The original stories behind everyone's favorite Christmas ballet
It wasn't until the 1950s that seeing The Nutcracker at Christmastime became an American tradition. But the story itself is much older and its original intent more complex. This eye-opening new volume presents two of the tale's earliest versions, both in new translations: E.T.A. Hoffmann's Nutcracker and Mouse King (1816), in which a young girl is whisked away to the Land of Toys to help her animated nutcracker defeat the Mouse King, and Alexandre Dumas's 1845 adaptation, The Tale of the Nutcracker, based on Hoffmann's popular work. Irresistible tales of magic, mystery, and childhood adventure, these timeless delights and fresh interpretations about the importance of imagination will captivate readers of all ages.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
The original stories behind everyone's favorite Christmas ballet
It wasn't until the 1950s that seeing The Nutcracker at Christmastime became an American tradition. But the story itself is much older and its original intent more complex. This eye-opening new volume presents two of the tale's earliest versions, both in new translations: E.T.A. Hoffmann's Nutcracker and Mouse King (1816), in which a young girl is whisked away to the Land of Toys to help her animated nutcracker defeat the Mouse King, and Alexandre Dumas's 1845 adaptation, The Tale of the Nutcracker, based on Hoffmann's popular work. Irresistible tales of magic, mystery, and childhood adventure, these timeless delights and fresh interpretations about the importance of imagination will captivate readers of all ages.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Alexandre Dumas was born July 24, 1802, at Villiers-Cotterets,
France, the son of Napoleon's famous mulatto general, Dumas.
Alexandre Dumas began writing at an early age and saw his first
success in a play he wrote entitled Henri III et sa Cour (1829). A
prolific author, Dumas was also an adventurer and took part in the
Revolution of 1830. Dumas is most famous for his brilliant
historical novels, which he wrote with collaborators, mainly
Auguste Maquet, and which were serialized in the popular press of
the day. His most popular works are The Three Musketeers(1844), The
Count of Monte Cristo (1844-45), and The Man in Iron Mask
(1848-50). Dumas made and lost several fortunes, and died penniless
on on December 5, 1870.
Joachim Neugroschelhas won three PEN translation awards and the
French-American translation prize. He has alsotranslated Thomas
Mann's Death in Venice and Sacher-Masoch's Venus in Furs, both for
Penguin Classics.He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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