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Max und Moritz. Eine Bubengeschichte in sieben Streichen
'Kein Ding sieht so aus, wie es ist. Am wenigsten der Mensch, dieser lederne Sack voller Kniffe und Pfiffe', schrieb Wilhelm Busch (1832 1908) in seiner autobiografischen Skizze 'Von mir über mich'. Knapp dreißig Jahre zuvor, 1865, waren die sieben Streiche seines legendären Lausbubenduos erschienen: 'Max und Moritz' begründeten 'auf einen Streich' den Ruhm ihres Autors. Seine brillant geschliffenen Verse und die wunderbar komischen Federzeichnungen sind Meisterstücke schwarzen Humors. Mit den anarchistischen Bosheiten seiner beiden Helden zielte Busch bissig-ironisch auf die Repräsentanten einer von Phrasendrescherei und Spießertum durchsetzten Gesellschaft.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1865
146 people are currently reading
905 people want to read
About the author
Wilhelm Busch
932 books47 followersHeinrich Christian Wilhelm Busch was an influential German caricaturist, painter, and poet who is famed for his satirical picture stories with rhymed texts.
After initially studying mechanical engineering and then art in Düsseldorf, Antwerp, and Munich, he turned to drawing caricatures. One of his first picture stories, Max and Moritz (published in 1865), was an immediate success and has achieved the status of a popular classic and perennial bestseller.
After initially studying mechanical engineering and then art in Düsseldorf, Antwerp, and Munich, he turned to drawing caricatures. One of his first picture stories, Max and Moritz (published in 1865), was an immediate success and has achieved the status of a popular classic and perennial bestseller.
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April 4, 2018
Ach, was muss man oft von bösen________________
Kindern hören oder lesen!
So beginnt diese Geschichte
von Max und Moritz: Bösewichte.
Daraus ein Drama sich entspinnt,
ein Augenschmaus für jedes Kind.
Ach, was waren das für Zeiten
als ich las die Herrlichkeiten:
Die Geschichten von Herrn Busch
und die Bilder, die er schuf.
Malt mit Feder, malt mit Lauten
War der erste, der sich's traute.
Zack – war wieder mal ein Reim nur
so hingezaubert mit Bravour.
Die Behörden war'n dagegen
sperrten seine Bücher wegen
der eindeutigen Sprache
und der Kritik an Mensch und Sache.
Wilhelm Busch, dem war's nicht wichtig
malte, schrieb und blieb scharfsichtig.
Karikatur, Groteske und
das Makab're war sein Grund.
Den Plisch, den Plum, und Fipps den Affen,
und auch Hans Huckebein hat er erschaffen.
Dabei sind Max und Moritz,
seines Geistes schönster Blitz,
noch frisch – nicht fromm – aber ganz frei
zu lesen in der Bücherei.
's hat mich bewogen mal zu diesen
Reimen zu greifen, diesen fiesen.
Doch Busch sei Dank, bald ist's vorbei
Mit dieser Review-Schreiberei.
Nur ein Ding will ich noch loswerden
denn Max und Moritz sind auf Erden
nun doch schon hunderfünfzig Jahre.
Das sagn' wir Glückwunsch, Tusch, Fanfare!
Update 4/4/18
Found this wonderful dual-language (German/English) side-by-side version of M&M here . The site carries quite a few other 19th-Century German Stories along with their translations. Check it out!
________________
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
November 10, 2018
In this charming and wittily written German children's classic, we meet Max and Moritz, a pair of appalling boys who, it soon becomes clear, the world would be much better off without. The pair indeed get their just desserts in the last chapter, when they are efficiently ground up by the miller and fed to his ducks.
June 4, 2023
Wilhelm Busch's Max und Moritz (not only an enduring and popular children's literature classic that is still in current print in Germany after more than 150 years, but Max und Moritz is also considered amongst the forerunners of the comic book and thus of course the graphic novel), presents with rollicking rhyming verses (accompanied by the author's vivid, often outrageously intense illustrations) the nasty pranks of two young boys and their final (and in my humble opinion) more than well-deserved fateful demise (for the presented and depicted pranks are, one and all, not merely mischievous, they are inherently destructive and imbued with viciousness, with violence for simply its own sake, or at the very least, they do tend give rise to the latter, in other words, Max and Moritz do not simply engage in practical jokes and destructive pranks, their antics also seem to all too often engender more of the same by both them and others).
Now personally, while Max und Moritz has never been either a favourite childhood read or reading memory, I did in fact rather enjoy having the book read to me as a youngster, although unlike my siblings, who seemed to find the two antagonists (Max and Moritz) and their antics quite massively funny and entertaining, ALL of my sympathies were as a rule with their hapless victims, but especially with the tailor, the teacher and poor Uncle Fritz (although I do have to say that any and all sympathy I might have originally entertained for the Widow Bolte and the loss of her chickens and rooster was quite totally erased when she automatically assumed that her poor dog had absconded with the plucked chicken carcasses and then beat him mercilessly for something he did not do, this being in my opinion pretty well quite as nasty and violent as Max and Moritz had been towards her and her poultry).
Wilhelm Busch, much like his contemporary Heinrich Hoffmann (of Der Struwwelpeter fame) breaks and actually very clearly and vehemently ruptures with the popular philosophy of the early 19th century that children in their "natural" state are supposedly both innocent and thus perfection (which ideal is in stark contrast to the concept of childhood that had been promoted in the latter part of the 18th century, where children, including literary children, are for the most part seen and depicted as miniature adults to be moulded and shaped at will). And thus, one can and really should proclaim that with their generally rebellious children, colourfully realistic and often also wildly imaginative illustrations, as well as their easily memorised and fun rhyming schemes (and often gruesome, in one's face content and themes), both Wilhelm Busch's Max und Moritz and Heinrich Hoffmann's Der Struwwelpeter totally and utterly break with and destroy both the late 18th and early 19th century traditions of perceived childhood.
