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Genre: Fairytale retelling Main characters: little Frederick Pedersen Time and place: I’m guessing Denmark (Andersen was Danish), and the 19th century or so (or who knows, Denmark still has a Queen as we speak :) ) First sentence: “On an island so far north that it snowed from September to April, a boy named Frederik kept himself warm by keeping a secret.” Summary: A retelling of the story of The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen, told mostly from the point of view of the boy who took one of her shoes. |
Understandably enough I was fond of the way Frederik related to his secret: he had a small cardboard city hidden in the attic, with two residents made out of threadless wooden spools, with their heads being acorns. Frederik thinks they may feel lonely, and goes on to search for a way to get the pair a boat to go sailing, “to hunt for more family”. I found that to be a cute idea, and also the very reason why the path of Frederik and the little girl with the matches will intersect, albeit for a very short while.
This is another one of those stories where everyone is good and the atmosphere is relaxed. The queen was my favorite from this point of view, as she was quite a clumsy creature, always stepping on the hems of her dresses; a detail that could have made her ridiculous to the reader, but as she also treated everyone quite nicely, I ended up being amused by her in a good way.
A part of the product description of the book on Amazon.com (something I didn’t think about myself but is obvious once it’s been pointed out):
When it was first translated from Danish and published in England in the mid-nineteenth century, audiences likely interpreted the Little Match Girl′s dying visions of lights and a grandmother in heaven as metaphors of religious salvation. Maguire′s new piece, entitled “Matchless,” reilluminates Andersen′s classic, using his storytelling magic to rekindle Andersen′s original intentions, and to suggest transcendence, the permanence of spirit, and the continuity that links the living and the dead.
Another thing I have loved from the very first is the title. Which I find beautiful :)
I have no idea whether I am right or not, but I took it to be a play on words, as matchless means both with no matches (just like the little girl was after all her matches have burned) and without a match, alone, as two of the characters in the book happen to be. Also, at one point the girl’s mother’s eyes were mentioned to be matchless (as in unique), and I enjoyed having yet another meaning to play with. Isn’t it great that one single word title can be interpreted in so many ways? :)
Thoughts on the ending: It’s quite cute, made even more so by the pictures. How else :)
What I liked most: The fact that the author has managed to take such a gloomy story and turn it into a happy one without actually changing anything of importance…
What I liked least: …however, I was nevertheless a bit disappointed by the fact that the original story wasn’t changed; for some reason I was expecting otherwise. Didn’t bother me that much though as the whole was happy enough overall.
Recommend it to? Everyone. It a very short read (272 lines, according to one reviewer), and the pics (drawn by the author himself) are really nice :)
Written by the same author:
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister
Wicked
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I like the play on the title as well! Really seems interesting to read and see how each interpretation is present in the story. Thanks!
I saw Gregroy Maguire speak on campus last year and he talked about the process of this book. I loved the way he read it and all the pictures, and I definitely wanted to get the whole thing. I forgot, so I’m glad to be reminded.