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A review by obscuredbyclouds
Das Mädchen, mit dem die Kinder nicht verkehren durften by Irmgard Keun
3.0
This German novel from the 30s is set near the end of world war 1, from the perspective of a 10 year old girl. It's not a war novel but rather describes the girl's rebellious nature and her being disciplined by her frustrated parents because she keeps being "boyish" and misbehaves. The novel's strength lies in the voice - it's really hard to write a realistically sounding child and Keun manages this feat easily. Of course I don't know what German children at the beginning of last century truly sounded like, but it felt authentic.
The book is humerous and emotional in turns, but it didn't move me like Keun's "After Midnight", but I don't think it was meant to, either. According to wikipedia this is a children's novel, according to me mother - who gave me this novel as her mother in turned loved the book - it's not. I'm unsure who the intended audience was. Maybe this is another case of 'it's written from a child's perspective, so it's clearly meant to be read by children'.
The book is humerous and emotional in turns, but it didn't move me like Keun's "After Midnight", but I don't think it was meant to, either. According to wikipedia this is a children's novel, according to me mother - who gave me this novel as her mother in turned loved the book - it's not. I'm unsure who the intended audience was. Maybe this is another case of 'it's written from a child's perspective, so it's clearly meant to be read by children'.