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The Goloshes of Fortune
Also known as "The Shoes of Fortune".
ebook
First published January 1, 1838
2 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
About the author
Hans Christian Andersen
7,807 books3,540 followersHans Christian Andersen (often referred to in Scandinavia as H.C. Andersen) was a Danish author and poet. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, Andersen is best remembered for his fairy tales. Andersen's popularity is not limited to children; his stories — called eventyr, or "fairy-tales" — express themes that transcend age and nationality.
Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well. Some of his most famous fairy tales include "The Little Mermaid", "The Ugly Duckling", "The Nightingale", "The Emperor's New Clothes" and many more. His stories have inspired plays, ballets, and both live-action and animated films.
Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well. Some of his most famous fairy tales include "The Little Mermaid", "The Ugly Duckling", "The Nightingale", "The Emperor's New Clothes" and many more. His stories have inspired plays, ballets, and both live-action and animated films.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 5, 2021
It had a good premise and idea, but had way too much fluff thrown in that easily could have been left out. The plot didn’t flow well with the execution of the story.
June 2, 2022
This story and The Little Mermaid appear to be the lengthier Andersen tales. Split up into six chapters, we go through an adventure involving magical rainboots which grant the user their wish. If you need a good a laugh, you only need to read the second chapter. I love the satirical and creative conceptualization of the moral, "Be careful what you wish for."
October 25, 2019
I always like a story where an inanimate object travels through many owners and we get to see how the object influences the events of the lives of the people, for good or ill. I'm surprised that no one has written a revised version of this. If there is one I've never heard of it.
January 5, 2024
An interestingly beautiful story about being satisfied with life and how happiness can't last forever.
Read
November 18, 202311/2023 reread:
I appreciated this section this time: "Wherever I go I feel a want that oppresses me. I wish for something better than the moment can give me; something better--nay, the best! But where and what is it?" These lines resonate with me so much (I sure they would with most people). I always have a longing for something more, something I cannot define, and I know I will never find it in this life. As a Christian, I know that only in heaven will this longing be satisfied.
I also enjoyed the part when one of the characters looks into people's hearts at the theater. This part showcases Andersen's astounding imagination.
***
12/2022 reread:
How often what seems like a blessing is actually a curse! Some parts are more amusing and easier to follow than others. My favorite is the very beginning with the assistants of Fortune and Care in the closet and with the councilor who finds himself in the age he thought was the best one in history. The last episode with the galoshes is rather depressing. From Andersen's Christian perspective, yes, it is true that we only experience true contentment and satisfaction in death, but it is not the most pleasant thing to read.
***
5/2020
A very entertaining story that shows what happens when people get what they think they want.
I appreciated this section this time: "Wherever I go I feel a want that oppresses me. I wish for something better than the moment can give me; something better--nay, the best! But where and what is it?" These lines resonate with me so much (I sure they would with most people). I always have a longing for something more, something I cannot define, and I know I will never find it in this life. As a Christian, I know that only in heaven will this longing be satisfied.
I also enjoyed the part when one of the characters looks into people's hearts at the theater. This part showcases Andersen's astounding imagination.
***
12/2022 reread:
How often what seems like a blessing is actually a curse! Some parts are more amusing and easier to follow than others. My favorite is the very beginning with the assistants of Fortune and Care in the closet and with the councilor who finds himself in the age he thought was the best one in history. The last episode with the galoshes is rather depressing. From Andersen's Christian perspective, yes, it is true that we only experience true contentment and satisfaction in death, but it is not the most pleasant thing to read.
***
5/2020
A very entertaining story that shows what happens when people get what they think they want.
August 30, 2024
This is an entertaining tale by Hans Christian Andersen that demonstrates that receiving answers to wishes is no way to find happiness. Every person lives and eventually dies. The beauty of life is the journey.
August 3, 2022
I have arranged my takeaway thoughts on this short story into a haiku:
"Dropped with no warning,
Gifts that would change one’s whole life
Are rarely met well."
"Dropped with no warning,
Gifts that would change one’s whole life
Are rarely met well."
September 11, 2025
I first encountered Hans Christian Andersen’s stories in childhood, drawn to their blend of whimsy and melancholy. Like many, I read them as fantasy dreamlike stories and simple moral fables. But some of those stories, always lingered with a peculiar and unsettling weight, and "The Galoshes of Fortune" is one of them. Thinking about it now, I understand why. It articulates a truth I felt even then but couldn't articulate: that we are, in some fundamental way, in love with our longing itself, and that the fulfillment of a desire is often its betrayal.
This is far more than a lesson in gratitude. The story is a brilliant, almost cruel, dissection of the architecture of human wanting. We are not shown that these wished for lives are difficult; we are shown that they are not what we actually want in the first place. The characters' desire was never for the reality of the thing, but for an idealized fantasy of it. The object of desire is a decoy. The true source of our satisfaction is the pleasurable act of yearning itself.
This aligns perfectly with a thought I've always harbored: people don't truly know what they want. We construct elaborate fantasies of happiness, believing they hold the key to wholeness. Andersen’s tale argues that this imagined wholeness is a necessary illusion. To actually attain it would be to shatter the very fantasy that makes life bearable and desire possible. The happiness we envision is, by its very nature, unattainable because it does not and cannot exist in the real world. It exists only in the shadowy realm of "what if."
This is far more than a lesson in gratitude. The story is a brilliant, almost cruel, dissection of the architecture of human wanting. We are not shown that these wished for lives are difficult; we are shown that they are not what we actually want in the first place. The characters' desire was never for the reality of the thing, but for an idealized fantasy of it. The object of desire is a decoy. The true source of our satisfaction is the pleasurable act of yearning itself.
This aligns perfectly with a thought I've always harbored: people don't truly know what they want. We construct elaborate fantasies of happiness, believing they hold the key to wholeness. Andersen’s tale argues that this imagined wholeness is a necessary illusion. To actually attain it would be to shatter the very fantasy that makes life bearable and desire possible. The happiness we envision is, by its very nature, unattainable because it does not and cannot exist in the real world. It exists only in the shadowy realm of "what if."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 13, 2024
FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
This one was really not for me. Maybe reading children stories as an adult isn’t the best thing to do for some people.
I personally found this story to be very boring and uninteresting. I really had hard time reading it because I just couldn’t get into the story.
The story is pretty quick read, but that’s the only good thing about this story for me personally.
The writing style in this one was very generic which every fairytale has.
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
This one was really not for me. Maybe reading children stories as an adult isn’t the best thing to do for some people.
I personally found this story to be very boring and uninteresting. I really had hard time reading it because I just couldn’t get into the story.
The story is pretty quick read, but that’s the only good thing about this story for me personally.
The writing style in this one was very generic which every fairytale has.
May 31, 2025
Two fairies leave magical shoes(galoshes) at the theater that can make any wish come true.
People try the shoes by mistake and travel to their desired dreams.
Some wish to explore the hearts of others, while others want to return to who they are.
Some wish to travel to Switcherland, and then die and travel only through the soul.
At the end, the fairies come back and take back their magical shoes because they are their property.
People try the shoes by mistake and travel to their desired dreams.
Some wish to explore the hearts of others, while others want to return to who they are.
Some wish to travel to Switcherland, and then die and travel only through the soul.
At the end, the fairies come back and take back their magical shoes because they are their property.
June 13, 2018
Забавная сказка с философским подтекстом. (Пожалуй, многие сказки Андерсена подходят под это описание).
October 17, 2019
Using this tale for some research....
November 24, 2025
I do not remember this one either. Now, I did find this one a bit boring so that explains it.
March 5, 2018
This tale shows how people are never really happy even when they get the exact thing they think they want.
December 10, 2019
This is the first story I’ve read by Hans Christian Andersen, so I don’t know if I just don’t like his style of writing, or if there’s a reason this story seems to be so unpopular (at least in comparison to some of his other stories).
Despite being such a short story, it was very dull at times. It’s a warning about being careful for what you wish for, but the Aesop breaks because the characters (a) don’t fully realize what is happening, and therefore are not really using the shoes properly and/or (b) are having “wishes“ fulfilled that aren’t really wishes.
Despite being such a short story, it was very dull at times. It’s a warning about being careful for what you wish for, but the Aesop breaks because the characters (a) don’t fully realize what is happening, and therefore are not really using the shoes properly and/or (b) are having “wishes“ fulfilled that aren’t really wishes.
August 15, 2023
I was a bit surprised, because I expected the message would be that people don't actually want what they think they want. But I don't think any of the characters actually got what they wanted, and most of the issues came from not understanding how the shoes worked. Travels that could have been interesting were ruined when people didn't know where they were. Metaphorical wishes were taken literally. And one man's head got stuck only because he didn't know he should wish to be free. I think the real moral is that Fortune should have written a user's manual.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 27, 2023
Ear read 2023
6/10 Be careful what you wish for. I think always wish first to not wish to inadvertently imprison, maim or kill Oneself/love ones with future wishes. Then go buck wild with the wishes XD
I found it hard to follow along by the writing style. life-guards with bows and crossbows was weird, i guess it means something different to a Dane. and interesting the use of millions in the pluralised form.
6/10 Be careful what you wish for. I think always wish first to not wish to inadvertently imprison, maim or kill Oneself/love ones with future wishes. Then go buck wild with the wishes XD
I found it hard to follow along by the writing style. life-guards with bows and crossbows was weird, i guess it means something different to a Dane. and interesting the use of millions in the pluralised form.
March 11, 2022
I enjoyed the most the first tale, who doesn't know the typical person that thinks that before the things were better? And we would like this person found out the truth, and the guy did it :D The 2 net tales were quite boring, but the last one was interesting. Not between the best stories of Andersen, but not bad
October 4, 2020
Jeg elsker H.C. Andersen!
Primært læst i forbindelse med et praktikforløb, hvor jeg promoverede og skrev artikler om forfatterskabet, eventyr og Odense.
Primært læst i forbindelse med et praktikforløb, hvor jeg promoverede og skrev artikler om forfatterskabet, eventyr og Odense.
June 22, 2021
If I could give a zero stars I would. I just could not get through this story. Utterly boring.
December 5, 2025
Jedna z mniej znanych baśni Andersena i nic dziwnego, niespecjalnie się wyróżnia morałem czy tematyką. Nie zapada w pamięć.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews