H.C. Andersen ~ "The Little Match Girl"

Yes, this is for real. No, you're not wrong. It's my review for that fairy tale. Why? Keep reading...


I simply cannot bring myself to rate this.
It's one of those bedtime stories from my childhood, that were read to me repeatedly, and that stayed carved in my memory for good.

Only, this particular one is kind of an issue for me.
When you're a kid - three or four years old - you're bound to enjoy the numerous fairy tales, and think about... well, fairies, and princes, and frogs, and villains, and magic, and God knows what else. And it's great. Almost everything is great at that age, but still...



Anyway, one of the reasons I loved this story so much is the happy ending. Want me to pass that by you again? Here it goes.

The happy ending.


Would you believe that? I've actually spent sixteen years of my life convinced that this little girl's Grandma really showed up out of nowhere, took the girl with her to some safe, warm, lovely place, and that this little girl lived happily...
Got it?

It wasn't until someone accidentally mentioned this story, and I said how much I love it, that my wake-up call came. This girl was like: "How can you love it, when that poor little girl froze to death?". Oh, boy. Was that a moment of truth.
I even had to make myself read it all over again, after so many years, just to make sure that was it. She died. She truly died.

And, I couldn't believe in fairy tales anymore. How can I, when there's a little girl freezing to death in one? That is not a fairy tale. It should be forbidden by law to let a poor child die in the cold, and read it like some joyful thing along with all the Brothers Grimm work.
Now, I'm just kind of fascinated how my mind re-wrote the ending, and kept it a happy one for all those years.

So, there you have it. I love this story - happy end or not. And I hate this story. With all my heart. And, I sincerely wish someone will eventually decide to put it in a different section. It's still not something I'd use for a bedtime-fairytale reading.