Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kastner is a wonderful adventure about a boy who is very poor and gets his money stolen on the train when he goes to sleep. The adventure is about how he gets his money back.
The main character, named Emil, meets some very reliable friends who help him on the quest to get his money back. Their adventure is so big and exciting because you never know what's going to happen next. You never know if he has won or lost and several times you are convinced he has lost his money.
It was first published in Britain in 1931, so as you can see it's not a new book. The setting is in Germany. The time and the place affect the book by the ways that they do things such as how one of the boys is called The Professor which wouldn't be very likely in England today. I liked the fact that it was set in Germany because it felt different from most books, because most books are set in Britain and it's all about what British people would do, and this is an example that shows you whatr life was like in Germany in the 1920s.
This weekend there was a production of Emil and the Detectives on Radio Four which was good but I imagined the voices different, because they sounded like they were cockneys and I didn't imagine that. I thought they'd use better English. The producation did not change the story which I thought was good and it was as still as exciting as the book. I thoroughly enjoyed both of them
My star rating: five out of five.
This would be good for eight years plus.
Sorry for the delay in posting the review, the next one will come soon. Please leave comments on this and also on the last one - Bloggs's guest blog.
Lovely review. This was one of my favourite books when I was a child. I absolutely loved the clue about the safety pin and the holes it left behind. I agree that the children on Radio 4 should not have been speaking in a cockney accent. That would annoy me too. Keep up the good work!
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ReplyDeleteYour super review has made me want to read this book. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read this book but now that I have read your review I will make sure I do. It sounds great and I love the front cover!
ReplyDeleteJudah I heard the radio drama and really enjoyed it but your comments have intrigued me. I think I may have to read the book to make my own comparison - I wonder if I'll hear it the other way round - like people who watch the Harry Potter films and then read the books...hope I haven't spoilt it for myself.
ReplyDeleteExcellent review! I enjoyed this book when I was your age or thereabouts, and I am really glad that you liked it too. You are right that it gives a vivid impression of what it was like to live in a different place and time from our own.
ReplyDeleteLots more reviews, please.
I'm trying to remember if any of the films of Emil that I've seen have English subtitles. There are two quite old, but good films, and then there is a new and quite modernised one, which we really enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteAre they German films, Bookwitch, or maybe Swedish?
ReplyDeleteGerman films, Keren. We had one, and then the A-level student decided to study all three versions for his comparative project in German. And I 'had to' watch them all.
ReplyDeletei read this in one of those reader's digest collections when i was a child. but it was only an excerpt. now i'm going to read the whole thing. thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteI remember we read this book in school was I was 10 and I absolutely loved it, but don't remember a thing about it now. Your review made me want to read it again. I wonder if I'll like it just as much.
ReplyDeleteIt also reminded me of some other books that you might like, although I was a little older when I read them: ""The Silver Sword" by Ian Seraillier and "I am David" by Anne Holm.
I bought this book a while ago but never got round to reading it. Your review made me want to move it to the top of the pile.
ReplyDeleteI read this book when I was a child and I'm glad to hear it's still being enjoyed. Are there any other 'classics' you've enjoyed? I'm looking for something for my 12 year old son.
ReplyDeleteI'd better read the book
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