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This month we are reading two versions of the nutcracker tale, which can be found together in this version-Nutcracker and Mouse King and the Tale of the Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffmann and Alexandre Dumas.


The Hoffmann version is darker than the Dumas adaptation, which is the basis for the Nutcracker ballet.

If you like creepy stories, check out some of the other works of Hoffmann, especially .

Last year I only had time to read the first half of this. I plan to read the second half this year.

That works out well for you, Annette.

I will be reading the Hoffmann version with illustrations by Maurice Sendak. I picked it up a few years ago at a library book sale.

Reading about Godfather Drosselmeyer I keep hearing this song:

Now I know where that name came from.

I finished Hoffmann earlier and really enjoyed it. I liked the abrupt and somewhat disorienting transitions between the layers of narrative and do wonder if Flann O'Brien took some inspiration for At Swim-Two-Birds. I'll leave Dumas for next weekend, let this one settle a little.

I finished the Hoffman version. Really sets a nice Christmas mood. A lot of what I've read this year has a really fairy tale quality to it.

Mike wrote: "I finished Hoffmann earlier and really enjoyed it. I liked the abrupt and somewhat disorienting transitions between the layers of narrative"
It makes it very dreamlike. Makes you wonder is Drosselmeyer feeding her fantasies or is it real?

I've been reading a lot of Hoffmann this year. That man had quite an imagination!

Book Nerd wrote: "It makes it very dreamlike. Makes you wonder is Drosselmeyer feeding her fantasies or is it real?"

Indeed, and just because the nephew does come to take her hand in the end doesn't mean the rest wasn't a fevered dream!

I read the Dumas version over the weekend. I think leaving only a week between them may have done Dumas a disservice. I still enjoyed it but didn't find it quite as captivating. More family friendly and gone is the disorientation I so enjoyed in Hoffmann.

Mike wrote: "I read the Dumas version over the weekend. I think leaving only a week between them may have done Dumas a disservice. I still enjoyed it but didn't find it quite as captivating. More family friendly and gone is the disorientation I so enjoyed in Hoffmann."
Agreed. Rewriting it with slight changes seemed pointless and the disorienting dreamlike quality was mostly lost.

I guess I'll take a look at the ballet soon.