However, while in Hoffmann's Der Struwwelpeter, typical representations of bad (or rather assumed and approached as problematic) childhood behaviours such as thumb sucking, playing with matches, being a fidgeter, being a fussy eater etc. are depicted and criticised (with often dire consequences and outcomes for the children, the characters presented), Wilhelm Busch's Max und Moritz actually takes things much much further, as both antagonists, as both Max and Mortiz exhibit (and right from the very onset, I might add) an inherently and obvious naturally nasty streak; they are by their very nature maliciously mischievous, and simply and utterly mean-spirited in almost every conceivable way. And thus, most if not even ALL of Max and Moritz's pranks are not simply practical jokes, are not just silly fun and games; they are vicious, they are violent, they are even potentially lethal (and with regard to the first prank, for the Widow Bolte's unfortunate chickens and rooster, the antics of Max and Mortiz are indeed both torturous and deadly, as they slowly and painfully choke on the bread and strings Max and Moritz have given them). Furthermore, although neither the tailor nor the teacher end up dying because of the pranks played on them by Max and Moritz, these could very well have had a lethal outcome, as the tailor nearly drowns and the teacher's face is permanently scarred (because the two boys filled his pipe with gunpowder).
Now I have always found it rather strangely problematic that especially many literary theorists and critics seem to be of the opinion that the end of Max und Moritz (where Wilhelm Busch has Max and Moritz being ground into grain and consumed by the miller's ducks) is somehow to be considered as more violent and infinitely more sadistic than any and all of the pranks the two boys have engaged in, and that therefore, both Max and Moritz are to be seen as primarily victims of adult society. True, none of the two boys' antics and behaviours have in fact resulted in humans being killed (although the same cannot be said with regard to the Widow Bolte's poultry). But really and truly, the fact that no humans are indeed killed during Max and Moritz's antics and pranks, that is in my opinion really and truly secondary and simply luck and good fortune, as the threat and possibility of death is definitely present with both the gunpowder in the pipe prank Max and Moritz play on the teacher and equally with the attempted drowning of the tailor. Max and Moritz are perhaps to a certain point punished (and yes, annihilated) because they and their pranks and antics violate established adult society, and adult behavioural norms (and their demise also depicts that at least on some level, Max and Moritz are to be seen as the symptoms of society, of adult routines and adult life, as seen for instance not only with regard to their own demise, but also with regard to how both the Widow Bolte and Uncle Fritz react with violence and physical rage to their plight, with the widow viciously beating her innocent dog and rudely awakened Uncle Fritz killing and smashing the June bugs crawling over and in his bed). However, Max and Moritz are also individuals in their own right, and as such, they are clearly and obviously depicted as being viciously nasty and sadistic by nature (and with their pranks basically having reaped what they have deliberately and callously sown). They ruthlessly and with glee kill if not actually deliberately torture the Widow Bolte's chickens, they nearly cause the tailor's death by drowning and it is simply good fortune that the teacher does not get burned to death when he tries to smoke his gunpowder infused pipe. Yes, the ending of Max und Mortiz is harsh, potentially sadistic and definitely violent, but considering the inescapable fact and truth that the majority of Max and Moritz's pranks and antics are equally thus, or at least could and should be regarded as similarly and potentially thus (with a rather consistent possibility of lethal outcomes envisioned), the final act of adult frustration and revenge on the two boys also reflects the pranks of Max and Moritz and vice versa.
And it is therefore also both more than a bit facile and lazily convenient to claim that Max and Moritz are simply and for the most part either symptoms or victims of an authoritative society, and that both antagonists are present in Max und Moritz to primarily and for all intents and purposes unmask societal hypocrisy and dual standards. For while Wilhelm Busch definitely paints society and especially adult society as at best somewhat majorly problematic, I for one also firmly believe that the author has basically and with considerable glee created and depicted two inherently and by nature loathsome and vicious individuals, two vile little boys who would, even if they were situated and living in a paradisal, non authoritative, utopian society act and react with nastiness, vileness and subterfuge, with blatant animosity to all and sundry (as while there is definitely and obviously abundant societal criticism present and inherent within both Wilhelm Busch's words, his rhyming verses and his accompanying illustrations, first and foremost, Max and Moritz appear as two clearly and basically incurably vicious little monsters, whose only goal is their own satisfaction, whose only purpose in life seems to be to make their fellow man, their neighbours, their family members, whomever, as miserable as possible).
Due to the graphic content and nature of Max und Moritz (not to mention the realistic and often brutal descriptiveness of the accompanying illustrations), Max und Moritz and actually much of Wilhelm Busch's literary oeuvre as a whole have often been and are sometimes still regarded as a bit askance and with trepidation (and especially Max und Moritz was in many areas of Germany, Austria and Switzerland considered both inappropriate and often censored until well into the early to middle 20th century). And some critics, but especially educators (teachers, professors) have indeed actively worried that the pranks perpetrated by Max and Moritz (and that until the very end of the book, there are no punishments and consequences whatsoever depicted for either either) would render especially young boys insubordinate and unmanageable (and even the fact that Max and Moritz do meet their end and doom by being ground up as grain and consumed by a flock of ducks used to be seen as inherently problematic by especially teachers, as the ending was considered as too outrageous and too exaggerated, read as too fantastical to be believed or be seen as a legitimate cautionary note). And there have even and sadly, unfortunately also been a select few so-called literary theorists and analysts who have tried to somehow cast blame at Wilhelm Busch and his literary work (and the popularity of the same) for the Third Reich, for German civilians rather readily accepting the Nazis (well, I guess this latter concept would have been a considerably easier and less painful manner of explaining why National Socialism happened and why Hitler was so easily and quickly able to consolidate his power than to actually consider and try to analyse what actually transpired and how the early 20th century, and for example, the aftermath of WWI and the Treaty of Versailles most likely also very much helped to prepare the road to Nazism, to Adolf Hitler and his despicable ilk).
With regard to the text of Max und Moritz itself, the presented and utilised rhyme scheme is flowing, and the words, the vocabulary choices featured are both entertaining and still after more than 150 years, not at all old-fashioned, both reading and feeling wonderfully and entertainingly contemporary and fresh in both scope and general feel. Now in Julia Eccleshare's 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up, Wilhelm Busch's Max und Moritz is considered suitable for children above the age of five or so, and that really does make abundant sense to and for me. For even though Max und Moritz is indeed often read with and to children younger than five years of age (I think I was probably around three years of age the first time my mother read it to me), both the text and the content (as well as the often minutely graphic and in one's face accompanying pictures) really do make this classic of German children's literature too potentially problematic and intense for the very very young (and in my opinion, care should also be taken introducing Max und Moritz to very sensitive, easily frightened children, as some, as in fact many of the depicted and featured pranks and especially the illustrations of said pranks are or at least can be potentially much disturbing). But I am indeed and in retrospect also more than intensely happy that Max und Moritz seems to never have been abridged or "sanitised" (as while the story is potentially disturbingly problematic and yes, dated, it does paint an interesting and enlightening portrait of late 19th and early 20th century small town Germany, perhaps of Western Europe and is also just rather subversively fun).
