Michael Arditti

The Ugly Duckling

The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen

By

Norton 449pp £25 order from our bookshop

Contrary to the abiding image of Danny Kaye regaling a crowd of well-scrubbed peasant children with the tales of ‘Thumbelina’ and ‘The Ugly Duckling’, Hans Christian Andersen never sought the company of children. Indeed, when, towards the end of his life, the Danish public proposed to erect a statue of him in Copenhagen, he so loathed the original sketch, which featured a child resting his head on his thigh, that it was withdrawn in favour of one showing the writer alone.

Sign Up to our newsletter

Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.

Follow Literary Review on Twitter

  • Last Tweets

    • From the Archive: Martyn Bedford on Ian McEwan's 'Atonement' ,
    • In 'Silenced Voices' reports the ongoing story of the human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has been… ,
    • The mystery of Jack the Ripper's identity has long been agonised over. But what do we know about his victims?… ,
    • A piece of Literary Review history from way back in 1983: John Haffenden talks to the great Iris Murdoch. ,
    • Britain’s only travelling lit fest, the Garden Museum Literary Festival is heading to Houghton Hall, Norfolk, for a… ,
    • 'The 19th-century German sage is not my idea of a pleasant travel companion' goes hiking with Friedr… ,
    • If you want ideas about what to read next, sign up to our free email newsletter, and get book reviews, archive mate… ,
    Follow Us