German speakers: Book recommendations for intermediate language level - YouLookFab Forum

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German speakers: Book recommendations for intermediate language level

Liz A.

Veteran

I probably could have timed this post better, since it's about 9pm in Europe, but maybe our German speakers are night owls.

So once upon a time (about 10 years ago now), I could speak, read, and write German fairly well. Now I'm out of practice, but I don't want to lose the language completely. Do you have any book recommendations for me that are interesting and not super difficult but still challenging... Maybe something along the lines of Harry Potter or The Hunger Games wenn es so etwas auf Deutsch gäbe?

Tausend Dank!

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27 replies

Latest reply was from rachylou

Astrid

Veteran

So you want German originals? Then I'd recommend Michael Ende, maybe you know "Momo"? I also love "Die unendliche Geschichte" and "Der satanarchäolügenialkohöllische Wunschpunsch". Also a great read is Walter Moers, but they might be a bit complicated because the language is full of invented terminology - I especially liked "Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher" and "Rumo & die Wunder im Dunklen". Another great trilogy is "Tintenherz", "Tintentod" and "Tintenblut" by Cornelia Funke, I think those would be the easiest.

Viel Spaß beim Lesen! Ich überlege mal, ob mir noch mehr einfällt.

ETA

"Timm Thaler oder Das verkaufte Lachen" by James Krüss. A classic and one of my favourites as a child.

Liz A.

Veteran

Thank you so much, Astrid! Yes, German originals are what I'm after. Fantasy isn't a requirement although I do enjoy those kind of books. Something at the young adult/high school reading level will probably work for me :).

In college, I did read Hegel, Nietzsche, Kant and some miscellaneous novels (Der Richter und Sein Henker z.B.), but I might need to work my wayback up to that level. Ich kenne keine dieser Buecher, die du erwaehnen hast, aber ich versuche mal einige zu finden. Vielleicht nach einer Weile frage ich dich direkt nach einigen, die ein bisschen schwerer sind.

rachylou

Veteran

I have to ask how you'd translate "satanarchäolügenialkohöllische"...?

Liz A.

Veteran

@Rachy, from the Wiki: "The word satanarchäolügenialkohöllisch is a portmanteau from the German words Satan, Anarchie, Archäologie, Lüge, genial, Alkohol and höllisch (Satan, anarchy, archeology, lie, ingenious, alcohol and infernal)." That clears it up for you, right?

Astrid

Veteran

Rachylou, Liz already answered, but may I say I love that word? When I first read the book as a child I practiced saying it as fast as possible...

Liz, deine Collegelektüre klingt schon komplizierter! Ich bin froh, dass ich helfen konnte. Und du kannst mich gerne fragen falls du weitere Hilfe brauchst! Weißt du, wie du die Bücher beschaffen kannst? Wenn du magst kann ich dir auch was besorgen und schicken, falls das günstiger ist.

Ornella

(website)

Veteran

Astrid, I'm having twilight zone moments. German on YLF

Astrid

Veteran

Ornella, I actually had problems writing it!

L'Abeille

Veteran

Were Cornelia Funke's books actually written in German first and then translated into English? Oh, I have to read them in German then!
(I have some Herman Hesse at home waiting fo rme but i'm afraid Emil und die Detektive is more my speed.)

Astrid

Veteran

L'Abeille, yes. She is German and was already quite well known here before her first books got translated.

I love "Emil und die Detektive", as well as "Pünktchen & Anton" and "Das doppelte Lottchen". A much easier read than Hesse...

liana

I second Astrid's recommendation of Erich Kästner's books, "Emil und die Detektive" and "Punktchen & Anton", or really almost any of his books for "easy" reading.
The Tintenherz trilogy by Cornelia Funke is a lot more challenging (well, at least for me), and the first one is terrifically interesting! (I'm only partly through this one so I can't speak for the following two volumes).

rachylou

Veteran

Lol. Am I dense? Because I saw that on Wiki and it didn't resolve into anything for me at all...

Liz A.

Veteran

Rachylou, I know! I'm laughing with you. It doesn't mean much to me either. It's a made up word.

Astrid, thank you again. I had a look at Amazon. I was really hoping for Kindle books, but the pickings are slim. I appreciate your nice offer of shipping, and I will get back to you if need be. Can't wait to start reading and brushing up on my Deutsch!

Astrid

Veteran

Liz, I've had a look and you can order at amazon.de and then ship to the USA for a 3€+3€/kg fee. If I would post it it would be 5,50€ for up to 1kg and 11€ for up to 2kg.

Minnie

Liz,

If you register with Amazon.de and buy on there, maybe you can then download to your Kindle?
I have accounts with Amazon.com and Amazon.de for times when I want to get German site items for my mother or brother in Germany.

Minnie

satanarchäolügenialkohöllische is made-up, along the lines of Mary Poppins'
"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"

Gilly

How bizarre! I'm also learning German and had a, "am I on the right website?!" double take moment when I came onto this topic!

I have Pünktchen und Anton on my kindle - think you can get most of Erich Kästner's books on there. I also have the audio book on my phone for a bit of listening practice.

Although not German originals I've also tried the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis just because I loved them as a kid and the language is pretty simple. The language is also pretty accessible in the Harry Potter books - and as a plus you can borrow them for free on kindle if you're an amazon prime member - UK, don't know if this applies elsewhere?

