Karl May

If anyone is familiar with Karl May books, the author page desperately needs combining. I don't feel confident to pick what in the sea of single copies belongs together with what work

This needs someone proficient in several languages, none of which I know.

I will see what I can do later. He also have a lot of books and a lit of them were translated weirdly - half books and combined 2 in one and what’s not so there will a lot of singles there I suspect.

Dear Group,

I have a TBR Book on my pile(s) the making of the Fuhrer Young Hitler by Paul Ham

I always knew that Hitler regarded Karl May as one of his favourite authors, but how many books about Hitler
can you read in a year?

Even towards the end of the war Hitler recommended May's books to his Generals. And as a youth he borrowed (newish shoes) from a (Jewish?) co-resident of a Boarding House, in Vienna,
to attend a lecture by May.

Well, sorry, I can't help you with "Combining", But I would appreciate any recommendation of a definitive Karl May.

Guido

I just worked a bit on Unter Geiern which had been combined with one of the two stories it contains. Bah!

Warning: WorldCat doesn't seem to be reliable on Other titles here.

>3 AnnieMod: >5 MarthaJeanne: Yeah. The publication history of this author is quite messy too. >1 SandraArdnas: I'll see what I can do though.

>4 guido47: I have no idea if there even is such a thing. Karl May was a (kind of) major pulp author in his days (he died in 1912).

It would be something like Trump advising Tarzan to Pentagon staff though.

And >7 Nicole_VanK: you are surprised by that idea?

I guess I would just like a (any) recommendation of his books that H might have read.

>4 guido47: To be fair, Karl May was EVERY German's favorite author, even if many of them wouldn't admit it. And Hitler and his followers clearly weren't paying attention. One of May's key themes is that there are good and bad people in every race or culture. He even has two (fairly minor) Black characters -- one African, one a former slave in the US -- and while their depiction is really cringey by today's standards, they are just as heroic as the white men they travel with.

As for a definitive Karl May, it depends. Firstly on what language you want to read him in. While he was translated into most European languages, there were only a couple of very poorly done English translations. There was an effort 10 or 15 years ago to produce good English translation, but I don't know how far that got or how available they are. Secondly, it depends on what you like. If it's westerns, then the obvious starting place is Winnetou. If you're more into adventures in the Ottoman Empire of the late 19th century, then I'd recommend Durch die Wüste/In the Desert, though that's the start of a 6 volume epic. If that's too much, then maybe Krüger Bei if you can find it in your preferred language.

Ah, I think there is some partial record of his library, as confiscated by American troops at his Austrian residence. I'll see if I can find it.

I tried at one point to read some, just because he is still a major influence on Austrian culture. There are all sorts of Karl May camps, festivals, theatre pieces... every summer. I suspect that most of the fans are males of a certain age, but they continue to support a whole business. Out of luck this year, I guess. Anyway, several generations of German-speaking men had their understanding of the American West shaped by someone who was basically clueless.

Apparently I managed to finish Hadschi Halef Omar und der Frauenräuber von Serdascht. 'Cringey' is a good description. This was 8 years ago. My recollection is that he knew about as much about Islamic culture as he did about the American West.

I read a few of his books, as a kid, over 50 years ago. But I'll try to help.

1. Karl May is still popular or at least enjoys enormous name recognition among German speakers. The comparison to Burroughs is appropriate--both authors have long passed from mass popularity into classic-dom. That said, twenty or so years ago I discovered I can't in good conscience recommend his books to youngsters. The same is true for Burroughs. We'll always have film and TV adaptations, I suppose.

To an adult, I can't improve on DemetriosX's recommendations, those would be exactly my choices. I still love Winnetou and the six-volume "Oriental" cycle is I think May's best.

Note that May's hero, Old Shatterhand/Kara ben Nemsi, is something of an evangelist, terribly proud of hailing from Luther's country (Saxony not Germany of course), and in general an insufferable Gary Stu.

2. Hitler was a tool.

3. I must have done some combining on May in the (distant?) past and might again... as soon as I get rid of this infernal headache.

It is not just Germany - most of Eastern Europe grew up reading Karl May during the communism. He was the Burroughs and Jules Verne of my childhood - pulpy, trashy, unrealistic but so much fun as only pulp adventure literature can be. And I still read him - I do not expect his characters to be real or to see 21st century sensibilities in his novels - but the adventures are timeless...

And I agree with the recommendations of >9 DemetriosX: if you have never read him.

Or you can try the duology Der Sohn des Bärenjägers/Der Geist des Llano Estacado (or under the combined name Unter Geiern) (although even just the Llano Estacado one works on its own - that was my introduction to Karl May 30 years ago). Not sure if either was translated into English though.