And now finally (and yes, I do mean finally), Max und Moritz is indeed available in a multitude of English language translations (from different times and in fact from different centuries). However, as I have not read ANY of these, I do not in any way feel that I should make suggestions as to which English language translation of Wilhelm Busch's Max und Moritz a potential reader who does not read German fluently enough to attempt the original might consider choosing (although I have found that especially with poetry translations, the more recently a given poetic work has been translated, the better and less halting and awkward it tends to be, although that is simply with regard to my own personal reading experiences over the years, and is in no way set in stone or for that matter a scientific or literary analysis, just a general and entirely personal feeling and consideration).
Now personally, while Max und Moritz has never been either a favourite childhood read or reading memory, I did in fact rather enjoy having the book read to me as a youngster, although unlike my siblings, who seemed to find the two antagonists (Max and Moritz) and their antics quite massively funny and entertaining, ALL of my sympathies were as a rule with their hapless victims, but especially with the tailor, the teacher and poor Uncle Fritz (although I do have to say that any and all sympathy I might have originally entertained for the Widow Bolte and the loss of her chickens and rooster was quite totally erased when she automatically assumed that her poor dog had absconded with the plucked chicken carcasses and then beat him mercilessly for something he did not do, this being in my opinion pretty well quite as nasty and violent as Max and Moritz had been towards her and her poultry).
Wilhelm Busch, much like his contemporary Heinrich Hoffmann (of Der Struwwelpeter fame) breaks and actually very clearly and vehemently ruptures with the popular philosophy of the early 19th century that children in their "natural" state are supposedly both innocent and thus perfection (which ideal is in stark contrast to the concept of childhood that had been promoted in the latter part of the 18th century, where children, including literary children, are for the most part seen and depicted as miniature adults to be moulded and shaped at will). And thus, one can and really should proclaim that with their generally rebellious children, colourfully realistic and often also wildly imaginative illustrations, as well as their easily memorised and fun rhyming schemes (and often gruesome, in one's face content and themes), both Wilhelm Busch's Max und Moritz and Heinrich Hoffmann's Der Struwwelpeter totally and utterly break with and destroy both the late 18th and early 19th century traditions of perceived childhood.
However, while in Hoffmann's Der Struwwelpeter, typical representations of bad (or rather assumed and approached as problematic) childhood behaviours such as thumb sucking, playing with matches, being a fidgeter, being a fussy eater etc. are depicted and criticised (with often dire consequences and outcomes for the children, the characters presented), Wilhelm Busch's Max und Moritz actually takes things much much further, as both antagonists, as both Max and Mortiz exhibit (and right from the very onset, I might add) an inherently and obvious naturally nasty streak; they are by their very nature maliciously mischievous, and simply and utterly mean-spirited in almost every conceivable way. And thus, most if not even ALL of Max and Moritz's pranks are not simply practical jokes, are not just silly fun and games; they are vicious, they are violent, they are even potentially lethal (and with regard to the first prank, for the Widow Bolte's unfortunate chickens and rooster, the antics of Max and Mortiz are indeed both torturous and deadly, as they slowly and painfully choke on the bread and strings Max and Moritz have given them). Furthermore, although neither the tailor nor the teacher end up dying because of the pranks played on them by Max and Moritz, these could very well have had a lethal outcome, as the tailor nearly drowns and the teacher's face is permanently scarred (because the two boys filled his pipe with gunpowder).
Now I have always found it rather strangely problematic that especially many literary theorists and critics seem to be of the opinion that the end of Max und Moritz (where Wilhelm Busch has Max and Moritz being ground into grain and consumed by the miller's ducks) is somehow to be considered as more violent and infinitely more sadistic than any and all of the pranks the two boys have engaged in, and that therefore, both Max and Moritz are to be seen as primarily victims of adult society. True, none of the two boys' antics and behaviours have in fact resulted in humans being killed (although the same cannot be said with regard to the Widow Bolte's poultry). But really and truly, the fact that no humans are indeed killed during Max and Moritz's antics and pranks, that is in my opinion really and truly secondary and simply luck and good fortune, as the threat and possibility of death is definitely present with both the gunpowder in the pipe prank Max and Moritz play on the teacher and equally with the attempted drowning of the tailor. Max and Moritz are perhaps to a certain point punished (and yes, annihilated) because they and their pranks and antics violate established adult society, and adult behavioural norms (and their demise also depicts that at least on some level, Max and Moritz are to be seen as the symptoms of society, of adult routines and adult life, as seen for instance not only with regard to their own demise, but also with regard to how both the Widow Bolte and Uncle Fritz react with violence and physical rage to their plight, with the widow viciously beating her innocent dog and rudely awakened Uncle Fritz killing and smashing the June bugs crawling over and in his bed). However, Max and Moritz are also individuals in their own right, and as such, they are clearly and obviously depicted as being viciously nasty and sadistic by nature (and with their pranks basically having reaped what they have deliberately and callously sown). They ruthlessly and with glee kill if not actually deliberately torture the Widow Bolte's chickens, they nearly cause the tailor's death by drowning and it is simply good fortune that the teacher does not get burned to death when he tries to smoke his gunpowder infused pipe. Yes, the ending of Max und Mortiz is harsh, potentially sadistic and definitely violent, but considering the inescapable fact and truth that the majority of Max and Moritz's pranks and antics are equally thus, or at least could and should be regarded as similarly and potentially thus (with a rather consistent possibility of lethal outcomes envisioned), the final act of adult frustration and revenge on the two boys also reflects the pranks of Max and Moritz and vice versa.
And it is therefore also both more than a bit facile and lazily convenient to claim that Max and Moritz are simply and for the most part either symptoms or victims of an authoritative society, and that both antagonists are present in Max und Moritz to primarily and for all intents and purposes unmask societal hypocrisy and dual standards. For while Wilhelm Busch definitely paints society and especially adult society as at best somewhat majorly problematic, I for one also firmly believe that the author has basically and with considerable glee created and depicted two inherently and by nature loathsome and vicious individuals, two vile little boys who would, even if they were situated and living in a paradisal, non authoritative, utopian society act and react with nastiness, vileness and subterfuge, with blatant animosity to all and sundry (as while there is definitely and obviously abundant societal criticism present and inherent within both Wilhelm Busch's words, his rhyming verses and his accompanying illustrations, first and foremost, Max and Moritz appear as two clearly and basically incurably vicious little monsters, whose only goal is their own satisfaction, whose only purpose in life seems to be to make their fellow man, their neighbours, their family members, whomever, as miserable as possible).
