Max and Moritz (Dover Humor)
by Wilhelm Busch
List Price:
Our Price: $6.15
You Save: $3.80 (38%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Wilhelm BuschEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1962-06-01
ISBN: 0486201813
Number of pages: 216
Publisher: Dover Publications
Book Reviews of Max and Moritz (Dover Humor)
Book Review: A German Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
Wilhelm Busch (1832-1908) is known as the author of "Max and Moritz," but the scope of his works is much broader. He is not an author of children's books in the first place. He wrote many stories of satire and slapstick humor not primarily aimed at children, illustrated by his own drawings - for which he is justly famous. Some people even regard him as the father of the modern comic strip. Had he worked in our time, his equals would be the likes of F. K. Waechter, Tomi Ungerer, Jean-Jacques Sempé, and Ronald Searle.
Although the two cannot be compared, Busch's "Max and Moritz" ranks in Germany on the same level as Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" in the English speaking world. Wherever an Englishman would quote Lewis Carroll's "Alice", a German is likely to quote Busch.
Children won't catch Busch's gentle satire in "Max and Moritz." The whole concept of satire is not familiar to them, of course. But while the little ones breathlessly follow the naughty pranks, Dad smiles at the fun Busch makes of the adults in "Max and Moritz." Widow Tibbets is a good example. While professing tender feelings for her chicks, she is in reality rather practical minded. So when Max and Moritz manage to kill her chickens - and the rooster, for that matter - she grieves, but not too deeply:
When the worthy Widow Tibbets
(Whom the cut below exhibits)
Had recovered, on the morrow,
From the dreadful shock of sorrow,
She (as soon as grief would let her
Think) began to think 'twere better
Just to take the dead, the dear ones
(Who in life were walking here once),
And in a still noonday hour
Them, well roasted, to devour.
In fact, Walter Arndt's translation in this edition is very good and captures precisely Busch's style.
Let me add a word of warning to trusting parents. Busch shares the mischievous streak in Max and Moritz, and while his two young protagonists play rather violent tricks on the townspeople - a taylor almost drowns and a teacher gets his face burned from an exploding pipe - Busch himself plays the most violent trick on Max and Moritz. In their last prank they cut open the grain sacks of a farmer who finds the two boys in their hiding place, drags them to a mill and has them ground to pieces, which - Gary Larson would have loved that part - are being eaten by two of the Miller's ducks:
"In with 'em!" Each wretched flopper
Headlong goes into the hopper.
As the farmer turns his back, he
Hears the mill go "creaky! cracky!"
Here you see the bits post mortem,
Just as Fate was pleased to sort 'em.
Master Miller's ducks with speed
Gobbled up the coarse-grained feed.
The good and upright people of the village are so relieved. Good riddance to Max and Moritz, they think. But of course they put that more politically correct:
Through the place in short there went
One wide murmur of content:
"God be praised! the town is free
From this great rascality!"
In short: this is great stuff for the kids if you manage to explain the fine points. As a starting point I recommend to brand the pranks of Max and Moritz as "very naughty" and take it from there. Once the kids begin to understand that the grinder is an even worse (adult) version of the two boys' malicious pranks you have won half the battle.
Summary of Max and Moritz (Dover Humor)
Great humor classic in both German and English. Also 10 other works: "Cat and Mouse," "Plisch and Plumm," and more.
Humor Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Humor Books
Snuffby Chuck Palahniuk
Anchor; Published: 2009-04-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
Don't Eat This Bookby Morgan Spurlock
Penguin Audio; Published: 2005-05-19; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $5.43
Price in other shops:
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hellby Tucker Max
Penguin; Published: 2006; Paperback; Book
The Saber-Tooth Curriculumby J.Abner Peddiwell
Mcgraw-Hill; Published: 1959-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.00
Miss Americaby Howard Stern
It Books; Published: 2010-08-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.71
Price in other shops:
101 Places Not to See Before You Dieby Catherine Price
Harper Perennial; Published: 2010-06-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.59
Price in other shops:
My Life and Hard Times (Perennial Classics)by James Thurber
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 1999-10-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.67
Price in other shops:
Equal Rites: A Discworld Novel (Discworld Novels)by Terry Pratchett
Harper Perennial; Published: 2005-09-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.95
Price in other shops:
Mirth of a Nation: Audio Companion, Fellow Traveler and Friend for Life--Laff Tracks From America's Most Trusted Humor Anthologyby Michael J. Rosen
HarperAudio; Published: 2002-11-12; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $4.51
Price in other shops:
Red, White & Liberalby Alan Colmes
HarperAudio; Published: 2003-10-28; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Pippi Longstocking (Puffin Modern Classics)by Astrid Lindgren
Puffin Books; Puffin; Published: 2005-04-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.76
Price in other shops:
Shock-Headed Peter: In Latin-English-German (Multilingual Edition)by Heinrich Hoffmann
Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers; Published: 2002-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Das Max und Moritz Buch: The Original Verse and Drawings of Wilhelm Busch with Language Notes (Language - German) (German and English Edition)by Wilhelm Busch
Glencoe/McGraw-Hill; Published: 1992-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.99
Price in other shops:
Frohliche Weihnachten: Learning Songs & Traditions in German Book & Audio CD (Teach Me) (German Edition)by Linda Rauenhorst
Teach Me Tapes; Published: 2007-09-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.82
Price in other shops:
Max and Moritz and Other Bad Boy Talesby Wilhelm Busch
James A Rock & Co. Publishers; Published: 2003-07-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.94
Price in other shops:
Selected Folktales/ Ausgewahlte Marchen: A Dual-Language Book (Dover Dual Language German)by Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm
Dover Publications; Published: 2003-03-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.26
Price in other shops:
Struwwelpeter: Or Pretty Stories and Funny Picturesby Dr. Dr. Heinrich Hoffmann
Pavilion; Published: 2010-12-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.92
Price in other shops:
Struwwelpeter 2000: The original German verse and 1861 illustrations of Der Struwwelpeter with new English translations (English and German Edition)by Colin Blyth, Heinrich Hoffmann
Iolair Pub; Published: 2000-09-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.95
Max and Moritz and Other Bad Boy Talesby Wilhelm Busch
James A Rock & Co. Publishers; Published: 2003-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.72
Price in other shops:
Struwwelpeter in English Translation (Dover Children's Classics)by Heinrich Hoffmann
Dover Publications; Published: 1995-04-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.92
Price in other shops: