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German novels for a teenager | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Books, Literature & Reading |  | |
| techgeek Newbie United States Joined 4477 days ago 6 posts - 6 votes Speaks: English* | Message 1 of 14 06 February 2012 at 12:50pm | IP Logged |
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(I'm the teenager.)
Do you have any suggestions as to what would be good German-language novels for a teenager wanting to learn German? It might be nice if the novels were originally written in German, but that's not a hard requirement. Also, there doesn't have to be a translation of a novel into English for it to qualify. Thanks! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Ellsworth Senior Member United States Joined 4757 days ago 345 posts - 528 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: German, Swedish, Finnish, Icelandic, Irish | Message 2 of 14 06 February 2012 at 1:12pm | IP Logged |
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KnallHart. I really liked it and it is not too hard to read and very engaging.
EDIT: There is also a very good film made of it as well. Edited by Ellsworth on 06 February 2012 at 1:13pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5885 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 3 of 14 06 February 2012 at 8:59pm | IP Logged |
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I have a recommendation! One of the best German youth books ever is Krabat (Otfried Preussler). It should be recommended reading for German classes! The book came out in 1971 but they made a film not too long ago and the Krabat trailer with English subtitles will give you a sneak peak as to the content of the book, but the book is way better than the film, IMO.
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| Northernlights Groupie United Kingdom Joined 4475 days ago 73 posts - 93 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French | Message 4 of 14 06 February 2012 at 9:04pm | IP Logged |
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I read Erich Maria Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front" as a teenager. It is basically WW1 from the perspective of a young German, so for a Brit or American rather different to what we're used to reading.
I read it in English, but it was originally written in German. You might even find a bilingual reader. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| jdmoncada Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 4834 days ago 470 posts - 741 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Finnish Studies: Russian, Japanese | Message 5 of 14 06 February 2012 at 10:55pm | IP Logged |
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As a teen I read the English translation of Herman Hesse's Siddartha. I found the book quite a moving story. I'm not sure of the difficultly of the language, but the story was good. The book is also rather short at around 200 pages or so.
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| mrwarper Diglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Spain forum_posts.asp?TID=Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5026 days ago 1493 posts - 2500 votes Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2 Studies: German, Russian, Japanese | Message 6 of 14 09 February 2012 at 1:55am | IP Logged |
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If you're into science-fiction, the Perry Rhodan series is a (almost literally) neverending supply of fun material. Sure, it maybe a bit demanding depending on your level, but OTOH fortunately SF writers tend no to be overly flowery in general.
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| Christine Diglot Groupie Germany Joined 6426 days ago 41 posts - 47 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Japanese, Modern Hebrew | Message 7 of 14 03 March 2012 at 5:55pm | IP Logged |
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Krabat is a good suggestion, I read this book as a teenager and really liked it. I haven't watched the film yet, it's about time to do so. ;) Otfried Preußler is one of the most famous German children's books authors, but many of his books I can think of right now target a younger readership. Another well-known author is Michael Ende, he wrote classics such as "Die unendliche Geschichte" (The Neverending Story) or "Momo".
When I was a teenager, I enjoyed reading books from dtv junior's (a German publisher's youth line) series of historical novels. A couple of years ago I browsed through my bookshelves at my parents' house and found lots of them, including books set in Ancient Rome, Greece, what is now Germany but ~ 500 BC, the Middle Ages and so on. What kind of literature are you generally into? Most of the books that come to my mind right now are either historical or fantasy novels, because I have always preferred stories that are set in another world or time than our own. Needless to say I couldn't stand most of the stuff we had to read at school back then (books about teenagers having to cope with problems such as their parents' divorce, illnesses, or drug abuse ... stuff like that has never been my cup of tea). Edited by Christine on 03 March 2012 at 5:57pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| nowayyy Bilingual Triglot Newbie Germany Joined 5119 days ago 6 posts - 7 votes Speaks: English*, German*, French Studies: Japanese | Message 8 of 14 15 June 2012 at 7:17pm | IP Logged |
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When I was about 12- 15/16 (I'm 19 now) I read books from a series called "Freche Mädchen- Freche Bücher". It's a series of books written by several different authors about love and is aimed mostly at girls. Otherwise the "Laura" series by Peter Freund, which is a fanasty/mystery series which is written quite well. I also was a very big fan of books by Cornelia Funke especially the (I think) 4 book about "Die Wilden Hühner". They remind me a bit of Kalle Blomquist because there are also too groups of "rival" teens/kids. (Rival in a way that it's more of a game, because they are still friends and do help each other) There are also two "Wilde Hühner" films that are really good but don't exactly follow the books.
It's also worth looking at the Gretchen-Bücher by Christine Nöstlinger, about a girl whos parents divorce, "Das Labyrith der Träumenden Bücher" by Walter Moers, "Der Erdbeerpflücker", "Der Mädchenmaler" and "Der Scherbensammler" by Monika Feth. These are all for older teens. For younger kids (8-ish) I recommed the Sams-Bücher by Paul Maar. They were also filmed. I actually didn't enjoy Krabat when I was young. I thought it was too outdated somehow and it didn't appeal to me. I did like "Die unendliche Geschichte" though. Edit: The "Freche Mädchen- Freche Bücher"- Bücher can be read separatly, only some by the same author have recurring characters. Also, one author writes one book and not all write at one. By the way, untill today I enjoy listening to "Die Drei Fragezeichen" which is a audio-book series for teens that a lot of grown ups listen to. It's a detective/mystery series and the speakers of the three main characters are quite famous and even do live tours of "Die Drei Fragezeichen" in stadiums! I could recommed better if I knew how old you are and so on. Edited by nowayyy on 15 June 2012 at 7:35pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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