Due to the graphic content and nature of Max und Moritz (not to mention the realistic and often brutal descriptiveness of the accompanying illustrations), Max und Moritz and actually much of Wilhelm Busch's literary oeuvre as a whole have often been and are sometimes still regarded as a bit askance and with trepidation (and especially Max und Moritz was in many areas of Germany, Austria and Switzerland considered both inappropriate and often censored until well into the early to middle 20th century). And some critics, but especially educators (teachers, professors) have indeed actively worried that the pranks perpetrated by Max and Moritz (and that until the very end of the book, there are no punishments and consequences whatsoever depicted for either either) would render especially young boys insubordinate and unmanageable (and even the fact that Max and Moritz do meet their end and doom by being ground up as grain and consumed by a flock of ducks used to be seen as inherently problematic by especially teachers, as the ending was considered as too outrageous and too exaggerated, read as too fantastical to be believed or be seen as a legitimate cautionary note). And there have even and sadly, unfortunately also been a select few so-called literary theorists and analysts who have tried to somehow cast blame at Wilhelm Busch and his literary work (and the popularity of the same) for the Third Reich, for German civilians rather readily accepting the Nazis (well, I guess this latter concept would have been a considerably easier and less painful manner of explaining why National Socialism happened and why Hitler was so easily and quickly able to consolidate his power than to actually consider and try to analyse what actually transpired and how the early 20th century, and for example, the aftermath of WWI and the Treaty of Versailles most likely also very much helped to prepare the road to Nazism, to Adolf Hitler and his despicable ilk).
With regard to the text of Max und Moritz itself, the presented and utilised rhyme scheme is flowing, and the words, the vocabulary choices featured are both entertaining and still after more than 150 years, not at all old-fashioned, both reading and feeling wonderfully and entertainingly contemporary and fresh in both scope and general feel. Now in Julia Eccleshare's 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up, Wilhelm Busch's Max und Moritz is considered suitable for children above the age of five or so, and that really does make abundant sense to and for me. For even though Max und Moritz is indeed often read with and to children younger than five years of age (I think I was probably around three years of age the first time my mother read it to me), both the text and the content (as well as the often minutely graphic and in one's face accompanying pictures) really do make this classic of German children's literature too potentially problematic and intense for the very very young (and in my opinion, care should also be taken introducing Max und Moritz to very sensitive, easily frightened children, as some, as in fact many of the depicted and featured pranks and especially the illustrations of said pranks are or at least can be potentially much disturbing). But I am indeed and in retrospect also more than intensely happy that Max und Moritz seems to never have been abridged or "sanitised" (as while the story is potentially disturbingly problematic and yes, dated, it does paint an interesting and enlightening portrait of late 19th and early 20th century small town Germany, perhaps of Western Europe and is also just rather subversively fun).
And now finally (and yes, I do mean finally), Max und Moritz is indeed available in a multitude of English language translations (from different times and in fact from different centuries). However, as I have not read ANY of these, I do not in any way feel that I should make suggestions as to which English language translation of Wilhelm Busch's Max und Moritz a potential reader who does not read German fluently enough to attempt the original might consider choosing (although I have found that especially with poetry translations, the more recently a given poetic work has been translated, the better and less halting and awkward it tends to be, although that is simply with regard to my own personal reading experiences over the years, and is in no way set in stone or for that matter a scientific or literary analysis, just a general and entirely personal feeling and consideration).
July 23, 2023
Max und Moritz, gar nicht träge,
sägen heimlich mit der Säge
ritzeratze! Voller Tücke
in die Brücke eine Lücke.
Als nun diese Tat vorbei,
hört man plötzlich ein Geschrei:
„He, heraus du Ziegen-Böck
Schneider, Schneider, meck meck meck!“
Darf man 2023 ein dermaßen moralisch verwerfliches Kinderbuch noch lustig finden? Ich muss ehrlich zugeben, dass ich schon lange nicht mehr so gelacht habe wie an dem Abend, an dem ich neulich gemeinsam mit Freunden dieses alte Werk gelesen habe. Diese Reime, diese Lautmalerei! Ich habe mich noch an alle Figuren erinnert: Die Witwe Bolte, den Schneider Böck, den Lehrer Lämpel, den Zuckerbäcker. Es bereitet, allem Anstand zum Trotz, einfach einen riesigen Spaß.
Es verlangt ja keiner, dass du es deinen Kindern vorliest.
Besonders schön fand ich den Schluss der Geschichte, nachdem Max und Moritz von Gänsen gefressen wurden:
Als man dies im Dorf erfuhr,
war von Trauer keine Spur.
Witwe Bolte, mild und weich,
sprach: „Sieh da, ich dacht es gleich!“
„Ja, ja ja!“, rief Meister Böck,
„Bosheit ist kein Lebenszweck!“
Drauf, so sprach Herr Lehrer Lämpel:
„Dies ist wieder ein Exempel!“
„Freilich!“, meint der Zuckerbäcker,
„Warum ist der Mensch so lecker!“
Selbst der gute Onkel Fritze
sprach: „Das kommt von dumme Witze!“
Doch der brave Bauersmann
dachte: „Wat geiht meck dat an?“
Kurz, im ganzen Ort herum
ging ein freudiges Gebrumm:
„Gott sei Dank! Nun ist’s vorbei
mit der Übeltäterei!“
sägen heimlich mit der Säge
ritzeratze! Voller Tücke
in die Brücke eine Lücke.
Als nun diese Tat vorbei,
hört man plötzlich ein Geschrei:
„He, heraus du Ziegen-Böck
Schneider, Schneider, meck meck meck!“
Darf man 2023 ein dermaßen moralisch verwerfliches Kinderbuch noch lustig finden? Ich muss ehrlich zugeben, dass ich schon lange nicht mehr so gelacht habe wie an dem Abend, an dem ich neulich gemeinsam mit Freunden dieses alte Werk gelesen habe. Diese Reime, diese Lautmalerei! Ich habe mich noch an alle Figuren erinnert: Die Witwe Bolte, den Schneider Böck, den Lehrer Lämpel, den Zuckerbäcker. Es bereitet, allem Anstand zum Trotz, einfach einen riesigen Spaß.
