From: Mactycho
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 16:30:00 EST

While I do not have Carrie's advantage in being able to read German, I have read many books in translation. Based only on that reading experience, I found The Robber and Me to be a delightful surprise and quite a distinguished example of the genre. The book successfully gave me a flavor of the time and setting without the stiff, awkward syntax and grammar which sometimes marks books in translation. Phrases like "Exakt!" were perfect in portraying the mock gravity and self-importance of the over-zealous constabulary. I have to admit that, for me, the whole book read like a comic operetta... exaggerated and full of humorous archetypes. Chapter titles like "Abandoned" and "The Truth Comes Out" confirmed this tongue-in-cheek quality. The schoolmaster and his preposterous idea of curriculum were not any more disturbing to me than the villains in an old fashioned melodrama. I loved Boniface who evolves from a fearful character who is too scared to pee when he is dropped in the middle of the forest to an independent thinker who is brave enough to challenge not only authority but the commonly-held prejudices of the entire community. Frederika certainly gets a nomination for "best-supporting role"? with the worshipful Boniface, pitifully unaccustomed to kindness, constantly vowing to tell her how much he likes her. It was a good read and an easy booktalk. The response was immediate. I had to take an extra copy which I had reserved for a 1998 Notable Books Display and circ it! Kate McClelland Perrot Memorial Library Old Greenwich, CT
Received on Wed 04 Mar 1998 03:30:00 PM CST