| Title | : | Der 35. Mai oder Konrad reitet in die Südsee |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | German |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 160 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1931 |
Der 35. Mai oder Konrad reitet in die Südsee Reviews
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This book by Erich Kästner, a left-wing, pacifist author writing in 1931 Germany, is compared by many reviewers to Carroll's Alice in Wonderland; to me, it came across as more like the first half of Vian's L'écume des jours, a manic surrealist dream that's just about to turn into a nightmare. Konrad, his amiably mad uncle Ringelhuth and the rollerskating circus horse Negro Caballo go through the magic wardrobe and end up in a series of bizarre worlds: a tropical island where the inhabitants are pursued by a giant landgoing whale; a medieval city where the great generals of history fight out campaigns with toy soldiers ("I'll go on as long as I have one man left standing, our honor is at stake"); a Metropolis-like collection of skysrapers where no one has to work and everything is done by all-powerful computers which haven't even been invented yet.
The most powerful image comes from "Electropolis". An entirely mechanized farm, where thousands of cows are herded into the opening of a huge machine; without human intervention, they are slaughtered, cut into pieces and turned into wurst, schnitzel, whipped cream, suitcases and leather shoes, which pour out onto conveyor belts at the other end.
Two years after Kästner published it, Hitler came to power and started publicly burning his books... -
The clock struck 35.
Oh, wait, it was the calendar.
This is a light fantasy book for children. Notable because the characters enter a fantasy world via a wardrobe, long before the Narnia books. Konrad and his uncle travel with a talking horse (no relation) who is a world-champion roller skater (quadruped division).
I found a French copy by chance, so that is what I read. The English title is "The 35th of May", but it is pretty much unknown, and that's ok. There are many better children's fantasy books. The horse is named "Negro Caballo", which literally means "Black Horse", but feels a little uncomfortable to read today. More uncomfortable is that there is a child with checkerboard skin, the result of a Black father and a White mother. I think it was meant as harmless silliness, and Kaestner was an outspoken enemy of the Nazis, but lets leave this book in the past.
By the way, just typing "The 35th of May" can get you banned from Chinese internet. I can live with that. -
This is the oldest book that I own, it's a Dutch translation and it's not dated so I'm not really sure about how old it is.
I got this book from my great-grandmother and I remember reading this over and over again when I was a kid. -
A boy and his uncle go on a fantastic adventure, visiting the country of lazy people, a school for wayward parents, a castle of kings and generals from history, an automatized city, and finally the South Seas. It reminds a bit of Alice in Wonderland.
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Детска книжка, прескачаща границите на абсурда и носеща доста добри послания, заради които не би било възможно издаването и днес.
Автора соли много сериозно дебелаците и мардите. Има и негри човекоядци, тъпи родители, говорещи коне на кънки, както и едно момиченце на черни и бели квадрати, защото баща и е вожд, а майка и - обикновена машинописка. :P -
Като приказка. Изключително детска. През цялото време си представях как се чете на малко дете и то се киска :)
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O carte extrem de amuzantă! 🤣🤣🤣
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Elképesztő kis képtelenség, ami csak május 35-én történhet meg. :)
Konrád a Csendes-óceánhoz lovagol, némi Narnia-hangulattal egy szekrényen át, a bácsikájával és egy Negro Caballo nevű görkorcsolyázó lóval együtt. Útközben érintik Eldorádót, elektromos várost, a fordított világot, és számos csudabogárral találkoznak. Gyerekeknek kacagtató, de felnőtteknek is felnevetős. Mondjuk a sallerok, meg a fura beszélgetés Konrád szülei és a nagybácsi között ma már nemigen férnének bele a kötetbe, a helyesírási hibáktól kínzóan hemzsegő, rémes dolgozatot pedig én biztos lehagytam volna inkább a végéről...
Kicsit talán felnőttszemmel olvastam -merthogy az volnék -, de próbáltam levenni azért ezt a felnőttszemüveget, és élvezni az agyament kalandokat. -
I cried laughing.
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Très rigolo et amusant, c'est une version améliorée d'Alice in Wonderland
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Ich liebe ja sonst meine Dosis Erich Kästner, aber der 35. Mai war mir dann doch eine Spur zu überdreht. Auch wenn seine Kritikpunkte zu den historischen Personen bzw. Sozialsituationen allgemein zum Teil goldrichtig sind, und wirklich auch zukunftsweisend für die damalige Zeit, so war mein Leseerlebnis nicht wirklich freudig.
Believathon 2019: Read a book with an animal character.
Buzzword Readathon_Round 5: buzzword_numbers -
Der 35. Mai is a day where crazy things happen - especially to Konrad and his uncle Mr Ringelhuth.
On this day they meet a horse (Negro Kaballo) who talks and comes with them through Ringelhuth's cupboard into a place where everything seems to be the opposite from everything they know and to the Southsea.
There were interesting things mentioned in here like the "land of plenty" or the 'wrong world'.
There was a scence, where the children take over the responsibilities of an adult, tyrannical adults are however sent to a conduct school.
