbaum, where the Stahlbaum children, Fritz and Marie, await the arrival of their godfather. Their Yuletide excitement is accentuated by their knowledge that Godpapa Drosselmeier, a talented inventor, invariably brings them hand-crafted gifts that demonstrate his creativity.
Marie’s present is “a most delicious little man” – green-eyed, with a little beard of white cotton – who strikes Marie as having “a sweet nature and disposition” along with a bold and soldierly bearing: “[T]he elegance of his costume…showed him to be a person of taste and cultivation. He had on a very pretty violet hussar’s jacket, knobs and braid all over, pantaloons of the same, and the loveliest little boots ever seen on a hussar officer – fitting his little legs just as if they had been painted on them” (p. 8).
He is the Nutcracker; and when Fritz inconsiderately breaks the Nutcracker’s jaw and teeth by having the Nutcracker crack overly large nuts, Marie becomes his protector: “Marie got Nutcracker’s lost teeth together, bound a pretty white ribbon, taken from her dress, about his poor chin, and then wrapped the poor little fellow, who was looking very pale and frightened, more tenderly and carefully than before in her handkerchief. Thus she held him, rocking him like a child in her arms, as she looked at the picture books” (p. 10). As the story goes on, the Nutcracker will protect Marie in turn.
For that night, Marie’s room is invaded by an army of mice; and their leader, the Mouse King, is a giant, seven-headed mouse, with each of his seven heads adorned with a royal crown! Here, in the midst of what is ostensibly a children’s story, the reader sees Hoffmann’s particular talent for adding a particular touch of horror. As with the Lernaean Hydra, the multi-headed serpent from Greek mythology, so the Mouse King, with his seven crowned heads, seems to represent a set of non-human intelligences joined together for one malign purpose. Fortunately, the Nutcracker at once comes to life, calling out to the rest of Marie’s toys: “Ye, my trusty vassals, brethren and friends, are ye ready to stand by me in this great battle?” (p. 17)
Battle is joined at once, but Nutcracker and his side seem in danger of being overcome; in a fun allusion to William Shakespeare’s play Richard III, the Nutcracker actually cries out at one point, “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!” Marie cries out in alarm, throws her own shoe at the Mouse King, feels “a stinging pain in her left arm” (p. 23), and…
…awakens in her little bed to find that the family doctor has been treating her for a cut that Marie received when she broke a pane of the glass cupboard with her elbow! The battle between the toys and the mice was (evidently) a dream. Godpapa Drosselmeier is among the relatives who have come to check on the progress of Marie’s recovery, and among his gifts for Marie is “Nutcracker! – whose teeth he had put in again quite firmly, and set his broken jaw completely to rights” (p. 27).
In order to amuse Marie during her recovery, Godpapa Drosselmeier tells the children “The Story of the Hard Nut,” a sort of origin story for the Nutcracker. Once again, mice are the villains in this tale of a long-ago royal family whose princess daughter, Pirlipat, was cursed by Dame Mouserink, and immediately turned from her formerly beautiful appearance into a creature with “An enormous bloated head…at the top of a diminutive, crumpled-up body, and green, wooden-looking eyes” (p. 35). It is the kind of bizarre metamorphosis that is characteristic of this thoroughly Gothic story, as the lines between the organic and the mechanical, between human and toy, are regularly crossed and recrossed.
Drosselmeier is himself a character in the story – a clockmaker of Nuremberg, who is charged by the king with restoring Princess Pirlipat’s beautiful appearance, on pain of death. He learns from the Court Astronomer that the princess can only be restored by someone who can crack the uncrackable nut Crackatook to extract the nut’s sweet meat.
After a long search, it turns out that the hero who can accomplish this quest may be Drosselmeier’s young cousin – “a nice-looking, well-grown young fellow who “stood in his father’s shop exceedingly lovely to behold, and from his native galanterie…occupied himself in cracking nuts for the young ladies, who called him ‘the handsome nutcracker’” (p. 40).
The king has promised Pirlipat’s hand to the man who can crack the nut Crackatook and restore the princess’s beauty. Young Drosselmeier, whom the princess already loves, “received the nut from the hands of the Clerk of the Closet, put it between his teeth, made a strong effort with his head, and – crack – crack – the shell was shattered into a number of pieces” (p. 42).
The princess’s beauty is at once restored, but just then Dame Mouserink reappears and invokes one final curse, this time against young Drosselmeier: “Oh, misery! – all in an instant he was transmogrified, just as the princess had been before: his body all shrivelled up, and could scarcely support the great shapeless head with enormous projecting eyes and the wide gaping mouth. In the place where his pigtail used to be, a scanty wooden cloak hung down, controlling the movements of his nether jaw.” In short, a young and human nut-cracker has become a toy Nutcracker.
With the end of Godpapa Drosselmeier’s “Story of the Hard Nut,” Marie reflects upon her new awareness “that her Nutcracker was none other than young Mr. Drosselmeier, of Nuremberg, Godpapa Drosselmeier’s delightful nephew, unfortunately under the spells of Dame Mouserink” (p. 45).
In the back-and-forth between dream-life and waking life that characterizes the remainder of the story, the mice renew their aggressions against Marie’s candy and toys, until the Nutcracker returns to life and asks Marie for a sword. Her brother Fritz sportingly offers the sword of one of his toy soldiers, and soon the Nutcracker is able to furnish Marie with good news: “The treacherous King of the Mice lies vanquished and writhing in his gore!” (p. 53)
At this point, the Nutcracker celebrates the victory over the Mice by taking Marie into the mystical realm of Toyland, where toys frolic and play in a landscape made up entirely of candy and sweets. These passages of The Nutcracker, with different groups and peoples among the the toys offering introductions and presenting themselves to Marie, no doubt inspired those “Land of Sweets” passages from Tchaikovsky’s ballet in which personified candies from Russia, Denmark, Spain, Arabia, and China appear and dance before the protagonist.
In the royal court at Marzipan Castle, Marie is introduced by the Nutcracker as “the daughter of a most worthy medical man and the preserver of my life”, and Marie is welcomed by the ladies of the court as the “noble preserver of our beloved royal brother!” (p. 65)
Another of the story’s unsettling shifts back and forth between “dream” and reality and “dream” takes place, at the end of which Marie finds the restored young Drosselmeier, a handsome prince once again, proposing to her: “Ah! Most exquisite lady! Bless me with your precious hand; share with me my crown and kingdom, and reign with me in Marzipan Castle, for there I am now king” (p. 70). And on that note The Nutcracker concludes, with an ambiguous “happy ending.”
Fans of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet will no doubt enjoy reading the original German story that provided the genesis for this beloved musical tradition of Christmastime – and they may find themselves appreciating the manner in which the great Russian composer “cleaned up” some of the more openly bizarre and Gothic elements of Hoffmann’s original tale.
October 26, 2016
Okay, I picked this book for a challenge here on Goodreads but now I want the whole set of these books. I'm loving these covers and they are too expensive right now. Maybe get one a month.
I will also have to admit I have never seen the Nutcracker on tv. I might have seen bits of one when I was little. Yeah, I never thought I would be into the play, movies, whatever . . . but now I want to watch them.
I will also admit that this book creeped me out in the beginning when they were describing the sharp little teeth. Lol, I know I can make a horror movie out of anything.
But . . . Seriously ↓
He comes to life for little Marie and then it just gets all kinds of cray.
However, Marie could not finish. For when she pronounced Drosselmeier's name, Friend Nutcracker's face twisted up devilishly, and his eyes virtually emitted sparkling green prickles. But the moment Marie tried to get properly released, she was again viewed by the mournfully smiling face of honest Nutcracker. And now she knew that it was the draft and the quickly blazing ray of the lamp that had totally distorted his features.
Pfffft. . . I'm going to have Nutcracker nightmares now!
Sweet little book and I hope to own the whole collection with these little cardinals on them one day!
I will also have to admit I have never seen the Nutcracker on tv. I might have seen bits of one when I was little. Yeah, I never thought I would be into the play, movies, whatever . . . but now I want to watch them.
I will also admit that this book creeped me out in the beginning when they were describing the sharp little teeth. Lol, I know I can make a horror movie out of anything.
But . . . Seriously ↓
He comes to life for little Marie and then it just gets all kinds of cray.
However, Marie could not finish. For when she pronounced Drosselmeier's name, Friend Nutcracker's face twisted up devilishly, and his eyes virtually emitted sparkling green prickles. But the moment Marie tried to get properly released, she was again viewed by the mournfully smiling face of honest Nutcracker. And now she knew that it was the draft and the quickly blazing ray of the lamp that had totally distorted his features.
Pfffft. . . I'm going to have Nutcracker nightmares now!
Sweet little book and I hope to own the whole collection with these little cardinals on them one day!
December 29, 2019
This is a wonderful, magical tale which I regret not having read as a child.
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January 26, 2023
Translations are, as a rule, pretty bad. I feel like this translation did not do the original story justice at all and a lot of the magic had seeped through the cracks as a result.
The story itself has dark layers to it that the ballet does not possess. It has a rather disjointed flow to it and altogether it is a fairly obvious story of a time long ago (when attractiveness was the most important quality in any thing). However, the most important thing about this story is that it was the inspiration for the ballet, and that makes it expressly priceless and worthy of more than five measly golden stars.
