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 Hans Christian Andersen - the best known and most translated author of the world!
HCA is a writer with a lively interested audience despite the fact that he is of another time. It has been more than a hundred years since he created the last of the works that made him famous, and yet everybody knows this author. HCA's fame stems most of all from the fairy tales, a writing genre which he was the first author to be serious about; just as he was the first one to be serious about writing for children.
HCA wrote fairy tales that were in many ways different from what had been seen at that time. First of all he used the colloquial everyday language that he was used to from telling stories in order to entertain children, and he created entertaining fairy tales instead of educating ones. His fairy tales held a lot of characters uncommon in children's literature, the supernatural beings like elves, witches and mermaids; but more remarkable were everyday items like a coffee pot or a tin soldier. What is more - they are all allowed the human features of voice, wit and thought, and they even play the role of main character from time to time. HCA often uses humour when he lets us meet the characters of the stories and allows the reader to see the same habits that she recognises from her younger brother. The writing style of HCA is inspiring and imaginative as well. He often creates ambience and sets the scene with descriptions of the sounds, you read the wind's howling and the matches being struck. An important feature of the fairy tales is that they are written for children, but at the same time HCA has very consciously put in more details for the adult reader to enjoy. Last, but not least, a weighty chapter of the story about why HCA is famous is that he worked for it. HCA's many travels throughout of Europe were not been PR campaigns as such, but the effect remains: the fairy tales gained a foothold in the nineteenth century world that no children's literature had previously seen. This foothold was the ground that has developed into the most translated collection from one author, HCA's fairy tales are published in at least 145 languages worldwide. There is no doubt, Hans Christian Andersen is the biggest author. It does not matter if you are a child or an adult, if you have read the fairy tales, go on and continue with the game or a novel, and if you haven't, you certainly has something to look forward to! |
