Die Stein-Menagerie : Roman

by Anne Fine

Ally really doesn’t want to go with his mum on her weekly visit to his fragile aunt at the hospital — until he discovers a hidden garden in the grounds where a young homeless couple have made themselves a home. Suddenly Ally discovers a new way of looking at the world. But there is another side to the coin, too, and the young couple must also be prepared to adapt to suit their changing circumstances….

Genres: Childrens

Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Though readers often find themselves inadvertently laughing aloud as they read Anne Fine's novels, as she herself admits, "a lot of my work, even for fairly young readers, raises serious social issues. Growing up is a long and confusing business. I try to show that the battle through the chaos is worthwhile and can, at times, be seen as very funny." In 1994, this unique combination of humour and realism inspired the hit movie MRS. DOUBTFIRE, based on Anne's novel MADAME DOUBTFIRE and starring the late comedic genius Robin Williams.

Anne is best known in her home country, England, as a writer principally for children, but over the years she has also written eight novels for adult readers. Seven of these she describes as black - or sour - comedies, and the first, THE KILLJOY, simply as "dead black". These novels have proved great favourites with reading groups, causing readers to squirm with mingled horror and delight as she peels away the layers in all too familiar family relationships, exposing the tangled threads and conflicts beneath. (It's perhaps not surprising that Anne has openly expressed astonishment at the fact that murder in the domestic setting is not even more common.)

Anne has written more than sixty books for children and young people. Amongst numerous other awards, she is twice winner of both the Carnegie Medal, Britain's most prestigious children's book award, and the Whitbread Award. Twice chosen as Children's Author of the Year in the British Book Awards, Anne Fine was also the first novelist to be honoured as Children's Laureate in the United Kingdom. In 2003, Anne became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded an OBE. Her work has been translated into forty five languages.

Anne Fine lives in the north of England and has two grown up daughters.

Reviews

[River Song · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teenager Ally besucht gemeinsam mit seiner Mutter jedes Wochenende deren Zwillingsschwester im Sanatorium, wo sie seit einem Nervenzusammenbruch behandelt wird.
Im Garten der Klinik lernt er ein junges Ehepaar kennen und dann geht die eigentlich interessante Geschichte massiv in einem Wust von zu vielen Ideen Baden...

Ich hätte gerne mehr über die Beziehung der beiden Schwestern erfahren oder über Tante Chloe...
Stattdessen die Begegnung mit einem Hippie Ehepaar, Vegane Ernährung wurde noch nie SO negativ dargestellt, eine Geburt, völlig unrealistische Krankenhaus Abläufe und zum Schluss ein Happy End Overkill,das dem Buch keinen Gefallen tut.

Buch, du hast mich enttäuscht! Wo war der Lektor?

[♡ʙᴏᴏᴋᴍᴀʀᴋꜱ_ᴛʜᴇ_ꜱᴘᴏᴛ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ally (short for Alistair) gets roped into visiting his Aunt Chloe in hospital; a current patient dealing with an illness of the mind. The weekly visits with both mom and dad are extremely boring, Aunt Chloe acts like they're not even there. While on a visit, Ally looks out the window and sees the name 'Flora' planted out in the gardens at the back of the hospital. Intrigued to see who planted it, he sets off to investigate. but to get to the place involves crossing the lake, a difficulty in itself. He finds two people living quite a primitive life absorbed in nature. Flora and Riley are building a life together and are soon to be parents. Flora's spiritual character has funny moments in this book. Her happy outlook helps Ally look at life a little differently. Riley provides a contrast, still with some humour, because he is rather grumpy and competes for Flora's attention with Ally.

There were some lovely bits throughout this book. However, for me, I finished the book and felt a little unfulfilled. It was just ok and I wanted it to be so much more after reading the blurb.

[Sula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mildly entertaining children's read. A little light and unrealistic for an older reader perhaps, but the characters and their dynamics with one another still feel real. Ally's observation of his mum and 'being told yes, feeling no' - how he would ask to paint, and being told 'I suppose so', followed by endless orders of setting up the paints and being careful with everything and not to do it in that place as she'll need to use it soon, with the result that he'd give up and do something else. Dynamics such as this make me appreciate that turning point in children's literature from when parents were simply cardboard cut-outs of a character, with a few standard parent-y sounding lines, to becoming more and more often people (with flaws too) in their own right.

[Ayrinne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alasdair Seton, meglio detto Ally, da anni viene costretto dai genitori a fare visita alla zia Chloe (gemella della madre) rinchiusa in una clinica psichiatrica. Una delle tante domeniche in cui, a causa della maldisposizione d'animo, ha litigato con la madre, nota, dall'altra parte dello specchio d'acqua sul quale affaccia la finestra della camera di sua zia, una giovane donna intenta a trafficare attorno a delle coltivazioni che sono state disposte in modo da comporre un nome, probabilmente il suo nome, Flora. Attirato da quella vista si avventura all'esterno e tenta di raggiungere quel luogo così fuori mano, rischiando anche di cadere nel lago. Viene però salvato da Riley, quello che scoprirà essere il compagno di Flora. La coppia vive abusivamente nella sede di un vecchio zoo abbandonato, nelle terre di proprietà della clinica psichiatrica, nutrendosi di quel po' di verdura che riesce a coltivare e di quella che si procaccia negli orti limitrofi. Flora, un personaggio strambo, vitale, e molto affascinante, è vegetariana, animalista, dolce, sensibile, eccentrica, cocciuta, delicata, energica e molto incinta. Ally viene stregato immediatamente da lei, e nonostante un primo momento "così-così" viene affascinato anche dal suo devoto compagno Riley (tra l'altro fonte di enormi risate per l'ironia con cui punzecchia la sua amatissima compagna alludendo alla succulenta carne di cui era molto ghiotto e a cui ha dovuto rinunciare per amor suo).
Non entro nei dettagli del resto della trama. Anne Fine, da me già letta in veste di romanziera per adulti e di cui leggo un libro per ragazzi per la prima volta, si concentra su temi che suscitano in me da sempre un notevole interesse. In generale, tutta la contingenza delle vicende di Ally finisce sempre per andare a parare sull'importanza del rispetto per ogni forma di vita, un rispetto inteso in senso universale, come cura e come attenzione, e che dovrebbe essere adoperato come prima e più rilevante forma di amore.
Perché infondo, c'è un modo giusto di amare ed Ally che inizialmente mal tollerava questa povera zia, una pagina dopo l'altra, grazie all'emulazione dell'approccio che adotta Flora verso il mondo, impara a utilizzare la comprensione emotiva che aveva già prima verso di lei ma mal incanalava. A volte anche difendere le proprie idee, essere curiosi e aperti, è sufficiente, a cambiare tutte le carte in tavola, e per meglio percepire gli altri, una strada può essere quella di difendere e percepire noi stessi per primi.
Mi sono ingarbugliata... E' tutto. Assertività, e difesa, una strenua difesa della propria identità, soprattutto: usare tutta la forza che si ha senza paura, come scudo a chi continuamente non fa che offenderci.

[Julie Fountain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another compelling story for children by Anne Fine showing a different way of seeing the world.