Nutcracker and Mouse-King

By: E.T.A. Hoffmann

Narrated by: Sandra Cullum

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (German: Nußknacker und Mausekönig) is a story written in 1816 by E. T. A. Hoffmann in which young Marie Stahlbaum's favorite Christmas toy, the Nutcracker, comes alive and, after defeating the evil Mouse King in battle, whisks her away to a magical kingdom populated by dolls. In 1892, the Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov turned Alexandre Dumas père's adaptation of the story into the ballet The Nutcracker, which became one of Tchaikovsky's most famous compositions, and perhaps the most popular ballet in the world.

©2016 Paperless (P)2016 Paperless

Children's book from the early 1800s

If you could sum up Nutcracker and Mouse-King in three words, what would they be?

This storybook is written as if it were the transcription of a parent or nanny telling an intricate bedtime story to children. There are about 13 chapters. The story is understandable and enjoyable. It is older, proper English. At times pronouns such as "thy and thine" are used. The translation from German was carefully done so that parts of the text keep a poetic meter and rhyme. The story is pretty much the same as the cartoon "The Nutcracker Prince" with Kiefer Sutherland.

Brings new details to the story that I never knew existed.

I watched and friend this several times last season namely, I watch this version by this author that was available on prime where they had and actively live background fireplace with crackling noises which was nice to have on for ambience while everyone’s talking and half paying attention to a story that adds more a few more twist than you had thought there may have been. Enjoy!

Beautiful narration!

I listened to this while attempting to assemble a 1000 piece Christmas jigsaw puzzle. I enjoyed it very much. Will listen to it again each Christmas as a new tradition as I continye my old tradition of Christmas puzzling. Well worth the investment, great entertainment!

meh

It was tough to follow at times, but it gave some background on the story.