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Emīls un Berlīnes zēni

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Komikss pēc Ēriha Kestnera stāsta "Emīls un Berlīnes zēni". Stāsts par zēnu, kuram braucot vilcienā gadās nelaime. Lai atrisinātu radušos problēmu, zēnam nākas kļūt par detektīvu.

111 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

1 person is currently reading
29 people want to read

About the author

Isabel Kreitz

64 books6 followers
Deutsche Illustratorin, Jahrgang 67, hat an der Fachhochschule für Gestaltung in Hamburg studiert und kam während eines Gastsemesters an der New Yorker Parsons School of Design auf den Gedanken, sich fortan hauptamtlich mit Comics und Cartoons zu beschäftigen.

Seither hat sie zahlreiche Comicalben, Hefte und Graphic Novels veröffentlicht und verdient ihr Geld - außer mit dem Verfassen und Zeichnen von Comics - mit Illustrationen aller Art.

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5 stars
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32 (33%)
3 stars
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
Profile Image for Manybooks.
3,770 reviews101 followers
January 27, 2025
Textual Information on Emil und die Detektive (and this pertains both to Erich Kästner's original story and also to Isabel Kreitz' 2012 graphic novel Emil und die Detective: Ein Comic)


First published in 1929, Erich Kästner's Emil und die Detektive (Emil and the Detectives in English translation) especially and absolutely brilliantly verbally sparkles and glows with its sense of historical time and place, with its urban realism, with its palpably authentic and genuine representation and description of Berlin (of the capital city of the Germany of the Weimar Republic), of a lively and throbbing early 20th century metropolis, and delightfully not showing some vague environs set in either a magical present or in a distant historical past, so that yes, what Kästner is portraying with Emil und die Detektive is considered to be urban fiction. Also and for me personally, reading about Emil's adventures and exploits in Berlin more than forty years later in 1975 (when I was nine years old, approximately a year before we immigrated from what was then West Germany to Canada), with the Berlin Wall at that time still firmly in place and East Berlin, like all of East Germany, for all intents and purposes cut off from West Germany, Emil und die Detektive was basically the only way for me to even remotely be able to experience the at that time still former capital of Germany (as from 1949 until reunification, while East Berlin remained the capital of East Germany, the capital of West Germany was Bonn), since unless one had family members in the East, it was often very difficult for many if not for most West Germans to even obtain permission from East Germany to cross over, to visit (and neither did we have relatives in East Germany nor did my parents desire to frequent East Germany anyhow, as this, according to them, would have been catering to Erich Honecker and to the Soviet Union, and therefore, even the idea of perhaps visiting West Berlin was never remotely entertained or considered).

Now aside from the above mentioned and appreciated textual immediacy, the both harsh and at times also entertaining, delightful reality of urban existence, Emil und die Detektive is primarily a novel of not only adventure and friendship, but essentially, a glorification of children and their abilities, of their hidden and not so hidden strengths and talents. Emil and his new friends tracking and then apprehending the scoundrel who had robbed Emil of his money clearly and succinctly demonstrates (to parents and in fact to ALL adults) that the young are NOT (and should never be) mere bastions of inactivity and quietude (to be seen but not heard, to be sitting silently and attentively at school, at church or at home), but that children can do, that if they join forces and work together, they can (at least within the confines of this story) even take the job of the police, of adult detectives (and that there is safety and comfort in numbers, that as a team, and collectively, much can be accomplished). But that being said, and even though I do realise that from all of Erich Kästner's children's novels, Emil und die Detektive is definitely his most famous and most universally known (especially in North America and Great Britain, especially in translation), there are some rather major and unfortunate issues with datedness and stratified gender roles present, as Emil's female cousin Pony Hütchen, while clearly represented by Kästner in many ways as both the most imaginative and even the most courageous of the children, she unfortunately also seems to be primarily a maternal representative, a motherly type whose role is first and foremost that of a caregiver (and it is thus Emil and the boys of the group who later at the end of Emil und die Detektive earn all or at least most of the accolades, who are feted and honoured as having apprehended the thief).

Now I do very well realise that Emil und die Detektive was penned, was published in the 1920s and that for its time (for 1929), both the story itself and the featured characters are actually quite if not actually very avant-garde (even with regard to Pony Hütchen, who while she might indeed languish somewhat as a typical maternal caregiver like role is at least permitted, is at least allowed freedom and vitality, is not simply confined to the house or to a finishing school, sewing or learning how to "be a lady"). It is just that for me, I do find it somewhat frustrating that even though many of Erich Kästner's later novels for children often portray considerably less gender stratification (and even actual criticism of the latter), they are often not nearly as familiar to in particular English language readers. For while the English language translations of Emil und die Detektive (Emil and the Detectives) are considered and should of course always be seen a children's literature classic (and are pretty easily available and often in current print), many of Kästner's later children's novels are not nearly as well known in English translation, and which is truly unfortunate, as I have (for example) personally always enjoyed Erich Kästner's Das fliegende Klassenzimmer (The Flying Classroom) and in particular Das doppelte Lottchen (Lottie and Lisa) considerably more than Emil und die Detektive (and precisely due to the fact that there is not only less obvious gender stratification shown but that both it and negative attitudes towards women in general face considerable authorial condemnation). Still, Emil und die Detektive remains highly recommended by me, and is perhaps also a decent place to start regarding the oeuvre of Erich Kästner as a whole (and especially if one desires to read Kästner's children's writing academically, sociologically and/or historically). And just to say finally, that yes indeed, with Emil und die Detektive: Ein Comic Isabel Kreitz in my humble opinion does a really great textual job and that her graphic novel verbally is for me pretty much totally akin to with regard to themes and contents Emil und die Detektive and which for me is a very very good and positive thing indeed (because honestly, even if I do find that Emil und die Detektive has gender issues that feel dated today, I would definitely be finding it weird and horribly inauthentic if Kreitz' adaptation would present a modern, and with this I mean a late 20th century narrative take on gender and on Pony Hütchen's role and that I am definitely really glad that this is not at all much if even at all the case with Emil und die Detektive: Ein Comic).