The difference of the ballet to the story is utterly necessary, and makes the original story even more dear. Differences are what make adaptations, not their strict adherence to their founders. You can clearly follow the magical path, clearly feel the Christmas spirit and clearly find joy in the book, but from a personal point of view, only if you've seen the marvellous spectacle that is The Nutcracker ballet.
[First read: 9th December, 2016. 3 stars.
Second read: 19th December, 2017. 3 stars, 5 stars for the illustrated edition.]
The story itself has dark layers to it that the ballet does not possess. It has a rather disjointed flow to it and altogether it is a fairly obvious story of a time long ago (when attractiveness was the most important quality in any thing). However, the most important thing about this story is that it was the inspiration for the ballet, and that makes it expressly priceless and worthy of more than five measly golden stars.
The difference of the ballet to the story is utterly necessary, and makes the original story even more dear. Differences are what make adaptations, not their strict adherence to their founders. You can clearly follow the magical path, clearly feel the Christmas spirit and clearly find joy in the book, but from a personal point of view, only if you've seen the marvellous spectacle that is The Nutcracker ballet.
[First read: 9th December, 2016. 3 stars.
Second read: 19th December, 2017. 3 stars, 5 stars for the illustrated edition.]
January 2, 2021
What a truly imaginative and festive little classic! A timeless story I had never actually read before, but was so charmed by the imagination of E.T.A. Hoffman, as a young girl called Marie witnesses toys coming to life at the stroke of midnight, including a Nutcracker. The Nutcracker is in battle with the Mouse King, and Marie begins to discover the history of the Nutcracker and a whole kingdom of toys beyond her wildest dreams.
Really enjoyed the classic writing style of this and the fact it is rather short makes it a lovely little story to read in one sitting, and one I could probably re-read once a year in the run-up to Christmas. The edition I read has gorgeous illustrations by Sanna Annukka and they really do add something extra to the text. All in all, it's short but effective.
Really enjoyed the classic writing style of this and the fact it is rather short makes it a lovely little story to read in one sitting, and one I could probably re-read once a year in the run-up to Christmas. The edition I read has gorgeous illustrations by Sanna Annukka and they really do add something extra to the text. All in all, it's short but effective.
December 26, 2024
Once again, the manic holiday season means I am finishing my Christmas Eve reads on Boxing Day 😅 such an exhausting time of the year for everyone, but especially for us chronically ill and neurodivergent people. Please show us extra understanding and grace.
Upon reading the gorgeous Clothbound Classics version of the Nutcracker, it is easy for one to forget just how dark and gruesome the original tale is. A standout moment is between the Nutcracker and the (seven-headed!) Mouse King. The best Christmas stories are those laced with horror-elements, but sadly this one had an issue with the pacing. The pay-off to the moments that the story builds up towards feels rushed once it arrives. Most of it is set over the course of one day, but then suddenly the action gets split over a few days, and that’s when the pacing felt wonky to me. We have the character, Marie, having fainting spells, and having to rest-up for a while (relatable, me).
This is a story about letting your imagination run wild, and both the positives and negatives of doing so. Marie embraces the freedom of the Nutcracker’s realm, after feeling so constricted by her own life. But she has to make a choice, seeing all the Nutcracker’s wonders means she will have to leave the world she knows and her family behind forever, but she does already feel rejected by her family.
3 Stars
Upon reading the gorgeous Clothbound Classics version of the Nutcracker, it is easy for one to forget just how dark and gruesome the original tale is. A standout moment is between the Nutcracker and the (seven-headed!) Mouse King. The best Christmas stories are those laced with horror-elements, but sadly this one had an issue with the pacing. The pay-off to the moments that the story builds up towards feels rushed once it arrives. Most of it is set over the course of one day, but then suddenly the action gets split over a few days, and that’s when the pacing felt wonky to me. We have the character, Marie, having fainting spells, and having to rest-up for a while (relatable, me).
This is a story about letting your imagination run wild, and both the positives and negatives of doing so. Marie embraces the freedom of the Nutcracker’s realm, after feeling so constricted by her own life. But she has to make a choice, seeing all the Nutcracker’s wonders means she will have to leave the world she knows and her family behind forever, but she does already feel rejected by her family.
3 Stars
December 23, 2025
I clearly remember that when I had to read E.T.A. Hoffmann’s fairy tales for a course on German Romanticism I was taking during my undergraduate degree (in 1986, at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick) how strangely surprised I was at just how creepily uncanny and also how generally quite majorly different his 1816 Nußknacker und Mausekönig is from the main storyline of The Nutcracker ballet so universally well known and beloved on a global basis. And yes, our professor then told us that Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet is in fact based on a loose French adaptation of Nußknacker und Mausekönig by Alexandre Dumas père (his 1844 Histoire d’un casse-noisette), a story which is of course still vaguely similar to E.T.A. Hoffmann’s original theme and content wise, but leaves out all of the psychological questions, the possibility that Marie is actually emotionally afflicted and “seeing things” and equally has a standard fairy tale ending for Clara (not Marie) and her princely suitor that is pure and sweet fantasy and not the vacillation between fairy tale and reality found in Nußknacker und Mausekönig and where readers themselves are not even really all that sure exactly what is fantasy and what are Marie’s fever dreams and visions.
Now while in 1986, I was actually a bit disappointed that Nußknacker und Mausekönig was so very different from The Nutcracker ballet storyline, over the years and after multiple rereads, I have come to absolutely and totally adore E.T.A. Hoffmann’s poetic vision and in particular that there are no easy answers with regard to Marie and what she sees and experiences. And yes indeed, the entire not knowing what is reality and what is fantasy, including the battle of the Nutcracker with the Mouse King, I do consider this absolutely readable and most delightful as an adult reader. But honestly, if I had read, if I had encountered Nußknacker und Mausekönig as a child, much of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s presented text would definitely have massively freaked me out, and I do thus also totally understand why Alexandre Dumas père did such a very much less Hoffmannesque and more standardly traditional fairy tale adaptation of Nußknacker und Mausekönig and why Tchaikovsky then also used the Dumas adaptation as the basis for his ballet.
Now while in 1986, I was actually a bit disappointed that Nußknacker und Mausekönig was so very different from The Nutcracker ballet storyline, over the years and after multiple rereads, I have come to absolutely and totally adore E.T.A. Hoffmann’s poetic vision and in particular that there are no easy answers with regard to Marie and what she sees and experiences. And yes indeed, the entire not knowing what is reality and what is fantasy, including the battle of the Nutcracker with the Mouse King, I do consider this absolutely readable and most delightful as an adult reader. But honestly, if I had read, if I had encountered Nußknacker und Mausekönig as a child, much of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s presented text would definitely have massively freaked me out, and I do thus also totally understand why Alexandre Dumas père did such a very much less Hoffmannesque and more standardly traditional fairy tale adaptation of Nußknacker und Mausekönig and why Tchaikovsky then also used the Dumas adaptation as the basis for his ballet.
December 23, 2020
El Cascanueces y el Rey Ratón /Nußknacker und Mausekönig/The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1816)
"Me dirijo a ti, benévolo lector u oyente, y te ruego que recuerdes vivamente tu última mesa de Navidad, repleta de lindos y atractivos regalos. Entonces podrás imaginarte también a los niños,de pie, quietos, mudos, con ojos brillantes"
"muy cerca del árbol, se pudo ver un hombrecillo, pequeño y llamativo, que estaba de pie, en silencio y sin llamar la atención, como si esperara tranquilamente a que le tocara la vez. Había mucho que objetar a su figura, pues, aparte de que su torso, demasiado grande y largo, no concordaba con sus cortas y finas piernecillas, tenía una cabeza también excesivamente grande. Su correcta vestimenta mejoraba bastante las cosas, pues dejaba traslucir que se trataba de un hombre culto y refinado"
"Ya habréis comprendido, mis excelentes y benévolos oyentes, que el Cascanueces había percibido desde el principio, antes de que adquiriera auténtica vida, todo el amor y bondad que Marie le había mostrado"
Curiosamente parece que hay cierto desconocimiento o confusión sobre esta obra. Pensando que la original es la de Alexandre Dumas. Si bien de la Adaptación de Dumas se desprenden ..la obra de Ballet, la composición musical e infinidad de adaptaciones: graficas,animadas,etc .y por estos medios es altamente conocida la premisa. Pero en definitiva la original es la de Hoffmann.
Una historia que ha sido de inmensa influencia, así también como su autor. Al punto de influenciar a escritores como Poe entre muchos otros.
Es una historia en la que las barreras entre lo real y la fantasía, son delgadas y efímeras
Una obra,que que a la hora de que un niño se siente a leerla, podrá disfrutar de su envoltura. Aunque nunca hay que subestimar la mente de un niño, por el contrario.
y para los que tenemos cierto camino recorrido, podemos pretender apreciar ciertos detalles, algunos mensajes subliminales, simbolismos, al menos eso, pretender.
Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1816)
"Me dirijo a ti, benévolo lector u oyente, y te ruego que recuerdes vivamente tu última mesa de Navidad, repleta de lindos y atractivos regalos. Entonces podrás imaginarte también a los niños,de pie, quietos, mudos, con ojos brillantes"
"muy cerca del árbol, se pudo ver un hombrecillo, pequeño y llamativo, que estaba de pie, en silencio y sin llamar la atención, como si esperara tranquilamente a que le tocara la vez. Había mucho que objetar a su figura, pues, aparte de que su torso, demasiado grande y largo, no concordaba con sus cortas y finas piernecillas, tenía una cabeza también excesivamente grande. Su correcta vestimenta mejoraba bastante las cosas, pues dejaba traslucir que se trataba de un hombre culto y refinado"
"Ya habréis comprendido, mis excelentes y benévolos oyentes, que el Cascanueces había percibido desde el principio, antes de que adquiriera auténtica vida, todo el amor y bondad que Marie le había mostrado"
Curiosamente parece que hay cierto desconocimiento o confusión sobre esta obra. Pensando que la original es la de Alexandre Dumas. Si bien de la Adaptación de Dumas se desprenden ..la obra de Ballet, la composición musical e infinidad de adaptaciones: graficas,animadas,etc .y por estos medios es altamente conocida la premisa. Pero en definitiva la original es la de Hoffmann.
Una historia que ha sido de inmensa influencia, así también como su autor. Al punto de influenciar a escritores como Poe entre muchos otros.
Es una historia en la que las barreras entre lo real y la fantasía, son delgadas y efímeras
Una obra,que que a la hora de que un niño se siente a leerla, podrá disfrutar de su envoltura. Aunque nunca hay que subestimar la mente de un niño, por el contrario.
y para los que tenemos cierto camino recorrido, podemos pretender apreciar ciertos detalles, algunos mensajes subliminales, simbolismos, al menos eso, pretender.
December 18, 2019
Is it just me or does anyone else think that E.T.A. Hoffmann and just for the fun of it, L. Frank Baum, were on some kind of drugs when they wrote their most popular books? LOL!!
I knew absolutely nothing going into this book. Never saw a play. Never saw a movie. Had always heard about it but never gave it much thought. That being said I must say that I was completely mesmerized! What a delightful story! So happy that I finally read the book! Now I know I'll have to watch a movie or see a play! I'll never look at my nutcracker the same way again!
Merry Christmas everyone! 🎄
I knew absolutely nothing going into this book. Never saw a play. Never saw a movie. Had always heard about it but never gave it much thought. That being said I must say that I was completely mesmerized! What a delightful story! So happy that I finally read the book! Now I know I'll have to watch a movie or see a play! I'll never look at my nutcracker the same way again!
Merry Christmas everyone! 🎄
Read
September 18, 2024I've already read some short stories by the German writer E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) and so I knew that there always was a dark side to his writings. And that is also the case here. This starts as a Christmas caroll, situated in what is clearly an early 19th century bourgeois family. But in the course of the story there are real battles, aweful curses are uttered, certain main 'characters' are physically deformed and quite a few of them die. Of course it ends well, but this is not exactly Disney material. Still, one can recognize some typical fairy tale story elements: enchanted princesses and princes, animals and dolls that come to life, curses that are pronounced, and adults who do not take the fantasy of children seriously. Especially the fantasy world that opens up for protagonist Marie at the end of the story rings a bell: there is not only the Swan Lake, but the entrance to that strange world via the wardrobe (yes, C.S. Lewis), and the big candy paradise including little men (yes, Roald Dahl). As said, the whole thing seems very strange and artificial, and is very much marked by its own time (1816): the girls are sweet and empathetic, the boys egocentric and brutal; and the little men in the candy paradise are called ‘niggers’ without scruples (In the first version of Dahl's Chocolate Factory, there were little pygmies). I've heard also the stories by the Grimm Brothers are not as sweet as we get them in the Disney version, and Hoffmann clearly has to be situated in the same vain.
December 27, 2022
La storia perfetta per il periodo natalizio. Tralasciando alcune situazioni stereotipate e qualche considerazione banale sugli animali, mi sono abbandonato all'atmosfera zuccherosa e natalizia che queste pagine esprimono in modo estremamente emozionante.
La versione originale, quella di Hoffmann, l'ho letta per prima, anche se nell'edizione che ho appena letto è inserita per ultima, mettendo per prima quella di Dumas, cioè quella rimodellata a suo piacere, ma che rispetta fedelmente.
Nel complesso le due versioni si intersecano perfettamente, creando una versione, che definirei, unica. Anche se leggendole una dietro l'altra ci si trova a situazioni ripetute, però per contro la storia prende ancora più corpo e l'atmosfera si raddoppia, facendo sì che ci si trovi lì immersi in quella quantità di caramello, zucchero e...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUzDM...
Ora per evitare di far schizzare la glicemia a livelli spropositati, dovrò leggere qualcosa di molto estremo!!
La versione originale, quella di Hoffmann, l'ho letta per prima, anche se nell'edizione che ho appena letto è inserita per ultima, mettendo per prima quella di Dumas, cioè quella rimodellata a suo piacere, ma che rispetta fedelmente.
Nel complesso le due versioni si intersecano perfettamente, creando una versione, che definirei, unica. Anche se leggendole una dietro l'altra ci si trova a situazioni ripetute, però per contro la storia prende ancora più corpo e l'atmosfera si raddoppia, facendo sì che ci si trovi lì immersi in quella quantità di caramello, zucchero e...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUzDM...
Ora per evitare di far schizzare la glicemia a livelli spropositati, dovrò leggere qualcosa di molto estremo!!
December 13, 2017
”You’ll have to suffer a lot if you want to take charge of a poor, deformed Nutcracker. Only you can rescue him. Be strong and loyal.”
Synopsis: E.T.A. Hoffman forever ruins your favorite Christmas time ballet. Try overcoming this sucker, Tchaikovsky.
Biblio-Babble:
Wonderful Christian Entertainment This Is Not: Like a lot of people, my family and I watch The Nutcracker every Christmas, since it seems to be a holiday staple. However, either I’m totally missing something or I just wasn’t paying attention when we started watching it when I was a child, but I don’t remember it being so darn dark in nature. However, after doing some research, Tchaikovsky adapted it from not only Hoffman’s story, but Alexandre Dumas adapted story as well. So I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that we were given a very PG rated version of the story. Cause let me tell you something, children; this book is dark as HELL. I was in a constant state of surprise at how such an innocent looking ballet show stemmed from such a dark and twisted story.
Dance of the Demented Mice: I don’t quite know what mice might have ever done to E.T.A. Hoffman for him to make them as vicious, twisted, and icky as he did in this story, but they sure did something. Cause the mice in this book are horrible. If you already don’t like mice, then you probably sure as hell won’t like the seven headed Mouse King. Yes, he does have seven. One for each of the deadly sins, I supposed. And these mice are sneaky little turds who are extremely good at blackmail. I mean, they extort food, puzzles, and dolls from an innocent eight year old child! And they really don’t do anything with their loot!
CGI Barbie Acted More Animated Then This: Added to my Nutcracker fueled phase was the release of the horribly CGI animated (but still classic) Christmas special, Barbie and the Nutcracker. Re-watching it with one of my nieces, the animation was absolutely atrocious, with the characters moving and looking like they were chronically constipated. However, compared to the writing in this book, they moved so fluidly. The writing in this book was perhaps the biggest downfall for me. It was just so boring that I had trouble finding the willpower to finish this book, even though it’s only a little over 100 pages. The narration style is very off, and waivers from first to third perspective (which is exceedingly hard to do).
The Words No Bookworm Wants to Hear: The ballet is better. There; I said it. Without the wooden writing driving the narrative, the story feels more alive with both the ballet and even the animated specials. I also believe that the magic of the story, and the visuals of both the Christmas season and the Nutcracker land (or whatever the hell it’s called) comes off a lot better visually rather than in written word form, in this case. Hoffman’s writing just bogged it all down, and I wasn’t able to feel or see the magic of the wondrous Christmas season that he wanted to impart on us.
Was This Just a Wet Dream?: Perhaps the most disturbing thing about this novel isn’t the killer mice that will haunt your nightmares, or the creepy human that is supposed to be the kindly Drosselmeier. Nah, it’s what happens at the end of the book, when a certain nephew of a certain Drosselmeier shows up. And it’s… well, I don’t want to give too much of it away. However, I found the creep level in this book to be reaching maximum proportions. So, In fact, for the whole novel, you don’t really know what’s real and what’s in Marie’s imagination. This would be dandy, but the writing and pacing of the book really doesn’t make it work.
***********************
This book was not all it was cracked up to be. Not even the most sugary sweet Sugar Plum Fairy could save this cracker of a book. The writing bogged the story down and sucked all the Christmas magic out of it. While the darkness and absurdity of this novel may charm some readers, it didn’t cast its spell on me.
Synopsis: E.T.A. Hoffman forever ruins your favorite Christmas time ballet. Try overcoming this sucker, Tchaikovsky.
Biblio-Babble:
Wonderful Christian Entertainment This Is Not: Like a lot of people, my family and I watch The Nutcracker every Christmas, since it seems to be a holiday staple. However, either I’m totally missing something or I just wasn’t paying attention when we started watching it when I was a child, but I don’t remember it being so darn dark in nature. However, after doing some research, Tchaikovsky adapted it from not only Hoffman’s story, but Alexandre Dumas adapted story as well. So I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that we were given a very PG rated version of the story. Cause let me tell you something, children; this book is dark as HELL. I was in a constant state of surprise at how such an innocent looking ballet show stemmed from such a dark and twisted story.
