Customer Reviews

Winnetou (Unabridged 2008 translation of Winnetou I)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I'm from Hamburg, Germany(age 50)and read all Karl May books (as a child, teenager and adult). I grew up in New York and after over 37 years, I now finally returned to the United States. Reading "Winnetou", translated by David Koblick, I am very disappointed; I intend to send Mr.Koblick a German e-mail, explaining reasons why I can't agree with his way of translating and abridging the German original. Hopefully he will answer. Therefore,I now only say, that this translation is degraded to a simple western action story - a german western, of course - and I can't believe, that american readers, under these circumstances will ever appreciate the work of Karl May. Last, but not least - reading the translation I not only missed geographical details for which the author is famous, but even more important his message. The words have been translated, but I miss the feelings Karl May has put in all of his books, the main reason why he still is the most published German author.

I'm happy that my first review posted March 8 has been read by so many people - in the meantime I now posted a German review of this translation on the website of the Karl May Society in Germany. As I'm now trying to translate 'Winnetou' myself -I compared the number of pages of the German Original with Marion Ames Taggart's unauthorized translation(1898) and then David Koblick's (1999) Winnetou I. I used the same font in order to compare: the original German version has almost 950 pages; the Marion A. Taggart translation has 203 pages (many parts left out)- the Koblick translation has only 135 pages. Winnetou I comes up to 309 pages in the original German version - I've used compareable fonts. What has happened to the missing 174 pages? Well, sad to say: the story has been abridged. Hello, Zane Grey. Under these circumstances nobody in the USA will ever read Karl May. The best food doesn't taste when you leave the salt and pepper out. Last but not least, comparing translations and also translating myself I noticed that Koblick sometimes uses rather difficult English words, that are not used by Karl May in this way. It is good to know the language, but a translator must also be able to use the vocabulary of the author he translates. Karl May used a simple but very common, good German. Some words that Koblick uses just don't fit in - as there exist better English words. I would be very thankful of any E-Mail regarding this review. Thanks.

Though he is virtually unknown to the English-speaking world, May is possibly the most-read German author of all time: his books have sold an estimated 100m copies to date. The Germans have a saying: "We know Goethe, but we read Karl May".

Karl May developed a love of good stories while serving time in prison for fraud. He wrote over 70 books, many of which have been translated into over 30 languages. Among his best-known works is Winnetou, published in three volumes between 1876 and 1893. The story depicted the friendship of Old Shatterhand, an American pioneer of German descent, and Winnetou, a noble Indian chief.

Picking up where Buffalo Bill Cody's 1889 German tour left off, he came up with the ingenious idea of presenting a western adventure in which a German novice, Old Shatterhand, out-lassos, out-hunts, out-shoots and finally out-wits Yankees and Indians alike. Throw in the hero's great alliance with Winnetou, the stoical "red gentleman", and May had created both a patriotic epic and a popular monument to the Native American race. The 2,000-page "Winnetou" series, is a rootin'-tootin', sure-shootin' sensation, still a great for all western and adventure lovers everywhere.

I was 11 years old when my father handed me over the French edition of Karl May's Old Shatterhand and Winnetou series.
Having read Fenimore Cooper's books, I was already hooked on anything dealing with "Indian Americans" or what is called today "Native Americans", especially the Apaches, the Comanches, the Sioux, Cheyennes and Cherokees. I don't remember having ever since shed a tear while reading a book, like I did when Winnetou died...as with Unca, the last of the Mohicans...
Karl May's unforgettable Winnetou has opened to me the rich world of the noble warriors and proud nation that populated the American West. I sensed with great dispair how the white race has been greedy and cruel, trying to subdue a people who refused to give up their land, their freedom, their pride...One would wonder who the real "savages" were...
Karl May has at least immortalized the grandeur of a certain lifestyle in the wild west, with its "code of honor", and the value of friendship between two "blood brothers", in a way no literature or "western" (John Wayne's kind of movie) has done.
I'm glad I have this opportunity, over twenty years after having discovered him, to pay a tribute to his work.
By the way , just to give an idea about how cosmopolitan his readers are, I am a woman...and I live in Lebanon...!