Specific Illustrative Information on Isabel Kreitz' Cartoons for Emil und die Detektive: Ein Comic


Now if I were ONLY considering Emil und die Detektive: Ein Comic with regard to how Isabel Kreitz has rendered and transmuted Erich Kästner's text (and that EVERYTHING Kästner considers important and essential theme and content wise in his Emil und die Detektive is definitely and equally found in Emil und die Detektive: Ein Comic), I would most likely be considering a solidly four star rating for Emil und die Detektive: Ein Comic. However and the above having been said, Emil und die Detektive: Ein Comic is a graphic novel, and well, I personally and aesthetically just do not really find how Isabel Kreitz has illustratively captured in particular the facial expressions of her human characters for Emil und die Detektive: Ein Comic all that successfully and in a visually appealing manner, with especially main protagonist Emil Tischbein often at least to and for my eyes appearing with facial features that seem rather exaggerated and often just not all that natural. And therefore, considering that so much of Isabel Kreitz' illustrated ambience of Emil und die Detektive: Ein Comic does aesthetically feel and present itself as basically realistically and naturalistic (and this is especially the case for buildings, for Berlin as a city), that the faces of not only Emil but actually of most of Kreitz' depicted persons in Emil und die Detektive: Ein Comic have faces that look just a bit off and sometimes almost caricature like), this does feel bit visually off to and for me (and sometimes even a trifle creepy and usually annoyingly over-done), and that while I have definitely enjoyed my graphic novel experience with Emil und die Detektive: Ein Comic, the to and for my eyes exaggerated faces of Isabel Kreitz' artwork has definitely a bit negatively affect my reading pleasure and that therefore my rating for the combination of Kreitz' text and her accompanying cartoons for Emil und die Detektive: Ein Comic has to be not four but three stars.
Profile Image for Ieva.
1,291 reviews107 followers
October 18, 2022
Oriģinālais Emīls ir viena no manām visu laiku mīļākajām grāmatām, tāpēc laktiņa šai komiksa adaptācijai ir ļoti augsta. Un komikss nedaudz zaudē. Bet zīmējumi gan skaisti.
Profile Image for Chris.
21 reviews
December 30, 2017
This lovely comic adaptation reminded me how much I love the 1929 classic. A celebration of youth, humanity, and democracy - it's the anti-Lord of the Flies.
Profile Image for Ashna .
148 reviews
June 8, 2023
Wie süß! Ich liebte das Buch, denn der Plötz war sehr nachdenklich, und das, fand ich, war toll! Jetzt lerne ich Deutsch nur in der Schule, deswegen war die Sprache ein bisschen schwer für mich, aber diese Geschichte war noch erstaunlich! Natürlich würde ich es noch einmal lesen, und einem Freund empfehlen.
Profile Image for Olivia.
192 reviews4 followers
June 5, 2020
I was reading this in the form of the boardstory and the boardstory is rather long.
I think it's not my favortite, and I saw a movie with Emil and it was quite different than this, so maybe that's why it wasn't very good.....
Profile Image for Sarah83 sbookshelf.
449 reviews35 followers
May 27, 2019
Was für eine schöne Adaption. Ich bin ja immer skeptisch, wenn etwas auf modern umgesetzt wird, aber hier ist es wirklich gut gelungen. 🤩
Profile Image for Luīze.
62 reviews2 followers
October 6, 2022
3,5⭐️ I read this in 1h. Loved it. Really easy read for children. A little delusional story, but fun
Profile Image for Estrelas.
891 reviews
June 20, 2024
„Ich finde die Sache mit dem Dieb knorke! Große Klasse! Wenn du nichts dagegen hast, helfe ich dir!“

Der Comic bleibt nah am Original, sogar Textstellen sind gleich, bloß etwas gekürzt.
Profile Image for AURORA RU.
448 reviews31 followers
March 23, 2024
Bērnībā gan lasīju, gan skatījos izrādi/filmu, patika, bet pilnīgi biju aizmirsusi sižetu! A tas ir patiešām izdevies detektīvstāsts bērniem par solidarizēšanos vienotam uzdevumam, lai atgrieztu likumīgu balansu.
Mūsdienās gan zēni tiek audzināti par patērētājiem- egoistiem, man bail, ka viņi bez īpašas izskaidrošanas pat uztvertu, par ko tas ir. Ja nu vienīgi viņus aizrautu pati tā zagļa ķeršanas sižeta līnija.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews

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