i love this! it's post-modern pastiche! it's historical storytelling! it made me laugh, and it made me think of other things that i've read, where an author twists a famous tale to fit in a new perspective: writers like Gore Vidal, in his book "Creation." Also, "The Seven Percent Solution" and "The List of Seven"- all of these books interweave either real persons or other writers' characters into their story. they do something masterful: find the niches into which they can pour their own tale, which in turn expands our perspective on a canonical event.
In this case, you take the canonical event of the little matchstick girl's death, and pose the question: What if Spike was there? It's absolutely brilliant!
This feels to me like a continuing dialogue between Andersen and yourself, and us as readers because we see both texts, and can appreciate your cleverness. It brings other referents into the community discussion.
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Date: 2006-12-06 06:23 pm (UTC)In this case, you take the canonical event of the little matchstick girl's death, and pose the question: What if Spike was there? It's absolutely brilliant!
This feels to me like a continuing dialogue between Andersen and yourself, and us as readers because we see both texts, and can appreciate your cleverness. It brings other referents into the community discussion.
Well done!