78. Wind in den Weiden by Kenneth GrahameI read this looking up some but not all unknown words.
Nogon mentioned this book, and while I had watched a
TV adaptation, I had not read the book, so I decided to try it in German.
The
English version has 12 chapters, but the German edition I used (ISBN: 380941669X) has only 10, Chapter 5 "Dulce Domum" and Chapter 7 "The piper at the gates of dawn" having been omitted. I believe the Harry Rowohlt translation published by
Kein and Aber is unabridged.
It's a short-story collection, following the adventures of Mole, Ratty, Badger and Toad. Much like Tolkien's Hobbit these stories were originally bedtime stories for the author's son, that eventually found their way into print. Toad was apparantly modeled on Mr Grahame's son, and he reminds me of a member of my own family!
Kenneth Grahame, the author, published this when he was in his late 40s, in his day job he had been Secretary of the Bank of England, so a successful career outside of writing. I couldn't find a German language biography of Mr Grahame, but there are several in English, my local library has one by
Matthew Dennison.
79. Eine Jugend in Deutschland by Ernst TollerI read this on an eReader looking up all unknown words, ARD have a three-part
radio adaptation.
This is an autobiographical book, Mr Toller was born into a jewish family in East Prussia (northern Poland), he grew up above he family shop. When WW1 broke out he was studying in France, he returned to Germany, and joined the military. After the war, Germany was a cauldron of revolutionary movements, Mr Toller became a leading figure in the
1919 Bavarian revolution, die Münchner Räterepublik, and was sentenced to 5 years in prison when the revolution failed. The book ends with his release from prison.
During his sentence he wrote several plays, which were performed while he was still serving his sentence.
Books/writers mentioned include:
The picture of post WW1 Germany shown in Mr Toller's book and others has me wondering about a "what if", what if the Red Army had won the
1920 Battle of Warsaw, and continued on to Germany?
80. Kristina, vergiss nicht by Willi FährmannI read this looking up some but not all unknown words.
This is a young adult book, the publisher's age guidance is "ab 12 jahre", I borrowed it from the
Goethe eLibrary.
The action starts in Poland, an ethnic German is applying for permission for herself and her extended family to emigrate to West Germany. This appears to have been a legal right, but one that was routinely frustrated by bureaucratic means. The final successful application was the lady's ninth attempt.
The family is split into three units, the son had defected to West Germany while on a work trip to Hungary, the family in Poland consists of the daughter-in-law and grandson in one household, and the grandmother and granddaughter in another. The grandmother is the one applying for the exit visa, she also tries to keep their German identity alive, speaking German to her granddaughter in the house. Her grandson, while he can speak German defaults to Polish.
During their time in Poland we see some friction with a few rowdy locals focused on their German ethnicity. When they successfully move to West Germany, we see that their peers experience some friction from the local German population who identify them as foreign, not all the ethnic Germans speak German, several children have poor or no German language skills and this affects their schooling.
The granddaughter is a skilled musician, and finds a place at a music school, she was a good student in Poland, and in many subjects she is quickly able to adapt. Some friends she makes there organise themselves into a tutor-group to help the German-Polish children catch up to their peers, and at the end the family has found a new house in a friendly community.
The moral of the book perhaps being be a good neighbour.
This is the sequel to "Zeit zu hassen, Zeit zu lieben" (
book 77).
81. Weiße Nächte by Fjodor DostojewskiI read this on an eReader looking up all unknown words.
This is a novella, a love story, boy meets girl, boy falls in love, girl breaks boy's heart!
I was follwing a trail of "lieblingsbücher" videos on YouTube, and
one mentioned this story.
TVI'm currently watching
Mama ist unmöglich, a sitcom that was mentioned in the
Best German Sitcom for Intermediate Learner? thread.
FrenchI'm reading Éric Tabarly's autobiography
Mémoires du large. Mr Tabarly was a successful yachtsman, winner of the 1964
Single-handed Transatlantic race. His daughter
Marie Tabarly is still active in the French boating world.
I've also listened to two radio programmes about Mr Tabarly,
toute une vie, and
au coeur de l'histoire.