A great story about friendship, ethics, optimism and courage

books:


	• Winnetou: A Novel (The Collected Works of Karl May ; Ser. 2, V. 1-2) Karl May Seabury Pr, 1977 - 749 pages average customer review:based on 50 reviews
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highly recommended

Winnetou--A Nice Story

This is an excellent translation of the classic German work by Karl May. It tells the story of a young indian chief through the eyes of his "white" friend. It is a story of courage, ethics, and the importance of always giving your best to tasks and challenges. Another part of the beauty of it is that it was written in its entirety by a German man, who to that date had never been to the United States or even seen a Native American. Very impressive.

A great story about friendship, ethics, optimism and courage

A mix of Old Shatterhand and Winnetou has become my raw model after reading this books many years ago (I was 10 then, I am 50 now). The values I have learned have guided my life since. They have been the foundation for my views of North America, and have been a moral support through my multiple escapes from the agents of a dictatorial regime during the darkest period of a pseudo-Communist era. While being in jail and breaking out, while having a loaded handgun pointed at my head, while fighting for my freedom, I was both Old Shatterhand and Winnetou.
The book is idealized and sometimes unfair towards the Yankee pioneer. However, maybe because of that, the message is easy to grasp for a wide range of readers - respect for difference, an ethical struggle to be the best one can be in a multi-cultural environment. It is easy to do mistakes when you are a pioneer (the first one to do something - be it hunting, farming, nation-forming or whatever other challenges our minds can invent), the essence of it is to learn what is wrong and correct it.
I am writing this review before reading the English translation offered by Amazon. As other reviewers have mentioned, the translation I read had over 1000 pages that contained, in addition to the action, great descriptions of the Apache territories and landscape. It is Karl May's geniality in describing so vividly and so close to reality the geographical context of his adventures without being there ever. I am ordering the book and will look forward to a more complete translation.
And yes, after escaping, I did get to ride horses, wear a Colt, sleep in the wild with my knife close by and fire a carbine and, most importantly, have friends I can rely on with my life.

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Just as I remembered

Please see my review under Winnetou, the Apache knight

Winnetou

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!

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A Great Read

It is hard to believe that Karl May, a German who never stepped foot in the U.S., could capture the old West as well as he did. Winnetou is a terrific tale of the evolution of a "greenhorn" as he becomes a man of the west and befriends a great indian chief. I would, and have, recommend this book to everyone.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Karl May's most popular work originally published in 1892 and influenced by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Winnetou is the story of a young Apache chief told by his white friend and blood-brother Old Shatterhand. The action takes place in the U.S. Southwest, in the latter half of the 1800s, where the Indian way of life is threatened by the first transcontinental railroad. Winnetou, the only Native Indian chief who could have united the various rival tribes to reach a settlement with the whites, is murdered. His tragic death foreshadows the death of his people. May's central theme here, as in much of his work, is the relationship between aggression, racism, and religious intolerance.

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