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Kundenrezension
Rezension aus Deutschland vom 15. Juni 2001
Dische und Enzensberger have written a lovely story of a rabbit searching for a suitable fiancée and trying to find his place in a world made for humans, not for rabbits. Children as well as their parents can admire this witty text and its simple beauty.
There are three main points along which the story is evolving. The first one is explained at length at the beginning of the book: Esterhazy is a well-known aristocratic family throughout Europe, and the hero rabbit is a member of this family. Many instances in the book show how the authors think about the status and the conflicts of a modern aristocrat with the modern society.
Another point of the story is the special status of Berlin in a divided cold-war Europe, and the moment marking the end of this dividedness: the abolition of the Berlin wall ("die Mauer"). One approximation of the wall is that of the hero-rabbit Esterhazy: he never actually sees the wall, he is only reading about it in the newspapers - until he really wants to see it and is taken there by his friends. Another approximation is that of the rabbits living around the wall: they interpret it as a means to protect rabbit life from cars and people - they think soldiers are there to ensure this protection of the rabbits. In contrast to this, people demolishing the wall one night - leaving behind lots of broken bier flasks - feel angry about the wall.
A third point is the problem of the Esterhazy family concerning the physical stature of its members: they are becoming smaller and smaller. The story of the hero rabbit starts with the decision of the duke of Esterhazy to send his grandsons all over the world to find very tall women, merry them, and have children - obviously much taller then themselves.
The fairy-tale-like story largely makes use of the wordplay changing the (Hungarian) family name ESTERHAZY to the (German) common name OSTERHASE, meaning "Easter rabbit", the animal symbolizing Easter in Central Europe.
A really funny surplus for everybody who understands Hungarian is the Hungarian translation of this book by the famous Hungarian writer who happens to be the member of the Esterhazy family himself: Péter Esterházy. (You may find his books "Harmonia Caelestis", "Kleine ungarische Pornographie", "Eine Frau" translated into German, or "A Little Hungarian Pornography", "She Loves Me", "The Glance of Countess Hahn-Hahn, Down the Danube" translated into English.) Of course he made a brilliant translation, but in addition, he also comments the original text at some places (explaining, e.g., the origin of the Esterházy/Osterhase wordplay in the legends of the family, or correcting the supposed Austrian origin of his family to Hungarian), and even takes his "revenge" on the authors outlining shortly the story of "die Scheenzensberger" (from Dische + Enzensberger), a Lübeck patrician family whose members have grown extremely tall. (The Hungarian translation has been published by Magvetö, Budapest, 1996.)
I advise this book to everyone who likes to read short stories of simple beauty with nice illustrations. It can be fully enjoyed even if you do not have Péter Esterházy's translation at hand, or if you happen not to understand any Hungarian.
There are three main points along which the story is evolving. The first one is explained at length at the beginning of the book: Esterhazy is a well-known aristocratic family throughout Europe, and the hero rabbit is a member of this family. Many instances in the book show how the authors think about the status and the conflicts of a modern aristocrat with the modern society.
Another point of the story is the special status of Berlin in a divided cold-war Europe, and the moment marking the end of this dividedness: the abolition of the Berlin wall ("die Mauer"). One approximation of the wall is that of the hero-rabbit Esterhazy: he never actually sees the wall, he is only reading about it in the newspapers - until he really wants to see it and is taken there by his friends. Another approximation is that of the rabbits living around the wall: they interpret it as a means to protect rabbit life from cars and people - they think soldiers are there to ensure this protection of the rabbits. In contrast to this, people demolishing the wall one night - leaving behind lots of broken bier flasks - feel angry about the wall.
A third point is the problem of the Esterhazy family concerning the physical stature of its members: they are becoming smaller and smaller. The story of the hero rabbit starts with the decision of the duke of Esterhazy to send his grandsons all over the world to find very tall women, merry them, and have children - obviously much taller then themselves.
The fairy-tale-like story largely makes use of the wordplay changing the (Hungarian) family name ESTERHAZY to the (German) common name OSTERHASE, meaning "Easter rabbit", the animal symbolizing Easter in Central Europe.
A really funny surplus for everybody who understands Hungarian is the Hungarian translation of this book by the famous Hungarian writer who happens to be the member of the Esterhazy family himself: Péter Esterházy. (You may find his books "Harmonia Caelestis", "Kleine ungarische Pornographie", "Eine Frau" translated into German, or "A Little Hungarian Pornography", "She Loves Me", "The Glance of Countess Hahn-Hahn, Down the Danube" translated into English.) Of course he made a brilliant translation, but in addition, he also comments the original text at some places (explaining, e.g., the origin of the Esterházy/Osterhase wordplay in the legends of the family, or correcting the supposed Austrian origin of his family to Hungarian), and even takes his "revenge" on the authors outlining shortly the story of "die Scheenzensberger" (from Dische + Enzensberger), a Lübeck patrician family whose members have grown extremely tall. (The Hungarian translation has been published by Magvetö, Budapest, 1996.)
I advise this book to everyone who likes to read short stories of simple beauty with nice illustrations. It can be fully enjoyed even if you do not have Péter Esterházy's translation at hand, or if you happen not to understand any Hungarian.
Produktdetails
4,9 von 5
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