Harry Potter Und der Stein der Weisen (German Edition) [Paperback]

J. K. Rowling (Author), Klaus Fritz (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2005 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up | Series: Harry Potter (Book 1)

Summary:
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About the Author:

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Author: J. K. Rowling
Illustrator:0
Publisher:Carlsen Verlag GmbH
Published Date:07/01/2005
Format:Paperback
ISBN:3551354014
#of pages:#N/A

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 334 pages
• Publisher: Carlsen Verlag GmbH (July 2005)
• Language: German
• ISBN-10: 3551354014
• ISBN-13: 978-3551354013
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 4.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

J K (Joanne Kathleen) Rowling was born in the summer of 1965 at Yate General Hospital in England and grew up in Chepstow, Gwent where she went to Wyedean Comprehensive. Jo left Chepstow for Exeter University, where she earned a French and Classics degree, and where her course included one year in Paris. As a postgraduate she moved to London to work at Amnesty International, doing research into human rights abuses in Francophone Africa. She started writing the Harry Potter series during a Manchester to London King's Cross train journey, and during the next five years, outlined the plots for each book and began writing the first novel. Jo then moved to northern Portugal, where she taught English as a foreign language. She married in October 1992 and gave birth to her daughter Jessica in 1993. When her marriage ended, she returned to the UK to live in Edinburgh, where "Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Ston"e was eventually completed and in 1996 she received an offer of publication. The following summer the world was introduced to Harry Potter."Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was published by Bloomsbury Children's Books in June 1997 and was published as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in America by Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic in September 1998.The second title in the series, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", was published in July 1998 (June 2, 1999 in America) and was No. 1 in the adult hardback bestseller charts for a month after publication. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" was published on 8th July 1999 (September 8, 1999 in America) to worldwide acclaim and massive press attention. The book spent four weeks at No.1 in the adult hardback bestseller charts, while "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" simultaneously topped the paperback charts. In the US the first three Harry Potter books occupied the top three spots on numerous adult bestseller lists.The fourth book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" was published in Britain, the USA, Canada and Australia 8th July 2000 with a record first print run of 1 million copies for the UK and 3.8 million for the US. It quickly broke all records for the greatest number of books sold on the first weekend of publication. The fifth book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," was published in Britain, the USA, Canada and Australia on 21st June 2003. Published in paperback on 10th July 2004, it is the longest in the series - 766 pages - and broke the records set by "Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire" as the fastest selling book in history. The sixth book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", was published in the UK, US and other English-speaking countries on 16th July 2005 and also achieved record sales.The seventh and final book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," was published in the UK, US and other English speaking countries on 21st July 2007. The book is the fastest selling book in the UK and USA and sales have contributed to breaking the 375 million copies mark worldwide.J K Rowling has also written two small volumes, which appear as the titles of Harry's school books within the novels. "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" and "Quidditch Through The Ages" were published by Bloomsbury Children's Books and Scholastic in March 2001 in aid of Comic Relief. The Harry Potter books have sold 400 million copies worldwide. They are distributed in over 200 territories and are translated into 67 languages.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wunderbar, July 14, 2001

By 

Joyce Knox (Glasgow, Scotland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen (Hardcover)

Chances are if your thinking on buying this book in German, you've probably already read the Englsih version, so I won't bog you down with any lengthy opinion on the story itself except to say it is a modern classic, full of mystery and suspense that can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike.

Foreign language versions of English novels are notoriously difficult to translate, largely due to the high number of English words which have no exact translation in say, German or French. But on the whole, this was an exceptionally translated peice, with no major blunders sticking out (the Spanish version is full of them) The most obvious chnage is of "Hermione" to "Hermine" Perhaps Hermione would feel strange to pronounce to a native German speaker, not sure on that one.

A lot of people will tell you Spanish and French are far easier to learn than German. I found German more fun to learn, most people who say it is a difficult, technical language do not know that English and German belong in the same group of languages (Germanic) French, Spanish and Italian are in a completely different group (Romantic) So to brush up on language skills, or just to have fun reading a novel in another language, HP is probably the most fun and easy to understand novel on the market.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No translation could destroy true magic like this, April 18, 2000

By 

Maja Ilisch (Aachen) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen (Hardcover)

Being German, I read all Harry Potter books in English firsthand and am glad I did, now that I also read Book 1 in German. The translation is not bad - I graduated on German translations of Alice in Wonderland and know how bad translations look - but some things about it really made me angry from knowing I could have done better. It's not only the usual trouble with puns - every translator gets into trouble with names like "Diagon Alley", which was simply translated as "Winkelgasse" - but some phrases simply lose the slight twinkle in Ms. Rowlings eye, though German is not a language lacking fun, or magic, or ... twinkles. The poems (I wonder if there aren't any in books 2 and 3 for translating reasons) are really badly translated. But what disturbed me most was the changing of characters' propper names. If they still call Hogwarts Hogwarts, why then rename Hermione (a Shakespearean name, a true heroine of amazonian rank) to Hermine, which is a name with a taste of old spinsters knitting woolen socks? Well at least Harry kept his name ... Still, the translation seems (for all who have not read the original and don't know the difference) to be good enough to make Harry No. 1 in German bestselling lists as well as elsewhere, everyone loves it and screams for more, so the German publishers have already announced book 5 to be issued in January, 2001 (wonder if Ms. Rowling knows?) Read this book if you're German and think your English won't be sufficient for reading the original text (which is really pleasant to read and will not mean hard work), or if you're a fan and interested in translations. But if you only want to read a German book, read something that was originally written in German, like Michael Ende. But if you're hesitating now, at least read the book in English. No one must go without Harry.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent translation, June 28, 2000

By 

Nancy R. Woodington - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen (Hardcover)

This translation of Harry Potter pulled even this native speaker of English along almost as well as the original book, and I would recommend it for anyone who's had a couple of years of German as a skill and vocabulary builder. If you're struggling with Goethe or Thomas Mann, you need something that will show you that German can be fun to read, and this book will do the trick nicely. I suppose once could carp at a few things here and there, but this translation is so superior to the French translation that I wouldn't waste my time doing that, except to mention that Hermione's name has for some reason been changed to Hermine. If you get stuck, at least the trot's readily available!