Es verlangt ja keiner, dass du es deinen Kindern vorliest.
Besonders schön fand ich den Schluss der Geschichte, nachdem Max und Moritz von Gänsen gefressen wurden:
Als man dies im Dorf erfuhr,
war von Trauer keine Spur.
Witwe Bolte, mild und weich,
sprach: „Sieh da, ich dacht es gleich!“
„Ja, ja ja!“, rief Meister Böck,
„Bosheit ist kein Lebenszweck!“
Drauf, so sprach Herr Lehrer Lämpel:
„Dies ist wieder ein Exempel!“
„Freilich!“, meint der Zuckerbäcker,
„Warum ist der Mensch so lecker!“
Selbst der gute Onkel Fritze
sprach: „Das kommt von dumme Witze!“
Doch der brave Bauersmann
dachte: „Wat geiht meck dat an?“
Kurz, im ganzen Ort herum
ging ein freudiges Gebrumm:
„Gott sei Dank! Nun ist’s vorbei
mit der Übeltäterei!“
January 27, 2024
Fabulous stories about the terrible (and often perverse) brothers Max and Moritz. Inveterate tales of the rascals! Probably totally politically incorrect nowadays but I hope people still read this wonderful book. Also the pen drawings are fantastic!
March 4, 2021
Wortschatz zum Deutschlernen
zum Guten zu bekehren - to be converted to good behaviour
necken - to tease
die Zwetschge - plum
abmalen - depicted
der Streich - prank
das Federvieh - poultry
Einesteils - "Firstly"
das Pfühle - pillow, same as Kissen
geschwinde - rapidly
sich schneiden - intersect
entzwei - in two, asunder
munter - energetic/ally
sich beseinnen - reflect
sich reißen - struggled (?)
dürr - scraggly
der Ast - bough
bang - afraid
ahnungsvoll - full of foreboding
der Graus - horror
betrübt - afflicted
nienieden - the aforementioned
verzehren - consume
abrufen - demand
scharren - scrabble
der Schornstein - chimneypot
schmurgeln - to fry
lieblich - delightfully
schwärmen - enthuse
Spitz - common name for a dog
bei der Sache (tätig) sein - to concentrate on the matter (actively)
angewurzelt - glued to the spot
das Ungetüm - monster
im Verstecke [m] - stuffed
die Hecke - hedge
Fräcke [m] - jacket (pl)
Westen [f] - waistcoat (pl)
Gamaschen [f] - gaiters
flicken - patch up
anstücken - clip on
einerlei - whatever it may be
verdrießlich - annoyed
das Gebrause - shower (Brause)
träge - lethargic
die Tücke - deceit
Zeigenböcke [m] - billy-goats (pl)
die Elle - a cubit, also the measuring rod of this length
die Schwelle - threshold
Todeshast - the hastiness of nearing death
krampfhaft - desperately
Magendrücken - stomach cramps
das Bügeleisen - flat-iron
achtgeben auf etwas - pay attention to
unverdrossen - undaunted
der Possen - antics
angreifen - molest (?)
bieder - honest
Buben - scoundrels
sich schlichen - slink off
Stuben - rooms
Meerschaumpfeife - elegant pipe
lenken - steer, direct
das Getöse - boom
das Tintenfaß - inkwell
abkriegen - to get something out of something
Mohren - Moors
der Schopf - tuft of hair
vermehren - increase
der Fidibus - paper firelighters
dienstbeflissen - officious
die Prise - pinch
ist bedacht - anxious to do something
das Krabbeltier - bug
sausen - rush
das Genicke - nape of the neck
das Gebrumm - buzzing
hauen - clobber
der Teig - dough
das Jammerbild - a pitiable sight
der Glut - the glow
perdü - "a goner"
wehe euch - woeful for you
das Getreide - cereals
das Lumpenpack - the good for nothings
mahlen - grind
der Trichter - funnel
die Böserichter - the wrong-doers
verzehren - be eaten us
angehen - to address
zum Guten zu bekehren - to be converted to good behaviour
necken - to tease
die Zwetschge - plum
abmalen - depicted
der Streich - prank
das Federvieh - poultry
Einesteils - "Firstly"
das Pfühle - pillow, same as Kissen
geschwinde - rapidly
sich schneiden - intersect
entzwei - in two, asunder
munter - energetic/ally
sich beseinnen - reflect
sich reißen - struggled (?)
dürr - scraggly
der Ast - bough
bang - afraid
ahnungsvoll - full of foreboding
der Graus - horror
betrübt - afflicted
nienieden - the aforementioned
verzehren - consume
abrufen - demand
scharren - scrabble
der Schornstein - chimneypot
schmurgeln - to fry
lieblich - delightfully
schwärmen - enthuse
Spitz - common name for a dog
bei der Sache (tätig) sein - to concentrate on the matter (actively)
angewurzelt - glued to the spot
das Ungetüm - monster
im Verstecke [m] - stuffed
die Hecke - hedge
Fräcke [m] - jacket (pl)
Westen [f] - waistcoat (pl)
Gamaschen [f] - gaiters
flicken - patch up
anstücken - clip on
einerlei - whatever it may be
verdrießlich - annoyed
das Gebrause - shower (Brause)
träge - lethargic
die Tücke - deceit
Zeigenböcke [m] - billy-goats (pl)
die Elle - a cubit, also the measuring rod of this length
die Schwelle - threshold
Todeshast - the hastiness of nearing death
krampfhaft - desperately
Magendrücken - stomach cramps
das Bügeleisen - flat-iron
achtgeben auf etwas - pay attention to
unverdrossen - undaunted
der Possen - antics
angreifen - molest (?)
bieder - honest
Buben - scoundrels
sich schlichen - slink off
Stuben - rooms
Meerschaumpfeife - elegant pipe
lenken - steer, direct
das Getöse - boom
das Tintenfaß - inkwell
abkriegen - to get something out of something
Mohren - Moors
der Schopf - tuft of hair
vermehren - increase
der Fidibus - paper firelighters
dienstbeflissen - officious
die Prise - pinch
ist bedacht - anxious to do something
das Krabbeltier - bug
sausen - rush
das Genicke - nape of the neck
das Gebrumm - buzzing
hauen - clobber
der Teig - dough
das Jammerbild - a pitiable sight
der Glut - the glow
perdü - "a goner"
wehe euch - woeful for you
das Getreide - cereals
das Lumpenpack - the good for nothings
mahlen - grind
der Trichter - funnel
die Böserichter - the wrong-doers
verzehren - be eaten us
angehen - to address
July 17, 2017
Ein widerliches und extrem grausames Kinderbuch. Die beiden Burschen sind unerzogen und gewalttätig fast schon auf eine pathologische Weise. Am Ende werden sie aber auch von den Erwachsenen grausam abgemurkst. Und was soll nun die Moral von der Geschichte sein?
