Right from his arrival to the Dickens’ home, Andersen declared it a Danish custom to have his hosts’ firstborn son shave him! He was however sent to the barbers. To the astonishment and shock of his host family, Andersen extended this visit, not by a couple of days but by a whopping three weeks! Even more when he got an invitation to stay with Dickens’ family in Kent England for a maximum of two weeks. When Andersen met his literary hero Charles Dickens in 1847, he must have been ecstatic. Andersen made for a disconcerting house guest He also always carried a long rope during his travels in case he had to escape a fire. Perhaps one of his greatest fears was being accidentally buried alive (Taphophobia)- he countered or tried to counter this by leaving out a note saying “I only appear to be dead.” Other famous people that had a similar fear George Washington and Nikolai Golgol,īesides this, Andersen feared dogs. The author was no stranger to phobia’s as he had quite a number. His publishers thankfully corrected this but did not tamper with his way of writing, which was as close to the spoken language as it gets, giving his work longevity and freshness. He, however, struggled with spelling and his handwritten copy was riddled with typos. Andersen’s Childhood home- by Ipigott- Wikimedia CommonsĪndersen suffered dyslexia growing up but he learned to read.
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