Der Golem

by Seiffarth Achim

Genres: German Literature, Fantasy

96 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2014

Reviews

[César Esteves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich habe das Ende nicht verstanden. Aber das Buch gefällt mir. Es ist rätselhaft.

[Allen Radtke · Rating 3 out of 5]

At level B1 this is a step up from previous A-level Seiffarth books in terms of difficulty, new vocabulary, and sentence structure, as one would expect. Good for continuing to learn to read in German, but there is a problem. There were too many idioms, colloquialisms, figures of speech and expressions that were quite difficult to translate into - in this instance - vernacular (or any other) English. Probably not slang, but there were multiple instances stubbornly resistant to coherent translation. Maybe it's not the point for the reader to nail down exact translations into their own language. But this is mystifying in a book designated for B-level learners, who will typically be trying to translate back and forth into something they understand. The story line is a bit all over the place (not a fan of religious mysticism). The story itself also missed an opportunity to further introduce and develop the richly complex history of the Golem myth. But for taking that next step up in learning from Seiffarth's A-level books this one worked quite well. And for this reader, that was the principal aim. The audio accompaniment to the text is a non-trivial help. Multiple reviews of the audio were a complement with real utility in the learning process.

[Marloes D · Rating 3 out of 5]

De verteller leeft in het Joodse ghetto van Praag. Hier leefde ooit de rabbijn die de Golem zou hebben geschapen. Zou de Golem terug zijn?

De manier van vertellen is nogal psychedelisch. Toch wilde ik graag weten hoe het afloopt. Dat is alleen niet waar het boek om gaat. Het gaat namelijk vooral om de mystiek, het raadselachtige.