German Literature/Deutsche Literatur

Jonathan and Charlotte both have German books they have to read during the school year. Charlotte is almost done with Erich Kästner's Das fliegende Klassenzimmer. The English translation of this book is "The Flying Classroom." You can read about it here.

Jonathan has just started one of my favorite books: Der Schimmelreiter (The Rider on the White Horse).  Actually, like Jonathan, I also read it in eighth grade and have fond memories.  The author, Theodor Storm, has always fascinated me and is one of my favorite German authors.  You can find a review of an English translation here.  There is also a free version of it on Google Books.  A great German movie based on the book can be found on YouTube.  It's not quite like the book, but it's especially helpful to understand the northern German coasts and dike systems.  It's the same movie I watched in eighth grade in a movie theater in Germany.  (John Phillip Law, an American, is one of the main actors).

Jonathan und Charlotte lesen beide deutsche Literatur als Teil ihres "Fremdsprachenunterrichtes".  Charlotte hat fast Das fliegende Klassenzimmer zu Ende gelesen.  Jonathan hat gerade mit Dem Schimmelreiter angefangen.  Ich habe ihn auch in der achten Klasse gelesen und noch sehr schöne Erinnerungen daran.  Theodor Storm gehört überhaupt zu meinen deutschen Lieblingsschriftstellern.  Natürlich habe ich damals auch den Film zum Buch gesehen, der gerade in die deutschen Kinos kam.  Bei YouTube kann man ihn ganz sehen.