Manybooks's Reviews > Emil and the Detectives

Please do note that Emil's exploits, that the story itself, in its German original, while never a personal favourite, is and will always remain a solid three star read for me (enjoyable, but also not spectacular). And yes, the above one star rating is simply because the new 2007 translation by W. Martin absolutely and totally leaves so very much to be desired (especially for someone such as I who likes her translations as close to the original as possible and not updated or altered all that much). My review will thus be in two parts (first, general musings on Emil's Berlin escapades as a whole, gleaned mostly from my review of the German original, as the general themes and my issues with some of them remain the same, and then a more in-depth analysis of this particular recent English language translation, and why I personally consider it majorly substandard in every way).

GENERAL THOUGHTS ON ERICH KÄSTNER'S EMIL AND THE DETECTIVES (BASED ON THE GERMAN ORIGINAL)

First published in 1929, Erich Kästner's Emil und die Detektive (Emil and the Detectives in English translations) especially and brilliantly sparkles and glows with its sense of time and place, with its urban realism, its palpably authentic and genuine representation and description of Berlin (the actual capital city of the Germany of the Weimar Republic, a lively and throbbing modern metropolis, and not some vague environs set in either a magical present or a distant historical past).

Also and for me personally, first reading about Emil's adventures and exploits in Berlin, more than forty years later in 1975 (when I was nine years old and approximately a year before we immigrated from what was then West Germany to Canada, and thus in the German original, of course), with the Berlin Wall at that time still firmly in place and East Berlin, like all of East Germany, for all intents and purposes cut off from West Germany, Emil und die Detektive was basically the only way for me to even remotely be able to experience the at that time still former capital of Germany (from 1949 until reunification, while East Berlin remained the capital of East Germany, the capital of West Germany was Bonn), since unless one had family members in the East, it was often very difficult if not impossible for many if not most West Germans to even obtain permission from East Germany to cross over, to visit (and neither did we have relatives in East Germany nor did my parents desire to frequent East Germany as that, according to them, would have been catering to Erich Honecker and the Soviet Union, and even the idea of perhaps visiting West Berlin was never remotely entertained or considered).

Aside from the above mentioned and appreciated immediacy, the both harsh and at times delightful reality of urban existence, Emil und die Detektive is primarily a novel of not only adventure and friendship, but essentially, a glorification of children and their abilities, their hidden and not so hidden strengths and talents. Emil and his new friends tracking and then apprehending the scoundrel who had robbed Emil of his money clearly and succinctly demonstrates to ALL (including parents, including adults) that the young are NOT (and should never be) mere bastions of inactivity and quietude (to be seen but not heard, to be sitting silently and attentively at school, at church or at home), but that children can do, that if they join forces and work together, they can (at least within the confines of this story) even take the job of the authorities, of adult detectives (and that there is safety and comfort in numbers, that as a team, collectively, much can be accomplished).

That being said, and even though I realise that from all of Erich Kästner's children's novels, Emil und die Detektive remains his most famous and well known (especially in North America and Great Britain, especially in translation), there are some rather major and unfortunate issues with datedness and stratified gender roles present. Emil's female cousin Pony Hütchen (Pony of the Hat), while clearly represented in many ways as both the most imaginative and even the most courageous of the children, unfortunately also seems to be primarily a maternal representative, a motherly type whose role is first and foremost that of a caregiver and liaison (and it is thus Emil and the boys of the group who later earn all or at least most of the accolades, who are feted as having apprehended the thief).

Now I do very well realise that Emil und die Detektive was penned, was published in the 1920s and that for its time (for 1929), both the story itself and the featured characters are actually quite if not very avant-garde (even with regard to Pony Hütchen, who while she might indeed languish somewhat as a typical maternal caregiver like entity, is at least permitted, is at least allowed freedom and vitality, is not simply confined to the house or to a finishing school, sewing or learning how to "be a lady"). I just do find it somewhat frustrating that even though many of Erich Kästner's later novels for children often portray considerably less gender stratification (and even actual criticism of the latter), they are often not nearly as familiar and even as available to especially English language readers. Still, Emil und die Detektive remains highly recommended as a story, and is perhaps even a good place to start (especially if one desires to read Erich Kästner's children's writing sociologically and/or historically).

