Robert Mathias (2)

I can see that I have been precipitous, during the course of my recent Hans Christian Andersen project, in my criticism of certain abridged adaptations of his classic fairy-tales. I've lamented the summarized narrative feeling of Toma Bogdanovic's The Snow Queen, and lambasted Deborah Hahn's revisionist retelling of The Swineherd. If I'd had any idea how truly awful an Andersen retelling could be, I might have been more generous. To Bogdanovic, anyway...

Adapted by Robert Mathias and illustrated by Robin Lawrie, this collection of six tales was originally published in the UK by Hamlyn, and then reprinted here in the US by the Silver Burdett Company. I confess to a sneaking sense of relief that this misinterpretation, at least, cannot be laid at our door! (The Walt Disney Company being more than enough for one country to bear, in that regard, I would think). From the first selection - an abridged and heavily revised version of The Snow Queen - I had the sense that this adapter didn't understand his source material very well. Not only were whole swathes of the original tale omitted - the fairy-tales told by the flowers in the old witch's garden, the episode with the Crows, and the Princess and Prince, the chapter with the Robber Girl, the visit with the Finmark woman, all gone! - but many of the smaller details had been altered. The devil intentionally breaks his mirror, in the framing story. Extra bits of dialogue find their way into the narrative, from Kai's sulky declaration that he doesn't want to play with Gerda, to Gerda's conversation with the pigeon (?!@) who takes her to the reindeer, who takes her to Lapland... And so on.

As if all of these unnecessary changes weren't bad enough, the language itself is stiff and overly expository, with an occasional melodramatic flourish thrown in for variety. The Snow Queen sits on a throne "encrusted with the frozen tears of a million sadnesses." The Little Mermaid "sat at the foot of the palace wall beneath a fathom of sadness. I probably should have abandoned this after reading the first tale, but my completist soul asserted itself, and I dragged myself (mentally kicking and screaming) through the subsequent five selections. Don't make the same mistake I did! This is a most regrettable collection, and although The Snow Queen was the worst of the lot, the other tales weren't much better. Nor was I compensated by the illustrations, which included some rather lurid full-color plates, and (mostly) unremarkable black and white drawings. There were one or two pages worth looking at (one even reminded me a bit of Ivan Bilibin's work), but don't let that sway you! I've suffered, but you don't have to! Pick up Lisbeth Zwerger's collection, Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tales, or the one done by Michael Foreman, Hans Andersen: His Classic Fairy Tales. They are infinitely preferable!… (altro)