One day my mom brought up "Winnetou". Telling me all about how great they are and how she used to read the Swiss editions when she was a kid my age (which is 12).
Well, I was interested. Apparently May never left his country, yet he writes about the West like an expert. This did sound rather interesting. My mom said that her aunt had all the May books, but they were all in Swiss. We searched the Internet for a while, and came to a conclusion that Karl May books in English are pretty hard to find.
But whadaya know? My grandpa in Switzerland found the first Winnetou novel in English and I had recieved it as a Christmas present.
I am now on Winnetou 1, Volume 2, Chapter 3. There are 3 Winnetou books. And I LOVE IT. It's everything I love. It's got action, adventure, suspense, even some romance. It's a book for pre-teens and teens, in my opinion, because it's the kinda stuff we like.
And most of the people in my family have read them. My dad's best friend read them and loved them. The haircutter loves them. They are great books, what more can I say?

I'm born of West Indian parents, lived in Germany from age 3 to 12, and at that tender age, I naturally spoke fluent German, but I have never been back since 1967 - I'm almost 50 now! But I'll always remember my love affair with the Winnetou series by Karl May. I remember spending countless days and nights inhaling novel after novel. Our next door neighbor's kid had a huge, leather-bound collection and happily shared it with me. My German is now beyond rusty, and I've been looking for English translations of these wonderful books, and was very happy to come across this one. I wish I could get more Americans turned onto these books - but, although the translated version was very satisfying after so many decades of being deprived, I'm fairly certain that the work suffered somewhat in the translation. But I'm not complaining at all. I'll just have to re-ignite my German comprehension skills and read the real thing again. My 5-star rating is probably borne of nostalgia, but I'm not retracting it!

I was 12 years old tomboy when I started to read Karl May books from school library in Indonesia. Once started, I never stop reading them until I finish. After I read the Winnetou book, I am so drawn to his character that I've dreamed to be Winnetou's girl friend! I was very sad and crying hard when he died. When I came to the US 11 years ago and meet my husband for the first time in my first 4 years, it was a dream come true. He is part Cheyenne and proud to be a Native American (though he's as blond as a white man)! I read all his books and looking forward to read them again. Is there anyway you compile all his book in one, but not necessarily shortening it? And I would be gladly to order them for me, my husband and my children.

If one looks at all the reviews for Winnetou (should be translated Vinnetou, since W pronounce like V in German), one cannot find any American born reviewer! As an Israeli born, I found it amazing the difference between Zane Gray's Indians and May's. Be that as it may, May's books gave me hours of pleasure when I read them in Hebrew translation many years ago. The Germanic America that appears in May's books is simplistic, has a German uber ales atmosphere, and all other races are depicted as child like (blacks) cunning and evil (Yankees{read English heritage}), and noble but still inferior (Indians). Nevertheless, the plots the humor in it, and the charisma of the main characters are more than enough to make me recommend his books. The American born readers will benefit (they need it!) from a different point of view about their history.

As many of the other readers I have grown up with Karl May and foolishly asumed that the world is good and noble until I grew up. I know all / most of his books by heart and find it very sad that english speaking children are deprived of these (possibly oldfashioned) books. I rate them as important and quite likely character forming to some extend. One should put the authors personal life aside here. Please cary on translating them - I think the most important thing for growing children is fantasy and a sense of right and wrong without prejudices. Reading these books formed me and to some extend I still adhere to the principles and ideas from these books.

I first read Winnetou and Old Surehand (Polish translation) when I was 10 years old and in bed with a chicken pox. I fell in love with the books immediately and kept re-reading them until they fell apart. Now, almost 40 years later I am discovering Winnetou again. I am very happy so many readers share my feeling and I wish to join the voices begging for the continuation of the series. Lets hope a new generation of readers gets hooked-up like the parents.