'Eventyr' is the Danish word for fairytale. Author Andrew O'Connell has published a new book of short stories titled
Eventyr: 12 Tales of Unbreakable Friendship and it is an excellent read. It is written with an insightful sensitivity and the stories are of inspiring people, connecting in adventures with imaginative fanciful characters, including a mermaid, a marionette, an adorable dog, two sweet little red robins and more. There is a moral to each of these stories that come across in a very subtle form.
Over the last five years, Andrew has been teaching Performing Arts for Educators and Academic Creative Writing at Curtin University. In 2015, Andrew produced his first play, a modern American classic
Oleanna, written by world-renowned playwright David Mamet who Andrew admires. It was also in 2015 that Andrew would publish his first book,
Eventyr: 12 Unlikely Conversations. Since then, Andrew and his theatrical company O have gone on to produce more plays, including
Stuck, which Andrew wrote and directed himself.
Author Andrew O'Connell
Since 2015, Andrew has gone on to publish two other books in the
Eventyr series;
12 Tales of Love Beyond The Grave and also the soon to be released
12 Tales of Unbreakable Friendship.
Eventyr has gone beyond being a series title and has come to define a genre of tales found in the intersection between short stories fairytales for adults and play scripts.
One of my favourite stories in
Eventyr: 12 Tales of Unbreakable Friendship is 'The Old Man and the Marionette'. The picture below is a great picture of the marionette. It is an intriguing tale, which is very imaginative with a subtle moral message. This story portrays Andrew's signature style.
12 Tales of Unbreakable Friendship
Another story I loved is 'The Beachcomber and the Homeless Man'. This story depicts true friendship. A moving scene of a man befriending a homeless man with empathy and care. A friendship develops in highly unusual circumstances. It will touch your heart as it did mine.
The Beachcomber and The Homeless Man
Short stories have become very popular over the last ten years. Most of us are short of time in our daily lives and if you are like me and love reading, it's so convenient. I can pick up a book like Andrew's book in my lunch hour or when traveling on the Manly Ferry. The magic is I can read the whole story in maybe half an hour and I get to know the characters, the plot and the climax. This is very satisfying. It's a great way to keep your literate and imaginative mind alive.
Two Red Robbins
The picture above is a illustration of the two red robbins from the story of that name in Andrew's book. I just had to say a little on this sweet, sensitive, imaginative piece. The two robbins have a nest on the scaffolding of a busy railroad station. They keep watch over the commuters and notice a man lying on the railway tracks. They fly around chirping loudly to try to draw attention to the unsafe situation. The duo takes on a voice and a expression of care for the man.
All the stories in Andrew's book are well worth reading. He has a great talent to write stories that intrigue the reader. When you finish one story, it will whet your appetite to read the next one, so take it with you when you go out for a coffee break and read another. Each story will entertain and fit into your busy lifestyle.
If interested in purchasing
Eventyr: 12 Tales of Unbreakable Friendship, Andrew can be contacted on his website shown here. Also,
Eventyr: 12 Tales of Unbreakable Friendship will be available on Amazon.
