John Maynard

by Theodor Fontane

John Maynard! „Wer ist John Maynard?“ Wer Theodor Fontanes packende Ballade über den heldenhaften Steuermann einmal gelesen hat, wird diesen Namen nie mehr vergessen! John Maynard, der ein brennendes Passagierschiff in mutiger Fahrt sicher an den Strand von Buffalo steuert und somit alle an Bord rettet – nur sich selbst nicht. Aus sicherer Distanz und dennoch hautnah können kleine und große Leser das dramatische Geschehen Im neuen Band der Reihe „Poesie für Kinder“ wird Fontanes traurig-schöne Ballade durch die großartigen Illustrationen von Tobias Krejtschi zu neuem Leben erweckt.

Genres: Poetry, Classics

Paperback

First published January 1, 1886

About the author

Theodor Fontane, novelist, critic, poet, and travel writer, was one of the most celebrated nineteenth-century German men of letters. He was born into a French Huguenot family in the Prussian town of Neuruppin, where his father owned a small pharmacy. His father’s gambling debts forced the family to move repeatedly, and eventually his temperamentally mismatched parents separated.

Though Fontane showed early interest in history and literature - jotting down stories in his school notebooks - he could not afford to attend university; instead he apprenticed as a pharmacist and eventually settled in Berlin. There he joined the influential literary society Tunnel über der Spree, which included among its members Theodor Storm and Gottfried Keller, and turned to writing. In 1850 Fontane’s first published books, two volumes of ballads, appeared; they would prove to be his most successful books during his lifetime. He spent the next four decades working as a critic, journalist, and war correspondent while producing some fifty works of history, travel narrative, and fiction. His early novels, the first of which was published in 1878, when Fontane was nearly sixty, concerned recent historical events.

It was not until the late 1880s that he turned to his great novels of modern society, remarkable for their psychological insight: Trials and Tribulations (1888), Irretrievable (1891), Frau Jenny Treibel (1892), and Effi Briest (1895). During his last years, Fontane returned to writing poetry, and, while recovering from a severe illness, wrote an autobiographical novel that would prove to be a late commercial success. He is buried in the French section of the Friedhof II cemetery in Berlin.

Reviews

[steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

although i didn´t like the illustrations so much in the beginning, i must say that they actually captivate and perfectly accompany fontane´s famous ballad. great book to bring poetry closer to kids.