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What one Can Invent

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Весьма актуальная во все времена сказка о бездарном человеке, который непременно решил сделаться поэтом, но не смог, и по совету знахарки пошел в критики.

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1869

8 people want to read

About the author

Hans Christian Andersen

7,798 books3,548 followers
Hans Christian Andersen (often referred to in Scandinavia as H.C. Andersen) was a Danish author and poet. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, Andersen is best remembered for his fairy tales. Andersen's popularity is not limited to children; his stories — called eventyr, or "fairy-tales" — express themes that transcend age and nationality.

Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well. Some of his most famous fairy tales include "The Little Mermaid", "The Ugly Duckling", "The Nightingale", "The Emperor's New Clothes" and many more. His stories have inspired plays, ballets, and both live-action and animated films.

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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Profile Image for Elinor  Loredan.
668 reviews29 followers
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May 25, 2020
The end sounds like a satire on critics--if one cannot do something, the next best thing is critiquing the work of those who can do it. I think, too, that the story is about having ability for something or not having it. The old woman simply is unable to teach the man how to imagine because he does not have the talent for it, and imagination is hard to teach.
Profile Image for Vaishali.
1,179 reviews315 followers
July 8, 2016
The mantra of writers today ... and I guess, of writers at every moment in history. Thank you, Mr. Andersen for pointing this out !

"There was once a young man who was studying to be a poet. To write poems, he knew, only consists in being able to invent something; but he ... had been born too late— everything had been written and told about."

“Happy people who were born a thousand years ago!” said he. “It was an easy matter for them to become immortal. Happy even was he who was born a hundred years ago, for then there was still something about which a poem could be written. Now the world is written out, and what can I write...?”

The solution :

Said the woman. “Go straight into the crowd of people; look at them in the right way. Have an ear to hear and the right heart to feel, and you will soon invent something."



Profile Image for Joseph Knecht.
Author 5 books52 followers
May 19, 2025
A person wanted to become a writer but he was discouraged because he believed that everything has already been written about.

He meets a woman that tries to encourage his nature by getting his closer to nature. This fails because the man lacked imagination which is infinite.

Instead of writer, he becomes a critic since those who can’t become something tend to criticise those who can.
Profile Image for Mary.
188 reviews
January 26, 2023
Pretty interesting and I love the lesson he learns.
Profile Image for Amelia Bujar.
1,830 reviews1 follower
July 12, 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.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews

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