Getting away from fantasy, and also back into books originally written in German, I've been recommended Gut gegen Nordwind by Daniel Glattauer
-it's a romance all told in e-mail format - woman sends e-mail to a stranger by mistake and things go from there. Can't vouch for this one as I've only just started it but language wise seems OK and I'm guessing has a more normal vocabulary not including witches, elves, magic etc!

I'll let you know if it's any good once I finish!

rachylou

Veteran

Oh, this is getting very interesting now!

Right, ok. So supercalifragilisticexpialidocious has a meaning, which is essentially "fantastic."

So what does satanarchäolügenialkohöllische mean? Der satanarchäolügenialkohöllische Wunschpunsch is titled The Night of Wishes in English. Which is very interesting. Essentially, they didn't translate the title - they circumvented it. I'm thinking it could basically mean "wicked," but somehow that seems a little off to me...

Astrid

Veteran

I had gotten "Gut gegen Nordwind" as a present a while ago and I didn't like it that much. If you're wanting something other than fantasy I'm sure I can find some more stuff I liked when I think about it some more. How about "Die Vermessung der Welt" by Daniel Kehlmann?

Rachylou, they did translate it, the full title is "The Night of Wishes: Or the Satanarchaeolidealcohellish Notion Potion". A bit shorter than the German word. I think you're not that bad with wicked - there isn't one good term for it IMO, it kind of points to the properties the potion has... It's ingenious because you can lie and pretend you're doing good things wishing good wishes although you're truly doing hellish things satan would like.

ETA

If you like black humour - "Die Häupter meiner Lieben" by Ingrid Noll.

ETA2

Another well know German original is "Das Parfum" by Patrick Süskind.

rachylou

Veteran

Aha! But lol, I'm not sure "satanarchaeolidealcohellish" counts as translation. Lol. Yes. Ok. *Whatever, Rachylou!* Sorry, it's the technical writer in me.

Anyways, that's a very good explanation, Astrid. I think I know what word I'd choose now - "diabolical." And if I wanted to keep the spirit up, I'd make up something like the "Diabolicalmolical" notion potion.

Well, now. I think I'm going to have to read Der satanarchäolügenialkohöllische Wunschpunsch.

Minnie

The last German book I read was "Tschick" by Wolfgang Herrndorf. I really enjoyed it very much.
The German Kindle version is available on Amazon.de, Amazon.com only has the paperback

Astrid

Veteran

Oh yes, "Tschick" is great.

ETA

There's also "Der Schwarm" by Frank Schätzing, an "eco-thriller". Probably not intermediate level though.

Astrid

Veteran

Thought of another easy read - "Caius, der Lausbub aus dem alten Rom: Alle Abenteuer" by Henry Winterfeld. It's a children's series that's placed in ancient Rome.

This is really bad, once you've started thinking about recommendations you can't stop...

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

Astrid und Liz A., es macht mich froh Deutsch zu lesen, hier auf YLF! Astrid, hast du Online Mode Zeitschriften, das du empfehlen kannst? Ein Buch ist immer noch zu schwer für mich, aber Zeitschriften/Internet kann ich. Deutsche Mode Blogs wurde auch schon. Danke.

(Sometimes my German words auto-correct, sometimes not at all! Sometimes the umlaut comes in, sometimes not!)

Astrid

Veteran

Denise, I've made you a list. I personally love anders-anziehen, but it's not a conventional fashion blog. The photographer herself says that "anders-anziehen features people of the so called everyday life: people of every age, every background, every individual appearance. The photos are unplanned shots - searching for genuineness and authentic self-will."

I'm not really reading any of the others regularly, so I can't tell you about the quality.

http://iloveponysmag.com/

http://www.juliastelzner.de/

http://www.journelles.de/

http://www.kalinkakalinka.de/

http://www.lesmads.de/

http://www.modepilot.de/

http://www.thisisjanewayne.com/

Liz A.

Veteran

Astrid, I'm not good with kg :/ Are you saying Amazon shipping is cheaper or more expensive? There are some German books on Amazon here. I might try those since there are so few Kindle books available.

Rachylou, have you read Mark Twain's essay "The Awful German Language"? It is quite common in German to combine a ridiculous amount of words into one, but in that case the entire word is combined, rather than being slapped together like satanarchäolügenialkohöllische with letters missing. Anyways, I'm also intrigued to read it.

Minnie and CocoLion, how do you know German?

Astrid

Veteran

Liz, it's roughly the same. Two normal paperbacks (<500 pages) should probably be just under 1 kg, so 6€ on Amazon.

And thanks so much for the link to the essay, I hadn't come accross this one before! I laughed so hard... That said, I think German is less complicated now than it was back then, although we still love parentheses and combined words. I found the explanation of the cases really interesting, I had never heard it put like that before. Two of my friends are actually doing their master's degree in Deutsch als Fremdsprache - I'm just glad I don't have to understand and explain it, just use it in the right way.

ETA

Totally forgot to link you to Projekt Gutenberg - a collection of eBooks for free, all works for which the copyright has expired (so only older works).

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/.....Ccherregal (German bookshelf)

Two well known children's classics:

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21021

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31204

rachylou

Veteran

I haven't read Twain's essay. I shall have to now!

German was my fun class in college - my field being, essentially, English. We used to laugh in German class that the world's worst nightmare has to be Charles Dickens translated from the English into the German - imagining his sentences, which last for pages, all made into one word lasting for pages.

While I translate things from time to time from German into English at work, I cannot go the other way. I'm impressed that y'all learned to output.