Fantasy like no other (The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear - Walter Moers)

Member Name: morellomole

Product:	The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear - Walter Moers
Date:	08/11/09 (15 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great characters and stories in an easy to read style.

Disadvantages: None

It is difficult to know where to start when reviewing this book. It rather exists in a genre of it's own, although it falls within many categories. It would certainly be fair to call it a fantasy novel. However, if you find it difficult to suspend belief enough to read about dragons and wizards, you would definitely have trouble absorbing the content of Captain Bluebear.

The basic premise of the book is that it tells the tale of a blue bear as he makes his way through various adventures (his thirteen and a half lives). Along the way he meets all manner of strange creatures and places (the Demerara desert, the spiderwitch, and cannibal island among them). The book is very well paced as he naturally proceeds from one life to the next. As a result, I would definitely call this a page turner, as I found myself up until the early hours of the morning a couple of times just wanting to know what happens next.

At first glance it may appear a daunting task given the number of pages to read. However, many pages are taken up by the illustrations which act as a fantastic aid to total absorption into Bluebear's world. It never feels a chore making your way to the next page. In fact I actually envy anybody who has not read this book as they can now fall into Bluebear's world for the first time.

The fact that this is a German author makes the language all the more remarkable in that the translation feels very fluid. I have read other translated texts and often found them awkward to read, and any neat little touches contained within are 'lost in translation'. If anything is lost here I didn't notice, and suspect that if there are any nuances found in the German version which are lost here, they could only serve to make this book better.

It is not entirely clear which age market this book is aimed at. As someone in their thirties I found this immensely enjoyable, and will probably try to read this to my five year old at some point in the not too distant future as I feel she could probably enjoy it almost as much. Some of the irony and comedy may get lost on children, but in the same way as The Simpsons appeals to all, this book can be enjoyed at any age I feel.

Having finished this book I very quickly read all other works by Moers which were equally fantastic. The only small fault I found with this book was in one of the last chapters where a few pages are dedicated to descriptions of all the inhabitants. The first few are entertaining. By the tenth one, it did become a bit of a drag. However, a couple of pages later and the story was back on track bringing all the threads together nicely and reaching a satisfying conclusion.

This book absolutely cries out to be read, and anybody I have recommended it to that has subsequently read it , has felt the same way. Sit back and enjoy.

Summary: Read this book!