Learn about well-known German authors
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| Hello, and welcome to the Culture File: Germany series at GermanPod101.com. In this series, we’re exploring essential information about Germany, German culture, and German people. I’m Eric, and you're listening to Season 1, Lesson 7 - Awesome German Authors. |
| Do you know any German writers? If you like to read classics, you might know the old tomes by Goethe or Schiller. In German, their names are read as Goethe and Schiller. Besides these authors, German people also like Erich Kästner or Hermann Hesse. |
| The writer Erich Kästner is known to many people as an author of children's books. He penned the books titled “Emil and the Detectives,” or in German Emil und die Detektive, “Lottie and Lisa,” or Das doppelte Lottchen, and “The Flying Classroom” or Das fliegende Klassenzimmer. But Kästner wrote literature for adults, too. For example, at the end of the 1920s, several volumes of his poetry were published, in which he almost sarcastically grapples with life, love, and current events in Germany. |
| Hermann Hesse is also a well-known German author. His most popular books are “Steppenwolf”, “Siddhartha,” and “The Glass Bead Game” or in German Magister Ludi. Of Hesse's works, one of the most popular is “Siddhartha”. This novella describes the journey of Siddhartha in search of enlightenment. Hesse has his own entirely distinct style, and the poetic language in “Siddhartha“ immediately put many people under its spell. |
| If you read works by these authors, you'll find that classics aren’t always boring or dry. In fact, these novels and poems are amusing and entertaining. If you’d like to become familiar with more German writers, we recommend checking out the works of Daniel Kehlmann or Juli Zeh, who are more modern authors. But regardless of whether it's classical or modern, German literature isn't just a fun read; it’s also very useful for acquiring the language. |
| So listeners, how did you like this lesson? Did you learn anything interesting? |
| What books by German writers have you read? |
| Leave a comment telling us at GermanPod101.com, and we’ll see you in the next lesson! |
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