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What I've just finished reading
Since we're on holidays, a lot of the time was spent in a cabin high up in the Alps with extraordinately bad weather - so children's books it is...
Das kleine Gespenst (The little Ghost) by Otfried Preußler. I've read this book countless times, still like the plot with the ghost that gets from haunting the night to haunting the day because the clock it is tied to was overhauled. But how on earth could I have missed the subtext till now? The subtext celebrating being white over being cursed to be black (because the ghost turns black as soon as the first ray of sun hits it), to be more precise? Passages like this:
Das kleine Gespenst warf seinem Spiegelbild einen giftigen Blick zu.
"Schrecklich, mir vorzustellen, dass ich mein ganzes weiteres Leben als schwarzes Scheusal verbringen soll! – Ob es vielleicht ein Mittel dagegen gibt: ein Mittel, das einen wieder weiß macht…?"
The little looked at its image in the mirror with disgust.
"How horrible, should I have to spend the rest of my life as a black abomination. - If there is any cure for it: a cure that makes me white again?"
I mean, so far I already always had to comment on Preußler's depiction of family life (you know, the happy 50ies model with overcautious stay at home mum and cool dad) - I couldn't omit it while reading because it was worked too deeply into the story, so I had to resort to preaching and ranting... - but I honestly didn't realise this blatant affirmation of racial stereotypes until now. Speaking of bias you don't realise because you're sitting safely on the side of well-meaning priviledge.
The kids, being white kids (although with poc-friends), didn't realise the stereotyping, of course. I'm now asking myself if I should point it out to them the way I point it out when a washboard enabling Princess Li-Si to finally do her own washing is considered a brilliant engagement gift (for a 8y old!) in Jim Knopf... raaah, why are the so little children's books without stereotyping and still a gripping story?
(If there are, please point me in the right direction!)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: The kids loved this way more than CoS - no creepy snakes, no Voldemort himself (I'm honestly curious if we'll ever progress further then GoF). We finished the book and immediately started the re-read - because, hey, turns out that you can read everything about Sirius and the Grim and who is deciving whom in a totally new light if you know about the real traitor! :)
Fun fact: the parts they like the most (which I had to re-read numerous times) are the ones where Fred and George poke fun at Percy and his pompous ways.
The translation is still atrocious, from simply misconstructing sentences (Der Blick der Hexe wanderte von Krätzes angeknabbertem linkem Ohr zu seiner Vorderpfote, an der ein Zeh fehlte, und er tat sein Missfallen laut kund.) over clunky language up to the fact that it's only ever the female characters who get their names germanified (Hermione -> Hermine, Aunt Marge -> Tante Marga). Luckily this can be easier rectified while reading the kids than all the gender stereotypes and the serious lack of female characters doing anything meaningful in a positive way (besides Hermione, of course).
This re-read is as much fun as it is disentchanting, sigh.
I also read a book for grownups: Hannas schlafende Hunde (which was recently made into a movie) about a girl finding out she is Jewish aged 16.
What I'm reading now
On with the questionable children's books: now with Der kleine Mann und die kleine Miss (The little Man and the little Miss) by Erich Kästner - which, while also stemming from the 50ies, so far doesn't seem to spout as many vicious stereotypes as the Preußler ones. And is quite the cute story about 5 cm tall Max Pichelsteiner and his godfather, the magician Jokus von Pokus.
And in the grown-up department: After long silence by Helen Fremont, also on discovering Jewish identity.
What I'm reading next
Well, perhaps we'll start Goblet of Fire? Well, the father of the children certainly did and is now reading HP for the first time in his life... after murmuring Dumbledore! in an as mystic as possible voice at every fitting and not fitting moment for the last ten years or so. Fandom's coming home... :)
Since we're on holidays, a lot of the time was spent in a cabin high up in the Alps with extraordinately bad weather - so children's books it is...
Das kleine Gespenst (The little Ghost) by Otfried Preußler. I've read this book countless times, still like the plot with the ghost that gets from haunting the night to haunting the day because the clock it is tied to was overhauled. But how on earth could I have missed the subtext till now? The subtext celebrating being white over being cursed to be black (because the ghost turns black as soon as the first ray of sun hits it), to be more precise? Passages like this:
Das kleine Gespenst warf seinem Spiegelbild einen giftigen Blick zu.
"Schrecklich, mir vorzustellen, dass ich mein ganzes weiteres Leben als schwarzes Scheusal verbringen soll! – Ob es vielleicht ein Mittel dagegen gibt: ein Mittel, das einen wieder weiß macht…?"
The little looked at its image in the mirror with disgust.
"How horrible, should I have to spend the rest of my life as a black abomination. - If there is any cure for it: a cure that makes me white again?"
I mean, so far I already always had to comment on Preußler's depiction of family life (you know, the happy 50ies model with overcautious stay at home mum and cool dad) - I couldn't omit it while reading because it was worked too deeply into the story, so I had to resort to preaching and ranting... - but I honestly didn't realise this blatant affirmation of racial stereotypes until now. Speaking of bias you don't realise because you're sitting safely on the side of well-meaning priviledge.
The kids, being white kids (although with poc-friends), didn't realise the stereotyping, of course. I'm now asking myself if I should point it out to them the way I point it out when a washboard enabling Princess Li-Si to finally do her own washing is considered a brilliant engagement gift (for a 8y old!) in Jim Knopf... raaah, why are the so little children's books without stereotyping and still a gripping story?
(If there are, please point me in the right direction!)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: The kids loved this way more than CoS - no creepy snakes, no Voldemort himself (I'm honestly curious if we'll ever progress further then GoF). We finished the book and immediately started the re-read - because, hey, turns out that you can read everything about Sirius and the Grim and who is deciving whom in a totally new light if you know about the real traitor! :)
Fun fact: the parts they like the most (which I had to re-read numerous times) are the ones where Fred and George poke fun at Percy and his pompous ways.
The translation is still atrocious, from simply misconstructing sentences (Der Blick der Hexe wanderte von Krätzes angeknabbertem linkem Ohr zu seiner Vorderpfote, an der ein Zeh fehlte, und er tat sein Missfallen laut kund.) over clunky language up to the fact that it's only ever the female characters who get their names germanified (Hermione -> Hermine, Aunt Marge -> Tante Marga). Luckily this can be easier rectified while reading the kids than all the gender stereotypes and the serious lack of female characters doing anything meaningful in a positive way (besides Hermione, of course).
This re-read is as much fun as it is disentchanting, sigh.
I also read a book for grownups: Hannas schlafende Hunde (which was recently made into a movie) about a girl finding out she is Jewish aged 16.
What I'm reading now
On with the questionable children's books: now with Der kleine Mann und die kleine Miss (The little Man and the little Miss) by Erich Kästner - which, while also stemming from the 50ies, so far doesn't seem to spout as many vicious stereotypes as the Preußler ones. And is quite the cute story about 5 cm tall Max Pichelsteiner and his godfather, the magician Jokus von Pokus.
And in the grown-up department: After long silence by Helen Fremont, also on discovering Jewish identity.
What I'm reading next
Well, perhaps we'll start Goblet of Fire? Well, the father of the children certainly did and is now reading HP for the first time in his life... after murmuring Dumbledore! in an as mystic as possible voice at every fitting and not fitting moment for the last ten years or so. Fandom's coming home... :)
