There is nothing new about my love for fairy tales. Ever since I was a little girl, I have been surrounded by this literary style and, today, I apply it with great affection in my work.
Therefore, I decided to create a list of fairy tales. In this post, I will discuss three of my favourite stories. For me, these tales are very much about creativity and life and death polarities.
1. Little Ida's Flowers.
It's a relatively long story, but the explanation the student gives Ida about "the ball of flowers" is beautiful.
In particular, I'm very curious to know what that ball looks like! I'm not going to lie that I've stayed up all night hoping to see some movement in the plants here at home, just like when I was a kid trying to see Santa Claus! The great thing about stories is believing in their magic, either literally or as a spark that allows you to dream.
2. The Little Match Girl.
This was a story I learned to love. It is about a little girl who worked on the street selling matches, completely ignored by passersby on Christmas Eve in the Russian winter.
As a child, I remember being traumatized by this tale, as I once watched a video that made me cry for hours. It is a tale that provides beauty in sadness. It is a mixture of comfort and despair. When Andersen wrote the tale and his other works, he was illustrating and criticizing the poverty of Russian society. It is impossible not to be moved by this tale, to feel rebellion, sadness, relief and warmth. It is not a tale for all hours, however, when presented at the right time, it releases various emotions.
3. La Llorona
This story has already come up a lot around here. To know more about it, you can read it in our posts "mythological parallels: Mávkas and La Llorona".
The Mexican tale, without a doubt, is one of my favourites to tell. For horror fans, it's a great read. Particularly, this story gives me a lot of indignation and even anger, while at the same time there is a seductive mystery in the listening and telling. It is very easy to make comparisons to other stories and even to our own lives.
There is no author of reference for this tale. And you can read it in books or learn about its variants through cinematographic works.
Whether through dance, matches or water, all the stories deal with the theme of life and death, creativity, and absence. They are beautiful narratives that I recommend reading at least once in a lifetime.