What do You think about Krabat (1988)?
http://koeur.wordpress.com/2014/11/03...Publisher: Harper CollinsPublishing Date: September 2010 (1972)ISBN: 9780007395125 Genre: FantasyRating: 4.4Publisher Description: Set within a world of sorcery and wizardry, much like an 18th Century Harry Potter, Krabat tells the story of a 14-year-old beggar boy lured to a mysterious mill by a series of frightening dreams and apparitions.He becomes an apprentice to the master of the watermill where he joins the eleven other young journeymen who work there. Much to his surprise Krabat soon discovers that the mill is actually a school of black magic and he is expected to learn much more than just a normal miller’s trade. Review: Cover art is great. This was written back in 1971. The author was drafted into the Nazi army right after high school and spent a few years in POW camps. He died in 2013. This was a great read. Even though there is something lost in the translation to English, the message comes through loud and clear. The characters move through the story-line developing awareness as their predicament slowly dawns upon them. The story line is masterful. It kept me riveted while waiting for the ax to drop. Your hopes and dreams insist to be realized for Krabat whom is struggling under the yoke of an evil apprenticeship. Hope comes in the form of friends he is forced to work with and a small town girl who shares some of the same dreams as Krabat. The scene development was a little thin yet I think this was due to developing the emotional impact of the masters cruel behavior and its effect on the apprentices. The translation to English seemed stilted and colloquial at times yet lent this old world quality to it. Get this, you won’t be disappointed.
—Koeur
When I read that this book had been an inspiration for the likes of writers Cornelia Funke and Neil Gaiman, my curiosity was piqued. The book appeared in German in 1971 and was translated into English soon after. It was re-released this year by New York Review of Books in their collection of classic children's titles.The author grew up in a Bohemian town that was annexed, as part of the Sudetenland, by Hitler. He was drafted into the German military in 1944 and sent to fight on the Eastern front, where he was captured and spent five years as a prisoner of war in the Tatar Republic. After the war, most Germans were expelled from his hometown, so he went to Bavaria, where he reunited with his fiancee and married. He worked as a primary school teacher and later as a principal, from the early 1950s until 1970, when he began to write full-time. This story is based on the old Wendish (or Sorbian) tale of the sorcerer's apprentice (a tale known in the area of Bohemia where he grew up).This story has a sort of folk tale feel, with the stark juxtaposition of good and evil, dark and light. It takes place in old Bohemia just after the 30 Years War , when plague ravaged the land. The main character, Krabat, was left orphaned and was forced to go begging with some other boys. After three vivid dreams during which a voice commanded him to leave his friends and go to a nearby mill, he awakened one morning and did as the voice had instructed. When he arrived, the creepy atmosphere was palpable, but the master miller gave him plenty of food and a warm place to sleep, along with the promise of learning a trade. So Krabat settled into the routine at the mill---a routine made up of hard work, but a relatively comfortable place to live and the companionship of eleven other apprentice and journeymen millers. From the start, there were unsettling occurrences, but he only began to understand his situation gradually. The miller was really a sorcerer; the boys were given instruction in black magic, which they often used just for merry entertainment. The instruction was given to them once a week, as they perched, in the form of ravens, in the master's study. They were free to learn or not, as they wished. Krabat soon saw that it would be to his advantage to learn as much as possible, since the black magic gave him the strength to endure their hard work, as well as possible protections against other normal humans. Krabat matured more quickly than normal while there, looking three years older after just one year there. After Krabat discovered some of the evils of the place, evils to which the other young men had become resigned, he tried to escape, but to no avail. The miller now held him fast in his magic.As Krabat matures, you will struggle along with him, searching for a way out of a seeming inescapable situation. There are some big questions here: Does wielding enormous supernatural power over other humans make being a party to great evil acceptable? If not, what tools can best fight this sort of all encompassing evil? Would you be willing to put someone you loved into danger in order to fight evil?The young apprentices and journeymen exhibit varied personalities and different reactions to their situation, so it is interesting to see many possible ways of dealing with a snare in which the small and powerless must decide whether to risk fighting the dark forces.Knowing the author's own background in the Nazi war machine, you can extend the underlying meaning of his plot beyond a long-ago folk tale. These are human struggles in a world fraught with evil, but always with the hope that love brings.[There is a quite good German film, "Krabat"(made in 2008), dubbed in English, but it is only available in region 2 format. If you have the equipment to play European DVDs, it is worth watching.]
—Caren
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com Alternative Title: The Satanic MillWhen I started reading it the story felt somewhat familiar. It was only then that I realised this book had been translated into Dutch a long time ago (as De Meester van de Zwarte Molen) and that many of my friends had read this while we were young.And it makes for a perfect children's story. Krabat gets to work in a mill, but soon finds out the Master is training them in black arts and mysterious things are going on. But it's impossible to flee as every road will take Krabat back to the mill...I liked it. I think I would have really enjoyed it had I been a bit younger. It fits perfectly with the other books we read as children. It's not too long either, would recommend for children around age 8-11.Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
—Marjolein
