Ernst T. A. Hoffmann

Lo Schiaccianoci

Elisabetta

Loved it as a child, loved it as an adult! 
Ok, probably I have an emotional attachment to this story as I remember my mother reading and re-reading it to my brother and I when we were children, HOWEVER:
The Nutcracker is a beautiful, classic Christmas story that could never grow old. The translation is probably not as beutiful as the original, but the magic doesn't fade away, at all. 

(view spoiler)[The story is all about a girl who, playing with her toys, doesn't distinguish reality from fantasy. About that, her godfather Pate (Drosselmeier) is one of my favourite characters in the story: he seems ambiguous at the beginning, but he is the only one to feed the imagination of the girl and to believe her, allowing her to remain a child for a little bit longer at an age when all of her beliefs are about to crumble (at the beginning she and her brother are not allowed in the living room where the presents brought by Santa Claus are being displayed and their curiosity and willingness to catch a glimps of movements in the room let think that they will soon understang that it's not real).

I have read a review of a few years ago that was quite annoying, as it said that it's a creepy story because the protagonist and the boy at the end (nutcracker) decide to get married even if they are eight years old. Let me write down a few observations here:
- First of all, it was published in 1816 when it was not too uncommon to organize marriages at a very early age. Don't read old story as if they had been written today, because of course things have changed and are not like that today, but they worked like that at that time and place.
- Secondly, as already said in a comment in response to the review, the main character is a child playing and fantasizing, so it's quite normal that she falls in love with the hero and wants to marry him, even though it's not possible given their early age (and we all played as children, come on, we all wanted to get married to our crush; children love totally and without restraint). 
- Lastly, it is also said that they wait until they are adults to get married, so this person probably didn't even finish the book or didn't grasp at all its meaning.

If you don't understand the magic of children's books and/or don't want/are not able to let your inner child out for the time being, just don't read children's books! (hide spoiler)]

Lo Schiaccianoci

Reviews