I have a big box of extra-long matches lying by my bed. I’m addicted to scented candles and use the matches to light them.
Recently, I noticed that holding the box in my hands and shaking it to hear the matches rustle inside makes me feel very comforted, secure, and safe. I had no idea why that was until I remembered “The Girl With Matches,” a tale by Hans Christian Andersen. In the story, a little girl freezes to death because she doesn’t have enough matches. It terrified me when I was little, and obviously the trauma is still there.
Andersen was a severely depressed fellow who wrote these really sick fairy-tales that have traumatized several generations of kids. I’m deeply convinced that Andersen’s books should be kept far away from children.
Clarissa's Blog 
It could have been worse. You might have turned out to be a pyromaniac. 😉
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Yes, give your kid a book and turn her into a neurotic at best and a criminal at worst. 🙂
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Ah yes, the only children’s author who ever managed to write a depressing story about a talking Christmas tree (as far as I know, anyway).
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I don’t remember the one about the Christmas tree but that might be because I repressed the horrible memory. The Little Mermaid (the original one) still gives me nightmares.
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” the only children’s author who ever managed to write a depressing story about a talking Christmas tree”
Challenge accepted!
Okay, I’m not a childrens author (shudder) but I now realize that one of the reasons I was put here on earth was to write a despressing story about a talking Christmas tree.
I’m not sure how but I think I managed to escape HK Andersen as a kid. Maybe I should look him up since i’m older and presumably tougher.
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“Okay, I’m not a childrens author (shudder) but I now realize that one of the reasons I was put here on earth was to write a despressing story about a talking Christmas tree.”
– I would be very interested in reading it. Maybe then we could all compare it with Andersen’s story and see which one is more depressing.
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Andersen and Kierkegaard were both 19th Century Danes who grappled with depression, and yet somehow Kierkegaard comes across as the more cheerful or optimistic of the pair — which is saying something, I gather.
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“The Little Match Girl” is the first work of fiction I remember reading alone and crying over. I was 7. It didn’t exactly traumatize but it certainly stuck with me . I agree with you about Anderson though. DId you ever read “The Girl Who Trod on Loaf?” Horrifying. To this day, at 39 years old, I can barely think of that story without shuddering……Oh and at dijiril, YES. The Chirstmas tree story was so sad. I love Christmas trees but still get a little sad about them to this day because of that stupid story.
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Oh God, “The Girl Who Trod on Loaf”, brrr. That one was horrible, too. And “The Steadfast Tin Soldier”? That scarred me for life.
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I loved Andersen, including “The Little Mermaid.” 🙂
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“The Little Mermaid” is the favorite story of feminist critics. I know you must have felt its feminist potential.
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I hate Andersen’s Snow Queen. All this obsession and sacrifice.
He was terrified of fire and children, never had any relationships, poor guy.
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I hate the Snow Queen, too! I always saw it as a condemnation of those kids her were not very effusive and openly emotional, like myself.
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“The Little Mermaid” is based on Melusina story, even though she doesn’t die at the end.
The “Snow Queen” is so annoying to me because of this idea that a woman must “melt” a man’s heart. In addition, Gerda just looks like some obsessed woman who doesn’t have anything to do but chase a guy who doesn’t give a damn.
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I had the Grimm fairy tales as a kid – a translated, but unexpurgated edition. I’ve often wondered why the hell the person who gifted me it (identity lost to the mists of time although I’ve a short list of suspects) thought it was in any way an appropriate gift for a six year old, however advanced their reading age.
Although, that said, the theory that we tell fairy tales to kids, not to teach them about monsters; for in their heater of hearts they already know about monsters, but to teach them that the terrible is survivable, does have a certain resonance.
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“I had the Grimm fairy tales as a kid – a translated, but unexpurgated edition. I’ve often wondered why the hell the person who gifted me it (identity lost to the mists of time although I’ve a short list of suspects) thought it was in any way an appropriate gift for a six year old, however advanced their reading age.”
– I had the same question about the original version of 1,000 Nights. 😉
“Although, that said, the theory that we tell fairy tales to kids, not to teach them about monsters; for in their heater of hearts they already know about monsters, but to teach them that the terrible is survivable, does have a certain resonance.”
– But the little girl with matches died. And the little tin soldier died. And the little mermaid died, too. They all died. 🙂 🙂
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True, but none of those were in the Grimm tales. 😀 They had a few horrors of their own mind, although some of the implications went over my head. The Shoes That Were Danced To Pieces in particular creeped me out for some reason – I think it’s the mind control element.
I did read the Andersen stories later though, about seven, eight? – I remember reading the Little Mermaid and thinking, well, that’s a rotten ending. It’s vivid because it was around that time that I got a good handle on allegory, and I remember thinking about the allegorical meanings and thinking I didn’t like any of them much either. Almost as bad as C.S. Lewis!
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The Shoes That Were Danced To Pieces absolutely terrified me when I was 4. Unlike the rest of you though, I’m glad I got to read these at a completely unsuitable age. I loved scary creepy stories.
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Children appreciate melancholy, at least I did.
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I’m writing from Andersen’s home town (Odense) where I’m on my last work-related trip of this year (and probably the next couple as well).
While walking around the town I resisted being dagged into the HC Andersen museum by a couple of fellow attendees.
I didn’t escape Andersen trauma though since someone decided that this statue belongs outside close to the museum.
I did like the church with the skeletons of King Knud and his brother in glass cases.
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Well, at least it wasn’t a gay IPhone. 🙂
You surely have a fun job! Good for you.
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It has it’s moments for sure and the positives outweight the negatives by a very large margin, but there sure was a lot of yelling and drama yesterday (which I tried to stay out of). Today was much more ….. stable and sensible.
And I don’t foresee any more work trips in the foreseeable future… drat! (yes, that’s a first world problem but still….)
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