The Leopard.

by Cecil Bødker

A young Ethiopian cattle herder encounters many dangerous situations after revealing information about a blacksmith who has been robbing the countryside

Genres: Africa, Denmark

186 pages, Library Binding

First published February 1, 1975

About the author

Cecil Bødker, f. 1927, dansk forfatter, udlært som sølvsmed. Hun debuterede i 1955 med digtsamlingen Luseblomster og skrev de følgende år flere digtsamlinger, hvoraf Anadyomene (1959) er den centrale og mest visionære. Sin prosadebut fik Cecil Bødker med novellesamlingen Øjet (1961), der indledte en eksperimenterende fase med ofte absurde, katastrofeprægede tekster og radiodramatik.
Efter digtsamlingen I vædderens tegn (1968) begyndte Cecil Bødker sit børnelitterære forfatterskab. Fra 1967 udgav hun den 14 bind store serie om den frie og selvstændige dreng Silas. Serien, hvis første bind er Silas og den sorte hoppe (optaget i Kulturkanon), er oversat til en lang række sprog. Den seneste og fjortende i serien, Silas — fortrøstningens tid, er fra 2001. Andre fremragende fortællinger for børn er Leoparden (1970) og Dimma Gole (1971), der udspilles i Etiopien. Voksenromanen Salthandlerskens hus (1972) har ligeledes stof herfra.
Den mytiske realisme, der bl.a. var karakteristisk for Cecil Bødkers tidlige prosa, genoptog hun med Fortællinger omkring Tavs (1971-73) og En vrangmaske i Vorherres strikketøj (1974), der handler om en drengs opvækst. Kvinders længsler og opbrud fra gamle normer har Cecil Bødker behandlet i Evas ekko (1980) og Tænk på Jolande (1981). I Marias barn — drengen (1983), Marias barn — manden (1984) og Maria fra Nazaret (1988) har hun genfortalt dele af Det Nye Testamente, men med Maria og Jesu søstre som synsvinkel.
I 1997 kom romanen Mens tid er og Farmors øre. Erindringsblade og fortællinger. I 1998 fik hun Det Danske Akademis store pris. Året efter indstiftede hun en børnelitterær pris, Silas Prisen.
http://www.denstoredanske.dk/Kunst_og...

Reviews

[Paul Jepsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Leopard by Cecil Bødker

Rating **
Bookshelves ENGL 420
Status Read May 7-8, 2014

Bødker is considered Denmark’s pioneer author in YA Lit and is especially known for her Silas series. The Leopard is separate from that series but is similar in style and storyline. The story takes place in Ethiopia, inspired by Bødker’s three-month stay there. We follow Tibeso, a young adolescent boy who lives in a tiny village that is plagued by a Leopard who attacks and eats their cattle. Tibeso, disregards the warnings of his elders and disbelieves their explanation that all the cattle disappear because of the Leopard. Tibeso suspects that the answer is found in a neighboring village and journeys there. The story leads us through his entanglement in a conspiracy of thieves and murderers through abandoned villages, towns and caves until Tibeso returns home after vanquishing the village’s foes.

While Bødker’s novels are undoubtedly pioneer work in the Danish Young Adult fiction genre, they did not pioneer the genre with as much quality or lasting appeal as Hinton’s The Outsiders has done in the U.S. I am also not sure that the translator, a Dane as well, has fully captured language that appeals to an English speaker although admittedly he can only do so much with Bødker’s story. Most of the major characters in the story either have outlandish African names without any real African culture to support them, or laughable titles such as “The Great Man,” or “The Big One” which, while perhaps reflective of naming patterns Bødker experienced in Africa, certainly do not mend the unimaginative narrative. The Leopard does do some things reasonably well though, it shows an adolescent who can and will challenge the world of adults around him, and who succeeds in doing so. In this way it is a story about overcoming odds, retaining integrity, and the power of all individuals young or adult. Sadly though it is a dry experience regardless of its moral. If you read this book in your youth it might have some nostalgic value, but sadly for those of us who read it for the first time as adults, its value is not all that high.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, location is a bit of a mystery nothing really ties the story to a particular place. A lot packed into a fairly short book.