Dance of the Demented Mice: I don’t quite know what mice might have ever done to E.T.A. Hoffman for him to make them as vicious, twisted, and icky as he did in this story, but they sure did something. Cause the mice in this book are horrible. If you already don’t like mice, then you probably sure as hell won’t like the seven headed Mouse King. Yes, he does have seven. One for each of the deadly sins, I supposed. And these mice are sneaky little turds who are extremely good at blackmail. I mean, they extort food, puzzles, and dolls from an innocent eight year old child! And they really don’t do anything with their loot!
CGI Barbie Acted More Animated Then This: Added to my Nutcracker fueled phase was the release of the horribly CGI animated (but still classic) Christmas special, Barbie and the Nutcracker. Re-watching it with one of my nieces, the animation was absolutely atrocious, with the characters moving and looking like they were chronically constipated. However, compared to the writing in this book, they moved so fluidly. The writing in this book was perhaps the biggest downfall for me. It was just so boring that I had trouble finding the willpower to finish this book, even though it’s only a little over 100 pages. The narration style is very off, and waivers from first to third perspective (which is exceedingly hard to do).
The Words No Bookworm Wants to Hear: The ballet is better. There; I said it. Without the wooden writing driving the narrative, the story feels more alive with both the ballet and even the animated specials. I also believe that the magic of the story, and the visuals of both the Christmas season and the Nutcracker land (or whatever the hell it’s called) comes off a lot better visually rather than in written word form, in this case. Hoffman’s writing just bogged it all down, and I wasn’t able to feel or see the magic of the wondrous Christmas season that he wanted to impart on us.
Was This Just a Wet Dream?: Perhaps the most disturbing thing about this novel isn’t the killer mice that will haunt your nightmares, or the creepy human that is supposed to be the kindly Drosselmeier. Nah, it’s what happens at the end of the book, when a certain nephew of a certain Drosselmeier shows up. And it’s… well, I don’t want to give too much of it away. However, I found the creep level in this book to be reaching maximum proportions. So, In fact, for the whole novel, you don’t really know what’s real and what’s in Marie’s imagination. This would be dandy, but the writing and pacing of the book really doesn’t make it work.
***********************
This book was not all it was cracked up to be. Not even the most sugary sweet Sugar Plum Fairy could save this cracker of a book. The writing bogged the story down and sucked all the Christmas magic out of it. While the darkness and absurdity of this novel may charm some readers, it didn’t cast its spell on me.
December 27, 2018
"Cum spuneam, toți erau binedispuși, numai regina părea foarte speriată și neliniștită, și nimeni nu știa de ce. Bătător la ochi era îndeosebi faptul că ea pusese sub strașnică pază pătucul lui Pirlipat. Deși ușile erau păzite de oșteni, în afara celor două îngrijitoare care nu se dezlipeau de leagăn - alte șase trebuiau să șadă noapte de noapte prin preajmă, în toate ungherele camerei."
"Maria ridică ochii. Consilierul de curte pusese din nou peruca de sticlă pe cap, își îmbrăcase haina cea galbenă și zâmbea foarte mulțumit, în vreme ce ținea de mână un tânăr domn, ce-i drept, mic de statură, dar bine făcut."
"Maria ridică ochii. Consilierul de curte pusese din nou peruca de sticlă pe cap, își îmbrăcase haina cea galbenă și zâmbea foarte mulțumit, în vreme ce ținea de mână un tânăr domn, ce-i drept, mic de statură, dar bine făcut."
December 21, 2022
This has another short story, but I only read The Nutcracker because, quite frankly, that was unhinged enough.
This was probably one of the strangest stories I've read. We have a psychopath mouse queen who wants to eat everything - including babies, we have a sad boy Nutcracker who's actually real and just cursed, and we have some kind of magical wonderland with Christmas trees thrown in. Absolute carnage, and I'm still not entirely sure what I read. For 90 pages this also took me about 5 days to read because I just could not find the energy to pick this up.
Maybe just watch the ballet instead.
This was probably one of the strangest stories I've read. We have a psychopath mouse queen who wants to eat everything - including babies, we have a sad boy Nutcracker who's actually real and just cursed, and we have some kind of magical wonderland with Christmas trees thrown in. Absolute carnage, and I'm still not entirely sure what I read. For 90 pages this also took me about 5 days to read because I just could not find the energy to pick this up.
Maybe just watch the ballet instead.
December 10, 2018
Conocía la historia de El Cascanueces por películas, pero nunca me había adentrado a leer el libro. Esta Navidad decidí ponerle remedio y leerlo y ¡ha sido una gran sorpresa!
Una historia donde se mezcla fantasía y realidad y donde en muchos momentos no sabemos sí lo que está sucediendo es real o no.
Un cuento ideal para adultos para disfrutar en esta época del año, y cuya experiencia lectora mejora si os ponéis a Tchaikovsky mientras lo leéis.
No os quiero contar mucho, ya que es muy cortito y no os quiero desvelar nada de la trama, pero es encantador y está genialmente escrito, con unos personajes muy entrañables que os llegarán al corazón.
Una historia donde se mezcla fantasía y realidad y donde en muchos momentos no sabemos sí lo que está sucediendo es real o no.
Un cuento ideal para adultos para disfrutar en esta época del año, y cuya experiencia lectora mejora si os ponéis a Tchaikovsky mientras lo leéis.
No os quiero contar mucho, ya que es muy cortito y no os quiero desvelar nada de la trama, pero es encantador y está genialmente escrito, con unos personajes muy entrañables que os llegarán al corazón.
January 9, 2026
I've been obsessed with The Nutcracker ever since I was little, it's my favourite ballet and I've watched all the cartoon adaptations of the story (the Barbie version is my fav).
I also had a pop up book (I know I still have it somewhere) that I'd look at for literal hours at my grandparents, day in and day out, daydreaming myself inside. So it was about time I actually read the story that started it all.
I can remember one of the cartoons being pretty faithful to this, so nothing in here was particularly surprising, and I actually like how dark it got. More weird fairytales, please and thank you!!
Dumas's version is next on my list, I might even be reading it as soon as tomorrow (the 7th) since it's Christmas for me. I'm really excited.
I also had a pop up book (I know I still have it somewhere) that I'd look at for literal hours at my grandparents, day in and day out, daydreaming myself inside. So it was about time I actually read the story that started it all.
I can remember one of the cartoons being pretty faithful to this, so nothing in here was particularly surprising, and I actually like how dark it got. More weird fairytales, please and thank you!!
Dumas's version is next on my list, I might even be reading it as soon as tomorrow (the 7th) since it's Christmas for me. I'm really excited.
June 22, 2023
my younger self would have been obsessed with this book
Read
December 22, 2023I am pro-seven-headed-Mouse-King.
December 26, 2025
❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅ ♛ ❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅
᛫᛬LA DISFIDA DEGLI SCHIACCIANOCI᛬᛫
❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅ ♛ ❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅
Recensione in due volumi
᛫᛬᛫ Parte I ᛫᛬᛫
E. T. A. Hoffman fu autore in grado di influenzare con le sue perturbanti visioni notturne i più profondi substrati culturali di un intero secolo, i suoi racconti costituiscono una tappa fondamentale e irrinunciabile di quel viaggio nell'irrazionalità della mente umana che ebbe come suo culmine le teorie psicoanalitiche di Sigmund Freud. A dirla tutta, i critici meno lusinghieri affermano che tutto ciò che non copiò dalla mitologia greca, Freud lo prese da Hoffmann; i più giusti, invece, negano quest'assunto oltraggioso, sostenendo che parte del merito andrebbe riconosciuto anche a Dostoevskij e Schopenhauer, senza i quali il buon Sigmund avrebbe concluso assai poco.
Nel 1816, un anno dopo la fine del Congresso di Vienna che riappacificò l'Europa dal tornado napoleonico, Hoffman dà alle stampe Schiaccianoci e il re dei topi, racconto natalizio che mette in scena una guerra senza quartiere fra topi demoniaci e giocattoli scintillanti.
Scritto pensando tanto ai bambini quanto agli adulti, il testo si discosta radicalmente dai modelli pedagogici dei secoli precedenti; se la fiaba illuminista aveva chiari intenti moralisti (quando rivolta ai pargoli) o satirico-filosofici (quando rivolta agli adulti), la fiaba romantica tedesca tende piuttosto a destabilizzare le coscienze, a insinuare il dubbio, a mettere in crisi il sistema razionalista dell'agiata borghesia con fantasmagorie che spalancano le porte all'immaginazione e gettano un'ombra di ambiguità sulle vicende narrate. Il fantastico, per Hoffmann, non è fuga dalla realtà, ma rappresenta l'irruzione dell'irrazionale, dell'inconscio per l'appunto, nelle nostre vite altrimenti ordinarie.
E la storia dello Schiaccianoci è in primo luogo una critica al pensiero illuminista: i genitori di Marie non credono alle sue visioni e sono meccanicamente portati a ricondurre ogni evento in seno alla razionalità, alla logica, alla Ragione, non sono che i deliri della febbre, secondo loro. Le avventure oniriche della protagonista sempre in bilico fra sogno e incubo, al contrario, costituiscono per Hoffmann non un’alternativa alla realtà, ma un altro modo, più profondo, di leggerla, di interpretarla, perché integra anche tutto ciò che la razionalità è costretta a escludere.
