Welcome to Advent Reads!
This is an event I have had on my blog for several years running now. Each evening I feature a different holiday themed book. Think of it as your Book Advent Calendar! I post a variety of holiday books including romance, children's, middle-grade, mystery, paranormal, and I try to find some that are other holiday celebrations than Christmas too. I hope you will stop by each evening to see what new book I have for you!
Merry Christmas!
Read for: TBR & Beat the Backlist
Synopsis: "Written in 1816 by the German Romantic E. T. A. Hoffmann for his children, nephews and nieces, The Nutcracker captures better than any other story a child's wonder at Christmas. Since its publication, it has inspired hundreds of artists and adaptations, most notably the legendary ballet, scored by Russian composer Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Today, the story - and its enchanting images of sugar plums and nutcrackers, mistletoe and the Kingdom of the Dolls - continues to cast its fantastical spell on readers of all ages."
My Review: I have seen the ballet and listened to the music many times, I have read books based off this story but never the original material. I thought it was finally time. I must admit that I am rather out of practice with classics and this was a slow read for me. I also found the translation to be a bit clunky, at times the words were translated exactly but the meaning that was intended was clearly different. I think that lead to it being slightly confusing while reading it but looking back at the story I can understand it fine. I think maybe if I had picked up a different translation or maybe an audio version, I might have enjoyed it a bit more.
My Rating: I had been eyeing this one for a while and am glad I finally read it but I think I will stick to the ballet and more modern interpretations in the future. I do give it a rating of Three Paws!
This is a book I definitely want to read at some point, but I'll have to find a different translation. :p How funny that it was translated literally sometimes. Great review!
ReplyDeleteAlyssa, thanks for stopping by! I would definitely suggest a different translation or maybe an audio book. It was definitely quite a bit different than some of the movie adaptations I have seen and I have no idea how they came up with the beautiful music either!
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