Wenn Du böse und gewalttätig bist wirst Du sterben? Jaja Pädagogik mit dem Holzhammer in meiner Kindheit in den 70er Jahren sehr oft angewandt - extrem sinnentleert
Wenn Du böse und gewalttätig bist wirst Du sterben? Jaja Pädagogik mit dem Holzhammer in meiner Kindheit in den 70er Jahren sehr oft angewandt - extrem sinnentleert
October 13, 2019
These children are psychopaths.
October 28, 2019
Please note this is a review of an uncorrected proof. I'm a big fan of fairy tales, lullabies, myths, legends.. ok you get the point. I am even more drawn to the creepy and obscure ones like the true Grimm Tales. Seeing the synopsis for this one immediately intrigued me. I visited Germany and adored their culture and history (especially the food) and just couldn't resist reviewing this original German literature in English translation.
This is exactly what dark children's humor is about. Mischievous children doing dastardly deeds and in the end paying in some horrendous way for what they have done. Of course many parents these days would abhor something like this for their precious little ones but as adults we can see the humor, hear the lesson and appreciate the history behind something of this nature.
I also appreciated the inclusion of the original German text and doubly enjoyed the explanation of the translation in the end. It was nice to see what went behind turning this piece into something I was able to appreciate.
Special thank you to the author, NetGalley and the Publisher for allowing me to review this for an honest review.
This is exactly what dark children's humor is about. Mischievous children doing dastardly deeds and in the end paying in some horrendous way for what they have done. Of course many parents these days would abhor something like this for their precious little ones but as adults we can see the humor, hear the lesson and appreciate the history behind something of this nature.
I also appreciated the inclusion of the original German text and doubly enjoyed the explanation of the translation in the end. It was nice to see what went behind turning this piece into something I was able to appreciate.
Special thank you to the author, NetGalley and the Publisher for allowing me to review this for an honest review.
June 7, 2012
My husband has a German copy of this book, but it was a bit long to ask for his translation. Fortunately I was able to read it in English at http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/m...
All I can say is it's one gruesome cautionary tale. Max and Moritz get into all sorts of trouble that would put today's kids into juvenile detention--they put dynamite in a teacher's pipe, kill the neighbor's chickens (in a terrible way!), and are baked inside some dough while trying to steal pretzels (but somehow are able to eat their way out). A frustrated farmer finally exacts revenge in what, to me, was a surprising and horrible end. I think it's worth reading just for the shock value! They definitely don't make children's stories like this anymore.
My husband has good memories of this book though, and remembers his grandfather calling him and his cousins Max und Moritz when they were making trouble.
All I can say is it's one gruesome cautionary tale. Max and Moritz get into all sorts of trouble that would put today's kids into juvenile detention--they put dynamite in a teacher's pipe, kill the neighbor's chickens (in a terrible way!), and are baked inside some dough while trying to steal pretzels (but somehow are able to eat their way out). A frustrated farmer finally exacts revenge in what, to me, was a surprising and horrible end. I think it's worth reading just for the shock value! They definitely don't make children's stories like this anymore.
My husband has good memories of this book though, and remembers his grandfather calling him and his cousins Max und Moritz when they were making trouble.
July 9, 2016
Das Buch, das ich mit Abstand schon als Kind am häufigsten gelesen habe - nun, dank Projekt Gutenberg, auch auf English. Ehrlich gesagt hätte ich nicht erwartet, dass man es gescheit übersetze kann. Aber es klingt!
Beispiel Lieblingsstelle:
"Fließet aus dem Aug', ihr Tränen!
All mein Hoffen, all mein Sehnen,
Meines Lebens schönster Traum
Hängt an diesem Apfelbaum!!"
From her eyes the tears are streaming:
"Oh, my cares, my toil, my dreaming !
Ah, life's fairest hope," says she,
"Hangs upon that apple-tree."
Beispiel Lieblingsstelle:
"Fließet aus dem Aug', ihr Tränen!
All mein Hoffen, all mein Sehnen,
Meines Lebens schönster Traum
Hängt an diesem Apfelbaum!!"
From her eyes the tears are streaming:
"Oh, my cares, my toil, my dreaming !
Ah, life's fairest hope," says she,
"Hangs upon that apple-tree."
August 29, 2017
This takes me back...my grandmother used to read these stories to me when I was little and growing up in Germany. The stories, as seems to be the norm for the tales of German childhood, are often a bit on the gruesome side. But I have quite fond memories.
Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com
Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com
November 24, 2016
klassiker hin oder her, hat hier noch jemand seit ungefähr 20 jahren albträume von dem scheiß?
especially die geschichte mit den hühnern.
especially die geschichte mit den hühnern.
November 11, 2020
A gruesome cautionary tale of two brothers who misbehave in 7 tricks they are pulling off. Although I admired the rhymes and how they flow nicely. I found the story cringing at times because of animal cruelty. There for it gets 3 points for the drawings and rhymes, not for the story on some parts.
This book is in the 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up challenge I am doing.
This book is in the 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up challenge I am doing.
April 26, 2024
Ja. Ne.
October 26, 2025
horrible!
March 1, 2013
Cáiféng, cáiféng, mie mie mie!
Das ist wirklich eine tolle Veröffentlichung: Der Dichter Lu Yuan hat 1990 den Busch-Klassiker im Chinesischen nachgedichtet. Dieser Text liegt nun als zweisprachige Ausgabe vor.
Der Text liegt zweispaltig vor: Sowohl in chinesischen Zeichen (linke Spalte) als auch in Pinyin (rechte Spalte), wobei die Töne mit Diakritika angegeben sind. Zusätzlich dazu gibt es den vollständigen deutschen Text im Anhang. Ergänzt wird das ganze durch ein Nachwort über Lu Yuan und eine kurze Zusammenfassung der Ausspracheregeln des Pinyin.
