The reviewer has a soft spot for traditional fairy tales and decided to read a complete collection of Hans Christian Andersen's stories. They found the stories to be engaging and noted that many of them are darker and more complex than the sanitized versions commonly known today. The reviewer also appreciated the accuracy of the translations and the inclusion of Andersen's notes on his stories.
The reviewer has always had a fondness for traditional fairy tales, although they didn't read many as a child. They recently decided to read complete collections of stories by Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm. The reviewer found that Andersen's stories are often darker and more complex than the sanitized versions commonly known today. They appreciated the accuracy of the translations and the inclusion of Andersen's notes on his stories. The reviewer also noted that many of Andersen's stories are based on existing tales, which he then fleshed out in his own way. Overall, they found the collection to be engaging and enjoyable.
Quick quotes
I’ve always had kind of a soft spot for traditional fairy tales, which is interesting because I don’t recall them being more than a very small part of my childhood.
One thing I wondered about as I commenced reading is whether more of the well-known, classic fairy tales would turn out to be Andersen stories or Grimm stories, or whether many I’d assumed would be one or the other would in fact be neither.
I would have expected fairy tales to be like fables, to maybe teach lessons, to show the pitfalls of excessive pride, a bad temper, cockiness, whatever.