Hoffmann si diverte a insinuare il dubbio nei cuori dei suoi lettori bambini, ben sapendo che costoro sono naturalmente più portati degli adulti a credere nell'irrealtà, e infatti, quando il suo alter ego, il padrino Drosselmeier, narra la fantastica storia della noce Krakatuk -strepitoso uso della tecnica del racconto nel racconto- Marie e Fritz capiscono al volo che le vicende sono reali e riferibili ai misteriosi fatti notturni appena capitati, mentre la loro madre rimane turbata dalla novella e non coglie i riferimenti col suo mondo, perché ormai è priva della visione più ampia, tipica dell’età infantile.
L'autore ripropone qui in chiave fiabesca anche una delle sue ossessioni più celebri: quella della macchina, dell'automa, il capitolo della battaglia è pieno di onomatopee che avrebbero poi fatto la gioia dei futuristi; eppure i giocattoli meccanici perdono miseramente contro il re dei topi dalle sette teste, essere infernale e irrazionale, occorre grande immaginazione anche solo per figurarselo, un topo pluricefalo. La tecnica è incapace di eguagliare l’immaginazione perché è arida, priva di vita: il castello meccanico costruito dal grande orologiaio Drosselmeier affascina i bambini, è vero, ma per poco, è troppo limitato per la loro fantasia, non può fare ciò che loro invece immaginano con estrema facilità e naturalezza; l'irrazionale, ci dice Hoffmann, supera in potenza il razionale, e forse nessuno meglio dei bambini ne è più consapevole.
Personalmente ho trovato molto affascinante la prima parte, meno interessante e più fine a se stessa l'ultima, anche perché l'Autore decide nel finale di togliere ogni ambiguità e svelare l’autenticità delle avventure oniriche della protagonista, mentre avrei preferito che fosse demandato a noi lettori scegliere se credere al racconto più razionale dei fatti o a quello più fantasioso; d’altra parte, a ciascuno il suo, non si può pretendere di trovare un Perutz leggendo un Hoffmann.
La fiaba ebbe grande successo nell'Ottocento, si diffuse in tutta Europa e nel 1844 Alexandre Dumas decise di farla sua, scrivendone una nuova versione, della quale parlo nel Volume II della recensione.
᛫᛬LA DISFIDA DEGLI SCHIACCIANOCI᛬᛫
❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅ ♛ ❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅
Recensione in due volumi
᛫᛬᛫ Parte I ᛫᛬᛫
E. T. A. Hoffman fu autore in grado di influenzare con le sue perturbanti visioni notturne i più profondi substrati culturali di un intero secolo, i suoi racconti costituiscono una tappa fondamentale e irrinunciabile di quel viaggio nell'irrazionalità della mente umana che ebbe come suo culmine le teorie psicoanalitiche di Sigmund Freud. A dirla tutta, i critici meno lusinghieri affermano che tutto ciò che non copiò dalla mitologia greca, Freud lo prese da Hoffmann; i più giusti, invece, negano quest'assunto oltraggioso, sostenendo che parte del merito andrebbe riconosciuto anche a Dostoevskij e Schopenhauer, senza i quali il buon Sigmund avrebbe concluso assai poco.
Nel 1816, un anno dopo la fine del Congresso di Vienna che riappacificò l'Europa dal tornado napoleonico, Hoffman dà alle stampe Schiaccianoci e il re dei topi, racconto natalizio che mette in scena una guerra senza quartiere fra topi demoniaci e giocattoli scintillanti.
Scritto pensando tanto ai bambini quanto agli adulti, il testo si discosta radicalmente dai modelli pedagogici dei secoli precedenti; se la fiaba illuminista aveva chiari intenti moralisti (quando rivolta ai pargoli) o satirico-filosofici (quando rivolta agli adulti), la fiaba romantica tedesca tende piuttosto a destabilizzare le coscienze, a insinuare il dubbio, a mettere in crisi il sistema razionalista dell'agiata borghesia con fantasmagorie che spalancano le porte all'immaginazione e gettano un'ombra di ambiguità sulle vicende narrate. Il fantastico, per Hoffmann, non è fuga dalla realtà, ma rappresenta l'irruzione dell'irrazionale, dell'inconscio per l'appunto, nelle nostre vite altrimenti ordinarie.
E la storia dello Schiaccianoci è in primo luogo una critica al pensiero illuminista: i genitori di Marie non credono alle sue visioni e sono meccanicamente portati a ricondurre ogni evento in seno alla razionalità, alla logica, alla Ragione, non sono che i deliri della febbre, secondo loro. Le avventure oniriche della protagonista sempre in bilico fra sogno e incubo, al contrario, costituiscono per Hoffmann non un’alternativa alla realtà, ma un altro modo, più profondo, di leggerla, di interpretarla, perché integra anche tutto ciò che la razionalità è costretta a escludere.
Hoffmann si diverte a insinuare il dubbio nei cuori dei suoi lettori bambini, ben sapendo che costoro sono naturalmente più portati degli adulti a credere nell'irrealtà, e infatti, quando il suo alter ego, il padrino Drosselmeier, narra la fantastica storia della noce Krakatuk -strepitoso uso della tecnica del racconto nel racconto- Marie e Fritz capiscono al volo che le vicende sono reali e riferibili ai misteriosi fatti notturni appena capitati, mentre la loro madre rimane turbata dalla novella e non coglie i riferimenti col suo mondo, perché ormai è priva della visione più ampia, tipica dell’età infantile.
L'autore ripropone qui in chiave fiabesca anche una delle sue ossessioni più celebri: quella della macchina, dell'automa, il capitolo della battaglia è pieno di onomatopee che avrebbero poi fatto la gioia dei futuristi; eppure i giocattoli meccanici perdono miseramente contro il re dei topi dalle sette teste, essere infernale e irrazionale, occorre grande immaginazione anche solo per figurarselo, un topo pluricefalo. La tecnica è incapace di eguagliare l’immaginazione perché è arida, priva di vita: il castello meccanico costruito dal grande orologiaio Drosselmeier affascina i bambini, è vero, ma per poco, è troppo limitato per la loro fantasia, non può fare ciò che loro invece immaginano con estrema facilità e naturalezza; l'irrazionale, ci dice Hoffmann, supera in potenza il razionale, e forse nessuno meglio dei bambini ne è più consapevole.
Personalmente ho trovato molto affascinante la prima parte, meno interessante e più fine a se stessa l'ultima, anche perché l'Autore decide nel finale di togliere ogni ambiguità e svelare l’autenticità delle avventure oniriche della protagonista, mentre avrei preferito che fosse demandato a noi lettori scegliere se credere al racconto più razionale dei fatti o a quello più fantasioso; d’altra parte, a ciascuno il suo, non si può pretendere di trovare un Perutz leggendo un Hoffmann.
La fiaba ebbe grande successo nell'Ottocento, si diffuse in tutta Europa e nel 1844 Alexandre Dumas decise di farla sua, scrivendone una nuova versione, della quale parlo nel Volume II della recensione.