It's adventurous, hilarious and blatantly "futuristic" in Erich Kaestner's writing. Indeed, it does remind me a bit of
Alice in Wonderland but not sure which one I like better as they both have a surreal world that I love. Definitely worth re-reading!
In German:
Der 35. Mai ist ein Tag, an dem verrückte Dinge passieren - besonders für Konrad und seinen Onkel Mr. Ringelhuth.
An diesem Tag begegnen sie einem Pferd, Negro Kaballo, das spricht und mit ihnen durch Ringelhuths Schrank gehen. Die kommen an einen Ort an, wo alles das Gegenteil ist was die "normalerweise wissen". Und es geht in die Richtung Sueden.
Es wurden interessante Dinge erwähnt, wie das "Land der Fülle" oder die "falsche Welt".
Es gab eine Szene, in der die Kinder die Verantwortung eines Erwachsenen übernehmen, tyrannische Erwachsene jedoch auf eine Dirigentenschule geschickt werden.
Abenteuerlich, urkomisch und geradezu "futuristisch" schreibt Erich Kaestner. In der Tat erinnert es mich ein bisschen an Alice im Wunderland, aber ich bin mir nicht sicher, welches ich besser mag, da beide eine surreale Welt haben, die ich liebe. Auf jeden Fall wieder lesen! -
Very funny, highly absurd, I didn't know this as a child, but I would have loved it.
I liked the last part best, when they finally meet the girl called Petersilie (and discover the whale in the forest), it's really fun and I just love this typical Kästner language immensely. The way they talk is just too funny.
(I seem to have read way too much Kästner - and later on too much Tucholsky and watched too much Loriot... - because when I talk (German), people tend not to "get" me, I'm using absurd words or strange expressions, and reading Kästner, or Tucholsky for that matter, still amuses me much.)
But it is also a rather uncoordinated mixture of maybe too many different things at a time, so it is not Kästner's best for me. But still very enjoyable!
This is my favorite quote:
"Konrad war nicht fähig, etwas zu erwidern. Denn das Mädchen, das Petersilie hieß, war schwarz und weiß kariert! 'Mensch', sagte er schließlich. 'Auf dir kann man ja Schach spielen!' " ("Konrad was unable to respond. Because the girl called Parsley was checkered black and white. 'Gosh', he finally said. 'One can play chess on you!'") -
Surrealistyczna opowieść, która wciągnęła i dzieciaki i mnie. Choć nie historia jest w tej opowieści najważniejsza, a humor. Świetne, abstrakcyjne poczucie humoru Kästnera, a dodatkowo fantastyczne ilustracje Butenki. Gorąco polecamy do wspólnej lektury!
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Lectura sencilla. Es un libro de 1931, y se nota. De ahí que sea tan fascinante cómo ven el futuro y cómo se relacionan las diferentes personas que salen en él. Me ha gustado bastante. Y más leerlo en la edición de Alfaguara Juvenil de los años 80.
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Sehr lustig für einen Science-Fiction-Roman. Ich mag es.
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Детство мое, въображение мое... Къде останахте? :)
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A cute, funny, classical kids book.
I read this because we're going to be performing this with our theater group. -
Бях забравила какво е да четеш детски книжки, но определено развихри въображението ми.
Много ми хареса връзката на момченцето с чичо му Рингелхут. Двамата бяха толкова близки, че на моменти изглеждаха като най-добри приятели на една възраст. Заедно с коня обиколиха света, за да стигнат до Южните страни, като по пътя ги очакваха много забавни приключения.
Книжката е много свежа и позитивна: въпреки, че е детска, ми показа много вече забравени мисли. Радвам се, че я прочетох и си припомних всички неща, които изпитвах като малка. <3 -
Dieses Buch enthält soviel Fanatsie. Es ist bezaubernd! Ich habe es bereits als Kind vorgelesen bekommen und es als Erwachsene nun noch einmal gelesen und bin vollkommen fasziniert von den Ideen Erich Kästners. Man kann aber keine 'political correctness' von einem Buch erwarten, welches 1931 geschrieben wurde - also Vorsicht beim Vorlesen für Kinder!
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Манаваш през шкафа към “Южните страни” със седемгодишното ти момченце, говорейки с кон, на който искаш да дадеш захарче, но го нямаш в джоба си. И пак се връщаш там, в деството, когато това е толкова естествено. И продължаваш да вярваш.
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En la sección "Libros que leí hace años y de los que no recordaba NADA": Ya entendí porque no recordaba nada, no me interesó mucho. Fue muy meh y no me sorprendería si lo vuelvo a olvidar en el futuro.
2.5 -
the kids still love it but as an adult it feels outdated and with boring political jokes. not worth returning to
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Книга, която се препрочита задължително поне веднъж годишно :) Толкова абсурди, толкова чувство за хумор, толкова увлекателно четиво... нямам думи!
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Read the Norwegian translation (not listed among these editions)
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8/10
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3,25/5 ⭐
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Sehr fantasievoll :D
Aber er war doch ein Kind seiner Zeit -
Lo leí en mi primer año de secundaria. Y siempre recuerdo que me resultó muy cómico. Genial.