THE 2007 W. MARTIN TRANSLATION

I have not, as yet, read the earlier May Massee translation of Emil und die Detektive (but am planning on doing so in the near future, as I have heard very positive critiques of it from trusted GR friends, thanks Cheryl and Michael).

Now I do realise that translations are never and can never be exactly like the original (and in fact, translations that strive to be too literal can often have the tendency to read haltingly and tediously, painfully like translations and not as stories, as accounts in and of themselves). But that being said, a given translation should still strive to keep as close to the original as possible, mirroring both style and especially time and place of the original narrative (and of course, content and themes as well). And although W. Martin's translation does read fluently enough, and yes, even portrays Emil's escapes in Berlin for the most part authentically and realistically, especially his (or her) choice of vocabulary and idiomatic expressions sometimes (far too often) make me shake my head in consternation (and actually leaves me both frustrated and yes, even rather, no actually very much angry and annoyed).

And first and foremost (and even in this here new translation), Emil and the Detectives is still clearly presented as a novel set in Berlin, no rather, it is set in 1920s Berlin. And thus, it makes precious little sense that so many of the jargon-like expressions used by especially Gus (Gustave) feel more like late 20th, early 21st century vernacular. Sorry, but no one in 1920s Berlin would have called someone dude, nor would the German word Lump have been the equivalent of scumbag in a novel set in 1920s Berlin. And I actually rather doubt that scumbag would even have been all that much in existence in the vernacular of most English speaking countries at that time, and in my opinion, the correct, or rather the best translation of Lump should be scoundrel, as scumbag fits neither the time nor the place (and these are just a select few such examples, there are, unfortunately quite a number of them present throughout the translated narrative, rendering the discourse, the textual flow unintentionally anachronistic and to me, unnatural and disconcerting). And the thief who robbed Emil, in the German original, he is repeatedly described as a Halunke, which is the equivalent of villain and CERTAINLY NOT jerk as the translator, as W. Martin has rendered the former (for the individual who robbed Emil is more than a mere jerk, he is a criminal, a thief, a villain).

And while the anachronistic use of late 20th, early 21st century discourse and jargon is indeed somewhat irritating, I find the woefully haphazard manner in which personal and geographic names have been either anglicised or kept German by W. Martin even more of an issue, even more perplexing. Now personally, I always tend to be of the opinion that unless a given name is unpronounceable or unspellable if kept in the original, geographic locations and first and surnames should NOT generally, as a rule, be translated. However, that being said, if a translator is going to be rendering names, places and such into the target language, he or she should be consistent throughout, and either translate ALL names etc. or conversely NONE of them. And with this fact, this personal opinion in mind, W. Martin's 2007 Emil and the Detectives presents the exact opposite, namely a (for me) vexing and irritating combination of some personal names being kept in the German original and others translated into English counterparts. Why, for example, is Emil's surname, Tischbein, translated as Tabletoe, and why is one of the names of the villain, Grundeis, rendered as Groundsnow, while many if not most of the other surnames are kept German? But even more problematic, why is Emil's hometown of Neustadt (which does exist in Germany, well actually, there are a number of cities that go by that name) translated as New Town by W. Martin, while both Berlin and Hanover appear as they would in German, in Germany (although in Germany, Hanover is spelled with a double n, Hannover)? Not to mention that even the description of Berlin landmarks and street names suffer from this inconsistency, with some being translated into an English version and others keeping their German spelling. And yes, this strange and unnecessary combination of German and English names, with really no rhyme or reason, and even more so than the translator's use of anachronisms with regard to dialogue and discourse, has made me rather majorly if not totally despise the new 2007 translation of Emil's story and has also made me really hesitant to in any manner consider recommending W. Martin's version of Emil and the Detectives (even though it is seemingly much more readily available than the earlier translation of May Massee, and while I have not yet read the latter, the fact that many of my GR friends glowingly appreciate and love her rendition, this does majorly encourage me, and really truly, there are simply far far too many niggling and frustratingly infuriating issues with W. Martin's translation for me to consider suggesting it to anyone with a guiltless conscience).