December 30, 2025
English review below⬇️
-------------------------
German review:
Kurz zum Inhalt: Das Märchen handelt von der jungen Marie, die zu Weihnachten einen geheimnisvollen Nussknacker erhält und in eine fantastische Welt zwischen Traum und Wirklichkeit gerät. Dort erwachen Spielzeugfiguren scheinbar zum Leben und stellen ihre Vorstellungskraft und ihren Mut auf die Probe. 🪄🐁⚔️🍬🍭🍪👑
Wie im Nachwort von Alina Boy ausführlich betont wird, handelt es sich hierbei nicht einfach um ein Kindermärchen, sondern um ein romantisches Kunstmärchen, das sich besonders durch seine Komplexität auszeichnet. Besonders hat mir der Erzählstil gefallen, der durch seine verschachelte Struktur und die kindliche Perspektive seinen ganz eigenen Charme hat! Zudem ist die Binnenerzählung mit dem 'Märchen von der harten Nuss🌰🧒🏼🦷🔨👣7️⃣ ' absolut bezaubernd und ich liebe es wie diese mit der Rahmenhandlung verbunden wird und alles so perfekt und doch so unklar voneinander abgrenzbar ineinandergreift – der Inbegriff phantastischer Literatur nach Todorov. ❤️❤️❤️Die Komplexität zeigt daneben besonders auf der interpretatorischen Ebene. Alina Boy stellt hierbei verschiedene Interpretationslinien dar, wobei mich hier besonders das serapiontische Prinzip mit der Imaginationskraft, die verlebendigende Projektion eines Objekts wie beim antiken Pygmalion-Mythos und die Rolle der Figur Droßelmeier für die Geschichte überzeugt haben. ✨🍭🍬🍩🥜
Gesamt: 5,0🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
---------------------------
English review:
Brief summary: The fairy tale is about a young girl named Marie who receives a mysterious nutcracker for Christmas and finds herself in a fantastical world between dream and reality. There, toy figures seem to come to life and test her imagination and courage. 🪄🐁⚔️🍬🍭🍪👑
As Alina Boy emphasises in her afterword, this is not simply a children's fairy tale, but a romantic artificial fairy tale that is particularly notable for its complexity. I particularly liked the narrative style, which has its own unique charm thanks to its intricate structure and childlike perspective! In addition, the internal narrative with the 'fairy tale of the hard nut🌰🧒🏼 🦷🔨👣7️⃣' is absolutely enchanting, and I love how it is connected to the frame story and how everything intertwines so perfectly and yet so ambiguously – the epitome of fantastic literature according to Todorov. ❤️❤️❤️The complexity is also particularly evident on the interpretative level. Alina Boy presents various lines of interpretation, whereby I was particularly convinced by the Serapiontian principle with the power of imagination, the enlivening projection of an object as in the ancient Pygmalion myth, and the role of the character Drosselmeier in the story. ✨🍭🍬🍩🥜
Overall: 5.0🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
-------------------------
German review:
Kurz zum Inhalt: Das Märchen handelt von der jungen Marie, die zu Weihnachten einen geheimnisvollen Nussknacker erhält und in eine fantastische Welt zwischen Traum und Wirklichkeit gerät. Dort erwachen Spielzeugfiguren scheinbar zum Leben und stellen ihre Vorstellungskraft und ihren Mut auf die Probe. 🪄🐁⚔️🍬🍭🍪👑
Wie im Nachwort von Alina Boy ausführlich betont wird, handelt es sich hierbei nicht einfach um ein Kindermärchen, sondern um ein romantisches Kunstmärchen, das sich besonders durch seine Komplexität auszeichnet. Besonders hat mir der Erzählstil gefallen, der durch seine verschachelte Struktur und die kindliche Perspektive seinen ganz eigenen Charme hat! Zudem ist die Binnenerzählung mit dem 'Märchen von der harten Nuss🌰🧒🏼🦷🔨👣7️⃣ ' absolut bezaubernd und ich liebe es wie diese mit der Rahmenhandlung verbunden wird und alles so perfekt und doch so unklar voneinander abgrenzbar ineinandergreift – der Inbegriff phantastischer Literatur nach Todorov. ❤️❤️❤️Die Komplexität zeigt daneben besonders auf der interpretatorischen Ebene. Alina Boy stellt hierbei verschiedene Interpretationslinien dar, wobei mich hier besonders das serapiontische Prinzip mit der Imaginationskraft, die verlebendigende Projektion eines Objekts wie beim antiken Pygmalion-Mythos und die Rolle der Figur Droßelmeier für die Geschichte überzeugt haben. ✨🍭🍬🍩🥜
Gesamt: 5,0🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
---------------------------
English review:
Brief summary: The fairy tale is about a young girl named Marie who receives a mysterious nutcracker for Christmas and finds herself in a fantastical world between dream and reality. There, toy figures seem to come to life and test her imagination and courage. 🪄🐁⚔️🍬🍭🍪👑
As Alina Boy emphasises in her afterword, this is not simply a children's fairy tale, but a romantic artificial fairy tale that is particularly notable for its complexity. I particularly liked the narrative style, which has its own unique charm thanks to its intricate structure and childlike perspective! In addition, the internal narrative with the 'fairy tale of the hard nut🌰🧒🏼 🦷🔨👣7️⃣' is absolutely enchanting, and I love how it is connected to the frame story and how everything intertwines so perfectly and yet so ambiguously – the epitome of fantastic literature according to Todorov. ❤️❤️❤️The complexity is also particularly evident on the interpretative level. Alina Boy presents various lines of interpretation, whereby I was particularly convinced by the Serapiontian principle with the power of imagination, the enlivening projection of an object as in the ancient Pygmalion myth, and the role of the character Drosselmeier in the story. ✨🍭🍬🍩🥜
Overall: 5.0🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
December 23, 2025
Sabía de esta historia gracias al famoso ballet del cascanueces y por la muy querida adaptación de Barbie.💕 La verdad es que no me había llamado tanto la atención leerla hasta ahora que sé me ocurrió leer algo navideño y al parecer no era la única que lo tenía pendiente porque lo leí en conjunto.
En un inicio sé me hizo super tierno, Fitz y Marie le daban ese toque inocente y navideño. Todo era muy lindo. Pero una vez que comienza la historia del cascanueces como tal y la guerra con el Rey ratón 😣 parecía más una historia de terror. 😅
Y la verdad tiene todo el sentido ya que fue publicado en 1816 la versión del ballet de Ballet de Tchaikovsky es de 1892 y es una versión de Alexandre Dumas con un enfoque más romántico. De igual forma que para ser un cuento infantil me pareció brutal pero luego tuve que recordar que las infancias no son tratadas de la misma forma en todas las épocas y menos en el siglo XIX.
Tenemos personajes brutales🤯 super malvados y otros que son adorables como Marie. Sin dejar de lado el dilema entre la realidad, la fantasía, el bien, el mal etc.
En general es una historia más compleja de lo que parece o como nos la han vendido con el ballet. Puras:🚩🚩🚩 de hecho me gusta más el ballet y sí no fuera porque la historia comienza en navidad habría olvidado que es una historia navideña por todo lo que acontece con los ratones parece perfecta para Halloween. 😅 Hasta miedo me dio.
No es de mis historias favoritas pero creo que vale la pena leerlo.
En un inicio sé me hizo super tierno, Fitz y Marie le daban ese toque inocente y navideño. Todo era muy lindo. Pero una vez que comienza la historia del cascanueces como tal y la guerra con el Rey ratón 😣 parecía más una historia de terror. 😅
Y la verdad tiene todo el sentido ya que fue publicado en 1816 la versión del ballet de Ballet de Tchaikovsky es de 1892 y es una versión de Alexandre Dumas con un enfoque más romántico. De igual forma que para ser un cuento infantil me pareció brutal pero luego tuve que recordar que las infancias no son tratadas de la misma forma en todas las épocas y menos en el siglo XIX.
Tenemos personajes brutales🤯 super malvados y otros que son adorables como Marie. Sin dejar de lado el dilema entre la realidad, la fantasía, el bien, el mal etc.
En general es una historia más compleja de lo que parece o como nos la han vendido con el ballet. Puras:🚩🚩🚩 de hecho me gusta más el ballet y sí no fuera porque la historia comienza en navidad habría olvidado que es una historia navideña por todo lo que acontece con los ratones parece perfecta para Halloween. 😅 Hasta miedo me dio.
No es de mis historias favoritas pero creo que vale la pena leerlo.
December 23, 2020
I like to read lots of Christmas-y things during the Advent so I perused the internet to find „new“ things and discovered this special edition of one of THE German literary exports. Yep, you read correctly: The Nutcracker was a tale by E.T.A. Hoffmann (a Prussian/German) before it ever became a Russian ballet.
The tale, which is sometimes also called The Nutcracker and the Mouse-King is as well-known as it is beloved:
On Christmas Eve, the siblings Marie, Louise and Fritz are anxious to be allowed into the parlour to see their gifts (Germans open the present on Christmas Eve). Their godfather, a clockmaker, has made them a mechanical/clockwork castle complete with moving mechanical people. Sadly, the kids quickly tire of their new toy and Marie falls in love with the family's nutcracker (which her brother breaks soon after). Soon, it's time for bed and mysterious changes beset the children's toys. But not only are they coming to life, mice also begin to come out from beneath the floor boards, including the seven-headed Mouse King!
Thus begins a fantastical adventure, including a tale within the tale, that takes place over the course of more than just one night (most movie adaptations get that completely wrong).
What makes this edition so special are Sanna Annukka’s illustrations:
A modern take (which usually fails to enchant me), but like I said in my other review, I found myself enjoying a fresh look and it really did fit nicely with the tale itself and brought this adventure to life in a wonderfully atmospheric way.
If you haven’t read this (either alone or with your kid), go correct that. Because this really is one of those stories that ARE Christmas.
The tale, which is sometimes also called The Nutcracker and the Mouse-King is as well-known as it is beloved:
On Christmas Eve, the siblings Marie, Louise and Fritz are anxious to be allowed into the parlour to see their gifts (Germans open the present on Christmas Eve). Their godfather, a clockmaker, has made them a mechanical/clockwork castle complete with moving mechanical people. Sadly, the kids quickly tire of their new toy and Marie falls in love with the family's nutcracker (which her brother breaks soon after). Soon, it's time for bed and mysterious changes beset the children's toys. But not only are they coming to life, mice also begin to come out from beneath the floor boards, including the seven-headed Mouse King!
Thus begins a fantastical adventure, including a tale within the tale, that takes place over the course of more than just one night (most movie adaptations get that completely wrong).
What makes this edition so special are Sanna Annukka’s illustrations:
A modern take (which usually fails to enchant me), but like I said in my other review, I found myself enjoying a fresh look and it really did fit nicely with the tale itself and brought this adventure to life in a wonderfully atmospheric way.
If you haven’t read this (either alone or with your kid), go correct that. Because this really is one of those stories that ARE Christmas.
December 18, 2020
4 🌟
Me ha gustado mucho conocer la historia original de El Cascanueces ✨ Un cuento creado para niños, aunque en ocasiones acoge cierto estilo siniestro y algo perturbador. La historia en sí me ha parecido muy entretenida y atrapante.
Marie, una niña de 7 años, tiene como padrino al tío Drosselmeyer, un hombre algo excéntrico -con peluca de cristal, un parche en el ojo y un abrigo amarillo-, que construye unos juguetes magníficos y que siempre le trae regalos estupendos. En navidad, uno de los presentes que lleva a la casa de Marie es un muñeco Cascanueces, el cual cautiva a la pequeña. Este muñeco parece cobrar vida y Marie se ve inmersa en una batalla en la que los contrincantes son este Cascanueces y el Rey de los ratones. Al percatarse de ello el único afán de esta niña es proteger a su querido Cascanueces y salvarlo de todo mal. Seremos partícipes de la lucha con este Rey Ratón de siete cabezas, conoceremos la historia de La Nuez dura (que nos ayudará a entender quién es realmente este Cascanueces) y visitaremos el Reino de los Juguetes, bastante apetecible por cierto (sí, sí, apetecible).