Die Originalillustrationen sind ebenso mit abgedruckt und lockern den Text auf. Sehr schöne Veröffentlichung, ich würde gern mehr in dieser Art sehen.
Das ist wirklich eine tolle Veröffentlichung: Der Dichter Lu Yuan hat 1990 den Busch-Klassiker im Chinesischen nachgedichtet. Dieser Text liegt nun als zweisprachige Ausgabe vor.
Der Text liegt zweispaltig vor: Sowohl in chinesischen Zeichen (linke Spalte) als auch in Pinyin (rechte Spalte), wobei die Töne mit Diakritika angegeben sind. Zusätzlich dazu gibt es den vollständigen deutschen Text im Anhang. Ergänzt wird das ganze durch ein Nachwort über Lu Yuan und eine kurze Zusammenfassung der Ausspracheregeln des Pinyin.
Die Originalillustrationen sind ebenso mit abgedruckt und lockern den Text auf. Sehr schöne Veröffentlichung, ich würde gern mehr in dieser Art sehen.
July 15, 2017
I read this in the original German. The rhyme flows nicely, although the language includes some colloquial German words and was not always clear to me. The story is frightful. The two boys in question really need someone to rein them in, and disaster does strike them at the end.
It is somewhat humorous - but only when one begins to identify with the boys and their pranks. It is a children's story - but.... not really. I tried to explain some of the plot to my 9-year old daughter. She just could not fathom why the boys were doing such naughty, mean, and hurtful pranks.
It is somewhat humorous - but only when one begins to identify with the boys and their pranks. It is a children's story - but.... not really. I tried to explain some of the plot to my 9-year old daughter. She just could not fathom why the boys were doing such naughty, mean, and hurtful pranks.
June 16, 2021
Ich will nicht wissen wie oft Mama mir das vorlesen musste. Ich liebe es aber immer noch 🧡
January 1, 2013
Auch Wilhelm Buschs Max und Moritz hatte ich als Kind und habe es oft durchgeblättert und gelesen. Zwei böse Jungen treiben teils recht dümmliche Streiche. Geliebt habe ich die Geschichten nicht, ich fand sie aber auch nicht grausam, sie waren OK, mehr aber auch nicht. Aus heutiger Sicht, sehe ich die Geschichte teils sehr anders. Meist sind die Jungs eher unschuldig, bzw. die Streiche wirklich harmlos und die Erwachsenen oft selber Schuld.
Erster Streich: Max und Moritz lassen Hühner große, miteinander verbundene Köder schlucken. Das Federvieh verschluckt sich und erstickt.
Ich bin mir nicht sicher, ob das funktionieren würde. Hühner picken und schlucken nicht so große Brocken. Insgesamt jedoch Tierquälerei.
Zweiter Streich: Diebstahl der ermordeten Hühnertiere. Dass Witwe Bolte den Spitz verdächtigt, dafür können die Jungs nichts. Für den Spitz natürlich dumm gelaufen, Witwe Bolte ist aber halt nicht sonderlich helle, sonst würde sie doch wissen, dass ein so kleiner Hund nicht drei Hühner und einen Hahn in so kurzer Zeit samt Knochen verschlingen kann, ohne Spuren zu hinterlassen. Logik ist keine Stärke dieser Dame.
Dritter Streich: Die Jungs säge eine Brücke an, der Schneider fällt ins Wasser. Sachbeschädigung, mehr nicht. Die Brücke ist nicht mehr als ein Brett. Harmloser Jungenstreich. Das Bügeln des Bauches hingegen, das sehe ich kritisch, das solltet ihr, liebe Kinder, lieber nicht nachmachen, das führt zu bösen Verbrennungen.
Vierter Streich: Max und Moitz vertauschen Tabak mit Schwarzpulver. Ganz ehrlich, wer Waffen und Schwarzpulver so einfach für Kinder zugänglich aufbewahrt ist selber Schuld.
Fünfter Streich: Max und Moritz verstecken Maikäfer im Bett es Onkels. Harmlos. Davon abgesehen, dass Maikäfer nicht wirklich häufig sind, waren sie wenigstens tagsüber harmlos beschäftigt mit der Suche. Warum nur, muss der Onkel die armen Käfer erschlagen, konnte er sie nicht einfach aufsammeln und aussetzen?
Sechster Streich: Max und Moritz brechen in die Bäckerei ein. Nun frage ich mich, warum der Becker das Mehl direkt unter dem Schornstein lagert, da könnte es doch auch draufregnen und das Mehl zu schimmeln anfangen. Überhaupt, wie kann er es wagen, Kinder, die es nicht besser wissen in den Ofen zu stecken? Dass sie überleben ist wohl derselbe Effekt wie das mit Eis gefüllte Blätterteiggebäck, dass man so bekommt, da schmilzt das Eis ja auch nicht.
Letzter Streich: Max und Moritz werden wegen eigentlich harmloser Steiche zu Tiermehl verarbeitet und an die Hühner verfüttert. Hoffentlich hatten die beiden kein Kreuzfeld Jackob, sonst ist ihre Rache im Nachhinein fürchterlich.
Das Buch konnte mich weder als Kind noch als Erwachsene begeistern. Eine nette, harmlose Geschichte in Reimen. Keine Ahnung, warum die so berühmt wurde. Da ich sie als Kind teils auch als langweilig empfand, würde ich sie auch keinem Kind vorlesen, vor allem, weil ich mich langweilen würde.
Erster Streich: Max und Moritz lassen Hühner große, miteinander verbundene Köder schlucken. Das Federvieh verschluckt sich und erstickt.
Ich bin mir nicht sicher, ob das funktionieren würde. Hühner picken und schlucken nicht so große Brocken. Insgesamt jedoch Tierquälerei.
Zweiter Streich: Diebstahl der ermordeten Hühnertiere. Dass Witwe Bolte den Spitz verdächtigt, dafür können die Jungs nichts. Für den Spitz natürlich dumm gelaufen, Witwe Bolte ist aber halt nicht sonderlich helle, sonst würde sie doch wissen, dass ein so kleiner Hund nicht drei Hühner und einen Hahn in so kurzer Zeit samt Knochen verschlingen kann, ohne Spuren zu hinterlassen. Logik ist keine Stärke dieser Dame.
