Scan barcode
A review by avalinda
The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen
5.0
Having grown up around a million different "Little Mermaid" adaptations, mostly in film, reading this story has been way overdue for me. I actually loved this much more than I expected, thanks to Andersen's haunting and beautiful writing. There were times I could almost see the deep blue depths of the sea, the shimmering palace of the underwater kingdom, the vastness of the sky above the ocean and the magnificence of the sunsets, ships, and icebergs. It was as if I experienced those things anew through the various mermaids' eyes.
Even the darker moments of the story were presented in sharp, heartbreaking fashion - from the sinister setting in which the sea-witch demanded her sacrifice, to the pain and despair of the little mermaid as she watched her dream slowly crumble to pieces. Though her fate was an unhappy one, I found it more realistic than the completely positive versions that I was used to; after all, humans are a fickle bunch, and very rarely do things go right for the innocent and kind among us. However, I'm glad there was still some potential for the mermaid's redemption at the end, even if she could never return to either world she had known. All things considered, out of all the mermaid stories I've encountered so far, this one will definitely remain my favorite.
Even the darker moments of the story were presented in sharp, heartbreaking fashion - from the sinister setting in which the sea-witch demanded her sacrifice, to the pain and despair of the little mermaid as she watched her dream slowly crumble to pieces. Though her fate was an unhappy one, I found it more realistic than the completely positive versions that I was used to; after all, humans are a fickle bunch, and very rarely do things go right for the innocent and kind among us. However, I'm glad there was still some potential for the mermaid's redemption at the end, even if she could never return to either world she had known. All things considered, out of all the mermaid stories I've encountered so far, this one will definitely remain my favorite.