He de decir que ya conocía el cuento a través de la película de los años 90, titulada El príncipe Cascanueces, que me encantaba; no sé si eso ha influido en que haya disfrutado más de esta historia. No es del todo igual, pero la base sí es la misma, bastante fiel. Diría que es un cuento que a todo niño gustará y que al adulto también le hace pasar un buen rato leyéndolo. Esta edición ilustrada es un tesorito (con preciosas ilustraciones de Robert Ingpen acompañando al cuento, haciéndolo más disfrutable aún).
Personalmente me parece una historia genial, con una fantasía muy atractiva, con ese toque siniestro disfrutable también (aunque a mí de pequeña me daban cosilla ciertas escenas de la película, que también se viven en el libro) y unos personajes muy bien presentados. Lo recomiendo y viene muy bien para leerlo en épocas navideñas.
Me ha gustado mucho conocer la historia original de El Cascanueces ✨ Un cuento creado para niños, aunque en ocasiones acoge cierto estilo siniestro y algo perturbador. La historia en sí me ha parecido muy entretenida y atrapante.
Marie, una niña de 7 años, tiene como padrino al tío Drosselmeyer, un hombre algo excéntrico -con peluca de cristal, un parche en el ojo y un abrigo amarillo-, que construye unos juguetes magníficos y que siempre le trae regalos estupendos. En navidad, uno de los presentes que lleva a la casa de Marie es un muñeco Cascanueces, el cual cautiva a la pequeña. Este muñeco parece cobrar vida y Marie se ve inmersa en una batalla en la que los contrincantes son este Cascanueces y el Rey de los ratones. Al percatarse de ello el único afán de esta niña es proteger a su querido Cascanueces y salvarlo de todo mal. Seremos partícipes de la lucha con este Rey Ratón de siete cabezas, conoceremos la historia de La Nuez dura (que nos ayudará a entender quién es realmente este Cascanueces) y visitaremos el Reino de los Juguetes, bastante apetecible por cierto (sí, sí, apetecible).
He de decir que ya conocía el cuento a través de la película de los años 90, titulada El príncipe Cascanueces, que me encantaba; no sé si eso ha influido en que haya disfrutado más de esta historia. No es del todo igual, pero la base sí es la misma, bastante fiel. Diría que es un cuento que a todo niño gustará y que al adulto también le hace pasar un buen rato leyéndolo. Esta edición ilustrada es un tesorito (con preciosas ilustraciones de Robert Ingpen acompañando al cuento, haciéndolo más disfrutable aún).
Personalmente me parece una historia genial, con una fantasía muy atractiva, con ese toque siniestro disfrutable también (aunque a mí de pequeña me daban cosilla ciertas escenas de la película, que también se viven en el libro) y unos personajes muy bien presentados. Lo recomiendo y viene muy bien para leerlo en épocas navideñas.
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January 10, 2016Za Krcka Oraščića obično se kaže da je to prva moderna priča za decu (1816, šije Alisu za pedeset godina) i... pa stvarno je moderna. I moderno jeziva. I, prirodno, krajnje hofmanovska sa sve dvojnicima, pomalo zlim humorom, neodređenim prelazima između stvarnog i fantastičnog i ludom maštovitošću. Ali kad se sve sabere, baš sam se podsetila koliko je na momente strašna, a u ovom izdanju ne pomažu hororične ilustracije Branislava Mojsilovića (nesrazmerno mnogo sedmoglavih pacova!), mada sam sigurna da ima onih ušećerenih varijanti koje vam neće prepadati decu.
Bonus otkriće koje nisam primetila jeste način na koji Marija ulazi u carstvo slatkiša: odlazi sa Krckom do ormara u hodniku, a u ormaru je krzneni kaput, a kad prođete kroz rukav (da, rukav) do kragne, stižete u svet slatkiša, i da vam kažem, nadam se da se K. S. Luis bar malko stideo kad su mu pričali kako je Narnija originalna :D
Sve u svemu... o, Hofmane, ništa se nisi promenio, i dalje si lud ko struja i volimo te zbog toga.
Bonus otkriće koje nisam primetila jeste način na koji Marija ulazi u carstvo slatkiša: odlazi sa Krckom do ormara u hodniku, a u ormaru je krzneni kaput, a kad prođete kroz rukav (da, rukav) do kragne, stižete u svet slatkiša, i da vam kažem, nadam se da se K. S. Luis bar malko stideo kad su mu pričali kako je Narnija originalna :D
Sve u svemu... o, Hofmane, ništa se nisi promenio, i dalje si lud ko struja i volimo te zbog toga.
December 30, 2024
4/5 ⭐
Un clásico ideal para estas fechas navideñas y volver a soñar como un niño con mundos donde la fantasía se mezcla con la realidad
Este clásico ilustrado de la editorial Alma me ha gustado muchísimo y me ha permitido acercarme a la historia del Cascanueces que desconocía por completo a pesar de tanto haber oído hablar de la misma
Muy recomendable para niños y adultos
Un clásico ideal para estas fechas navideñas y volver a soñar como un niño con mundos donde la fantasía se mezcla con la realidad
Este clásico ilustrado de la editorial Alma me ha gustado muchísimo y me ha permitido acercarme a la historia del Cascanueces que desconocía por completo a pesar de tanto haber oído hablar de la misma
Muy recomendable para niños y adultos
March 12, 2024
Decidi ler para relembrar, este maravilhoso conto de Natal, editado pela primeira vez em meados do séc XIX, porque vou assistir ao Ballet Russo O Quebra Nozes.
Quem não o conhece?
Memorável e encantador!
Intemporal e para todas as idades!
Quem não o conhece?
Memorável e encantador!
Intemporal e para todas as idades!
January 2, 2019
Le fiabe riescono sempre a darti quell'illusione, anche se momentanea ed effimera, che tutto andrà bene e che tutto sarà possibile. E sognare è sempre bello, anche quando la speranza vacilla.
December 5, 2025
𝜗ৎ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒓.ᐟ
🩰ྀི ࿐ ͎. ｡˚ ° ⊹ ˚. december books ⌗ 4 [ rating: 3.75 ⭑ ]
── ˚˖𓍢ִ໋🦢˚ i loved it, a magical and beautiful story. i can't wait to see the nutcracker ballet this year, soooo excited!!! 🥹💝
⤿ started: december 04 — ⤿ finished: december 04
🩰ྀི ࿐ ͎. ｡˚ ° ⊹ ˚. december books ⌗ 4 [ rating: 3.75 ⭑ ]
── ˚˖𓍢ִ໋🦢˚ i loved it, a magical and beautiful story. i can't wait to see the nutcracker ballet this year, soooo excited!!! 🥹💝
⤿ started: december 04 — ⤿ finished: december 04
July 31, 2019
E.T.A. Hoffmann thì quá nổi tiếng rồi, tác giả của truyện cổ tích “Chàng cắn hồ đào và Vua Chuột”, đã được chuyển thể thành vở ballet nổi tiếng “Kẹp Hạt Dẻ”, với phần âm nhạc do P. I. Tchaikovsky biên soạn đó ^^ Câu chuyện cổ tích này cũng góp mặt trong quyển sách này, cơ mà không ngờ bản gốc của “Kẹp Hạt Dẻ” lại chi tiết như vậy, có cả phần giải thích/kể lại sự thể vì sao chàng hoàng tử lại trở thành một chàng cắn hồ đào. Một câu chuyện liên quan đến sự thay lòng đổi dạ nhanh chóng của một nàng công chúa đối với một chàng trai, vì để cứu lấy nàng khỏi sự tấn công của bà chuột ác độc mà đã bị dính phải lời nguyền trở thành một cái kẹp hạt dẻ, để rồi sau này đối đầu với Vua Chuột bảy đầu - con trai của mụ chuột ác độc. Và cô bé có diễm phúc được chứng kiến những phép màu thật sự đằng sau một chàng cắn hồ đào tưởng chừng chỉ là món đồ chơi vào dịp Giáng sinh, hóa ra tên là Marie ở bản gốc, chứ không phải là Clara như trong bản ballet :))))
Ngoài ra, tập truyện cổ tích siêu thực này còn giới thiệu hai truyện cổ tích khác của E.T.A. Hoffmann, cũng khá nổi tiếng, đó là “Chiếc Âu Vàng” và “Zaches Tí Hon mệnh danh Zinnober”. Điều mình thích nhất ở hai truyện cổ tích này, bên cạnh chất kỳ ảo phép thuật hòa quyện một cách hoàn hảo với bối cảnh đời thường, đó chính là cái cách mà tác giả không cho chúng ta biết rõ nhân vật nào là thiện, nhân vật nào là ác, hoặc cụ thể ai thuộc phe ác, ai thuộc phe thiện ở đầu câu chuyện. Và công việc của người đọc là phải theo dõi hết toàn bộ câu chuyện cùng sự phát triển của các tình tiết để rồi nhận ra, hóa ra truyện cổ tích của E.T.A. Hoffmann chả theo một mô típ kinh điển thường thấy nào cả.