Dritter Streich: Die Jungs säge eine Brücke an, der Schneider fällt ins Wasser. Sachbeschädigung, mehr nicht. Die Brücke ist nicht mehr als ein Brett. Harmloser Jungenstreich. Das Bügeln des Bauches hingegen, das sehe ich kritisch, das solltet ihr, liebe Kinder, lieber nicht nachmachen, das führt zu bösen Verbrennungen.
Vierter Streich: Max und Moitz vertauschen Tabak mit Schwarzpulver. Ganz ehrlich, wer Waffen und Schwarzpulver so einfach für Kinder zugänglich aufbewahrt ist selber Schuld.
Fünfter Streich: Max und Moritz verstecken Maikäfer im Bett es Onkels. Harmlos. Davon abgesehen, dass Maikäfer nicht wirklich häufig sind, waren sie wenigstens tagsüber harmlos beschäftigt mit der Suche. Warum nur, muss der Onkel die armen Käfer erschlagen, konnte er sie nicht einfach aufsammeln und aussetzen?
Sechster Streich: Max und Moritz brechen in die Bäckerei ein. Nun frage ich mich, warum der Becker das Mehl direkt unter dem Schornstein lagert, da könnte es doch auch draufregnen und das Mehl zu schimmeln anfangen. Überhaupt, wie kann er es wagen, Kinder, die es nicht besser wissen in den Ofen zu stecken? Dass sie überleben ist wohl derselbe Effekt wie das mit Eis gefüllte Blätterteiggebäck, dass man so bekommt, da schmilzt das Eis ja auch nicht.
Letzter Streich: Max und Moritz werden wegen eigentlich harmloser Steiche zu Tiermehl verarbeitet und an die Hühner verfüttert. Hoffentlich hatten die beiden kein Kreuzfeld Jackob, sonst ist ihre Rache im Nachhinein fürchterlich.
Das Buch konnte mich weder als Kind noch als Erwachsene begeistern. Eine nette, harmlose Geschichte in Reimen. Keine Ahnung, warum die so berühmt wurde. Da ich sie als Kind teils auch als langweilig empfand, würde ich sie auch keinem Kind vorlesen, vor allem, weil ich mich langweilen würde.
April 1, 2017
Nei sette episodi di Max e Moritz, che hanno l’aspetto di due bambini normalissimi, non c’è assolutamente nessun giudizio morale al piccolo, assennato mondo borghese, che è sì rappresentato nelle sue manifestazioni professionali dai personaggi succubi degli scherzi dei due monelli, ma la cui grettezza non è stigmatizzata dagli aspetti fisici, quanto piuttosto dai comportamenti. Con assoluto talento Busch usa la natura immaginativa del fumetto (certo, il fumetto racconta necessariamente storie) per ricostruire il proprio mondo ma, a differenza degli autori che l’hanno preceduto, sottrae alla natura mimetica del disegno ogni funzione conoscitiva, caricandolo di quella funzione costitutiva che diventerà, quando usata dai grandi autori, la caratteristica più potente del fumetto.
Leggi la recensione completa qui: http://illunedideilibri.it/max-e-mori...
Leggi la recensione completa qui: http://illunedideilibri.it/max-e-mori...
February 18, 2015
(review for learners of German)
Like Struwwelpeter, Max und Moritz is one of the most well-known children’s tales in Germany. It has fun pictures and the verses are actually quite nice. It’s probably a bit easier to read than Struwwelpeter. The pictures will help beginners understand the story better without having to look up every word. That’s an important skill to learn when reading another language: read for the gist and don’t worry about every single word you don’t understand. With that in mind, even A2-level (elementary) readers can enjoy it.
Like Struwwelpeter, Max und Moritz is one of the most well-known children’s tales in Germany. It has fun pictures and the verses are actually quite nice. It’s probably a bit easier to read than Struwwelpeter. The pictures will help beginners understand the story better without having to look up every word. That’s an important skill to learn when reading another language: read for the gist and don’t worry about every single word you don’t understand. With that in mind, even A2-level (elementary) readers can enjoy it.
October 28, 2012
A classic cautionary tale about two nasty little boys getting up to all kinds of pranks and their gruesome ending.
I never perceived this as a violent book as a child. It was just one of those stories you read as a kid in Germany, same as Struwwelpeter.
Good fun, great drawings, very not 'politically correct', but I think children today would still like it.
English version:
http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/m...
I never perceived this as a violent book as a child. It was just one of those stories you read as a kid in Germany, same as Struwwelpeter.
Good fun, great drawings, very not 'politically correct', but I think children today would still like it.
English version:
http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/m...
December 7, 2019
I read this as a child in German and even then I couldn't understand how anyone could be so cruel. These 2 boys are precursors of the NSDAP brown shirts. On the other hand, even though Roal Dahl was a Nazi sympathizer, I do enjoy his children's books which are much less vicious. And Struwwelpeter? Let's not go there....
October 20, 2015
i have fond memories of this growing up!
December 12, 2015
Loved it when I was a child.
April 19, 2023
Das war das allererste Buch, das ich gelesen habe.
April 22, 2023
I was like, very cute for kids!, and then the end struck lol.
August 20, 2017
Поет, разказвач, хуморист, илюстратор и карикатурист, класик. Представяме ви прадядото на комиксите Вилхелм Буш! Днес неговото творчество е събрано в прекрасен сборник в голям формат и с твърди корици, част от библиотека „Жива вода” на ик. „Труд”. В него ще откриете знаменитите герои Макс и Мориц, които пристигат в чудесно издание заедно с още цял куп весели истории в картинки! Прочетете ревюто на "Книжни Криле":
https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/201...
https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/201...
June 11, 2019
Like many people here, I read this book when I was a kid many, many times. I don't really know why perhaps because of the images? I know for a fact that I didn't like it much back then. I read it now, to see if anything has changed and no, not really.
It is a clever tale with unusual and very (for me) iconic images, but it is about annoying and horrible human beings who kill and torture for fun. I have obviously missed the "black humour" bit all my life.
The only thing I'm really happy about in regards the characters is that Max and Moritz meet their end quickly enough.
It is a clever tale with unusual and very (for me) iconic images, but it is about annoying and horrible human beings who kill and torture for fun. I have obviously missed the "black humour" bit all my life.
The only thing I'm really happy about in regards the characters is that Max and Moritz meet their end quickly enough.
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