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Tschick (2010)

by Wolfgang Herrndorf(Favorite Author)

3.38 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

3871347108 (ISBN13: 9783871347108)

languge

English

genre

Humor

publisher

Rowohlt

review 1: Mike Klingenberg and Andrej Tschichatschow a.k.a. Tschick are very unpopular and considered by their peers to be rather weird. When neither is invited to the fabulously popular girl’s birthday party, who Mike is seriously crushing on, both boys decide to forget it all and go on a wild road trip across Germany. They make bad decisions, meet interesting people, and are eventually arrested. What seems like a great story actually falls very short. Though this book won the German Youth Literature Award, it was difficult for this reader to understand why. Perhaps the better part of the story was lost in translation, but there were still plenty of rambling, stream of consciousness moments and lots of pointless swearing. The main character, Mike, is very unlikable and has a bitt... moreer, sarcastic attitude throughout the book. Part of what makes a story excellent is the protagonist’s growth at the conclusion. In this case, not much growth was visible. Not recommended.
review 2: The Romanian title is "O vara misto" which roughly means "A cool summer". This is indeed a cool book, with two awesome heroes - 14 years old Maik with his teenage angst & dysfunctional family, and slightly older Chistoc, russian immigrant speaking cryptically and getting As and Bs when he's sober enough to care. I can't remember when was the last time I started reading a book again right after finishing it, but this happened to me with this book. Yes, it's that well written, but there's also a matter of story structure - the first couple chapters are purposedly confusing as they happen in the future, after most events in the book already unfolded - and some cryptical references gain new meanings once you've learned the whole story. It's a typical bildungsroman with atypical protagonists, in turns funny and tragic, reminding me of Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye". Five stars. less

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