Ví dụ như việc chàng sinh viên Anselmus trong “Chiếc Âu Vàng” si mê nàng rắn xanh Serpentina - sau này hóa ra là người con gái đến từ một thế giới ngập tràn phép thuật - phải chăng là do sự tác động của một loại ma thuật tinh vi nào đó (vì bình thường loài rắn, trong văn hóa phương Tây, có khi nào được xem là con vật đại diện cho sự tốt bụng thiện lương gì cho cam…), và việc nàng Veronika xinh đẹp kiều diễm, si mê chàng như điếu đổ, đã viện nhờ đến phép thuật của bà phù thủy Liese là hành động cứu giúp chàng khỏi bùa mê? Hay phải chăng tình yêu mà Anselmus dành cho nàng rắn xanh ấy là thật lòng, là chân ái, và việc bà phù thủy Liese dùng phép thuật của bà trên danh nghĩa giành lại tình yêu cho nàng Veronika thực chất là một hành động phá đám có chủ đích?
Trong “Zaches Tí Hon mệnh danh Zinnober” cũng vậy. Một bà mẹ nghèo khó sinh ra một đứa con nhìn như quái thai, cứ hiểu là cậu bé Zaches Tí Hon trông như một củ cải biết đi đi. Cảm thương trước số phận của Zaches phải gánh chịu một ngoại hình luôn bị người khác chê cười, nàng tiên Hoa Hồng Đẹp đã ban phép cho Zaches Tí Hon trở thành người mà “khi gã có mặt thì bất kỳ ý nghĩ, lời nói và điều gì xuất chúng mà người khác có đều được gán cho gã, thậm chí ở nơi có những người uyên bác, hiểu biết và thông minh, gã cũng sẽ được tôn vinh là uyên bác, hiểu biết và thông minh, và còn hơn thế nữa, gã được coi là hoàn thiện nhất trong những người kề cận.” Câu chuyện của Zaches Tí Hon có vẻ giống Sọ Dừa, cũng sinh ra với thân hình quái dị. Nhưng nếu bạn nghĩ sự dị dạng của nhân vật chính đồng nghĩa với việc cậu ta lớn lên vượt bao sóng gió khó khăn, thành người lương thiện như nhiều mô típ truyện cổ tích khác, thì bạn đã lầm. Zaches Tí Hon đã lợi dụng sự được ban phép của mình để leo lên đến chức quan thượng thư Zinnober, nhưng thực ra chả có tí tài cán gì, với bao chuyện dở khóc dở cười mỉa mai, cùng quyết tâm của một nhóm người muốn loại bỏ thứ phép thuật lừa dối và hạ bệ Zinnober. Cuối cùng thì không phải phép thuật nào, với mục đích ban đầu tốt đẹp, cũng mang lại những kết quả tốt đẹp ^^
Kết lại thì có lẽ những gì H. G. Roetzer nói về những câu chuyện cổ tích siêu thực của E.T.A. Hoffmann đã miêu tả chính xác nhất di sản mà nhà văn Hoffmann đã để lại:
Cuốn này hay, tên tuổi của E.T.A. Hoffmann nổi tiếng lẫy lừng rồi, ấy thế mà có vẻ Nhã Nam truyền thông cho cuốn này không tốt một chút nào thì phải… Mình phải vào nhà sách mới biết nó có tồn tại trên đời… Hôm bữa lên Tiki còn thấy cuốn này đang được bán giảm giá 50%… Trời ơi, sách của E.T.A. Hoffmann mà bán giảm giá phân nửa thế này sao?... Quá buồn…
Ngoài ra, tập truyện cổ tích siêu thực này còn giới thiệu hai truyện cổ tích khác của E.T.A. Hoffmann, cũng khá nổi tiếng, đó là “Chiếc Âu Vàng” và “Zaches Tí Hon mệnh danh Zinnober”. Điều mình thích nhất ở hai truyện cổ tích này, bên cạnh chất kỳ ảo phép thuật hòa quyện một cách hoàn hảo với bối cảnh đời thường, đó chính là cái cách mà tác giả không cho chúng ta biết rõ nhân vật nào là thiện, nhân vật nào là ác, hoặc cụ thể ai thuộc phe ác, ai thuộc phe thiện ở đầu câu chuyện. Và công việc của người đọc là phải theo dõi hết toàn bộ câu chuyện cùng sự phát triển của các tình tiết để rồi nhận ra, hóa ra truyện cổ tích của E.T.A. Hoffmann chả theo một mô típ kinh điển thường thấy nào cả.
Ví dụ như việc chàng sinh viên Anselmus trong “Chiếc Âu Vàng” si mê nàng rắn xanh Serpentina - sau này hóa ra là người con gái đến từ một thế giới ngập tràn phép thuật - phải chăng là do sự tác động của một loại ma thuật tinh vi nào đó (vì bình thường loài rắn, trong văn hóa phương Tây, có khi nào được xem là con vật đại diện cho sự tốt bụng thiện lương gì cho cam…), và việc nàng Veronika xinh đẹp kiều diễm, si mê chàng như điếu đổ, đã viện nhờ đến phép thuật của bà phù thủy Liese là hành động cứu giúp chàng khỏi bùa mê? Hay phải chăng tình yêu mà Anselmus dành cho nàng rắn xanh ấy là thật lòng, là chân ái, và việc bà phù thủy Liese dùng phép thuật của bà trên danh nghĩa giành lại tình yêu cho nàng Veronika thực chất là một hành động phá đám có chủ đích?
Trong “Zaches Tí Hon mệnh danh Zinnober” cũng vậy. Một bà mẹ nghèo khó sinh ra một đứa con nhìn như quái thai, cứ hiểu là cậu bé Zaches Tí Hon trông như một củ cải biết đi đi. Cảm thương trước số phận của Zaches phải gánh chịu một ngoại hình luôn bị người khác chê cười, nàng tiên Hoa Hồng Đẹp đã ban phép cho Zaches Tí Hon trở thành người mà “khi gã có mặt thì bất kỳ ý nghĩ, lời nói và điều gì xuất chúng mà người khác có đều được gán cho gã, thậm chí ở nơi có những người uyên bác, hiểu biết và thông minh, gã cũng sẽ được tôn vinh là uyên bác, hiểu biết và thông minh, và còn hơn thế nữa, gã được coi là hoàn thiện nhất trong những người kề cận.” Câu chuyện của Zaches Tí Hon có vẻ giống Sọ Dừa, cũng sinh ra với thân hình quái dị. Nhưng nếu bạn nghĩ sự dị dạng của nhân vật chính đồng nghĩa với việc cậu ta lớn lên vượt bao sóng gió khó khăn, thành người lương thiện như nhiều mô típ truyện cổ tích khác, thì bạn đã lầm. Zaches Tí Hon đã lợi dụng sự được ban phép của mình để leo lên đến chức quan thượng thư Zinnober, nhưng thực ra chả có tí tài cán gì, với bao chuyện dở khóc dở cười mỉa mai, cùng quyết tâm của một nhóm người muốn loại bỏ thứ phép thuật lừa dối và hạ bệ Zinnober. Cuối cùng thì không phải phép thuật nào, với mục đích ban đầu tốt đẹp, cũng mang lại những kết quả tốt đẹp ^^
Kết lại thì có lẽ những gì H. G. Roetzer nói về những câu chuyện cổ tích siêu thực của E.T.A. Hoffmann đã miêu tả chính xác nhất di sản mà nhà văn Hoffmann đã để lại:
“Kết hợp hài hòa những trải nghiệm của đời sống thường nhật với thế giới cổ tích ma quái, xóa bỏ mọi ranh giới giữa Hiện thực và Tưởng tượng, đối với Hoffmann là trò chơi tự do văn chương, là thủ pháp nghệ thuật làm sáng tỏ những sức mạnh phi lý mà trí tuệ không thể thấu hiểu và lý giải.”
Cuốn này hay, tên tuổi của E.T.A. Hoffmann nổi tiếng lẫy lừng rồi, ấy thế mà có vẻ Nhã Nam truyền thông cho cuốn này không tốt một chút nào thì phải… Mình phải vào nhà sách mới biết nó có tồn tại trên đời… Hôm bữa lên Tiki còn thấy cuốn này đang được bán giảm giá 50%… Trời ơi, sách của E.T.A. Hoffmann mà bán giảm giá phân nửa thế này sao?... Quá buồn…
January 4, 2022
Емблематичната творба „Лешникотрошачката“ на Ернст Теодор Амадеус Хофман се е превърнала в неделима част от западната култура и истински символ на Коледа. Вдъхновила божествения балет на Пьотър Илич Чайковски, тази вечна приказка носи в себе си толкова много празнично вълшебство, че продължава да омагьосва читателите и днес, повече от двеста години след своето написване. „Лешникотрошачката“ е основополагащ за съвременното детско фентъзи сюжет. Часовникови механизми, оживели играчки, страховити злодеи… Хофмановата Мари изпреварва както принцеса Айрийн на Джордж Макдоналд, така и Алиса на Луис Карол и Дороти на Л. Франк Баум. Четем луксозното издание на „Лешникотрошачката“ от изд. „Коала прес“, илюстрирано от украинската художничка Марина Пузиренко. Прочетете ревюто на „Книжни Криле“: https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/202...
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