fernbartree 's review for:

Die 13½ Leben des Käpt'n Blaubär by Walter Moers

5.0

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An eye opening masterpiece. This hybrid of children's book and adult fiction is remarkable in its scope, size and presentation. It is a wonderful book that is deserving of the adjective since it is full of wondrous creativity. It is beautiful and witty and I really want to read it to kids or have them read it. Sure it is long but it is structured in manageable parts. The main character has no depth or psychological character development, but I was not at all bothered by it. After all it is also a ‘feature‘ that is used not only by children's books but also other adult mainstream entertainment. The creative stories and inventions easily make up for that. It is never boring because there is always something new happening, always a new curiosity that the blue bear experiences. The only part where the book lost me was the atlantis chapter right to the point where he becomes a lie gladiator. It felt different from the rest, not as fresh and inventive, not as forward pushing as the rest. This staticity introduced boredom and led to me laying the novel aside for a while. I almost wanted to deduct a star for this. However, this book really is something special, something I literally haven‘t read before. I loved it and most likely will be coming back to it for niffi.