Who Was David Weiser?

by Paweł Huelle

On This Page

Description

Weiser wasn't just anyone - the other boys were sure of that. Even animals seemed to obey the scrawny boy. Then came the revelation of his arsenal at the disused brickworks which promotes him from Jewish outcast to local hero. This novel won the Independent Foreign Fiction Award.

Tags

Recommendations

Member Reviews

3 reviews
Recommended by Maciek. Set in the late 1950s in Gdansk (Poland), this is a classic coming of age story. David Weiser is a mysterious Jewish outcast in a Catholic town. His sole defender is a girl named Elka, and over time, three other boys become fascinated by this seemingly worldly classmate. The book is narrated by one of the three, while they are being interrogated following the disappearance of Weiser and Elka, who are presumed to have died in a huge explosion detonated by Weiser. The constant time shifting in narration was a challenge, and the fact that the parents of these boys left them alone and at the mercy of school officials and investigators was hard to believe, even given the time period. Well written, with some intriguing show more mystery/mysticism, but I would have preferred more resolution. show less
Wonderful book set in Gdansk, Poland
Polen, steden in de Bocht van Gdanzk, het vroegere Dantzig. Tijdens een naoorlogse zomervakantie spelen kinderen oorlogje tussen de kapotgeschoten bruggen. Davi Weiseer, het raadselachtige joodse jongetje, wordt van het mikpunt van zijn meescholieren tot een magiese leider die opwindende spelletjes bedenkt, tot hij verdwijnt.

Members

Recently Added By

Lists

Novels Published in 1987
81 works; 19 members

Author Information

Picture of author.
13+ Works 440 Members

Awards and Honors

Series

Belongs to Publisher Series

Common Knowledge

Canonical title*
Weiser Dawidek
Original title
Weiser Dawidek
Original publication date
1987
People/Characters
David Weiser
Important places
Gdańsk, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland
Related movies*
Weiser (2001 | IMDb)
Dedication*
Juliuszowi
First words*
"Właściwie jak to się stało, jak do tego doszło, że staliśmy w trójkę w gabinecie dyrektora szkoły, mając uszy pełne złowrogich słów: "protokół", "przesłuchanie", "przysięga", jak to się mogło stać, że ... (show all)tak po prostu i zwyczajnie z normalnych uczniów i dzieci staliśmy się teraz oto po raz pierwszy oskarżonymi jakim cudem nałożono na nas tę dorosłość - tego nie wiem do dzisiaj."
Last words*
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Patrzeć będziesz przed siebie tępym, nieruchomym spojrzeniem, nie słysząc już wody ani wiatru, który targać będzie twoje zlepione włosy."

Gdańsk 1984
Original language
Polish
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, General Fiction
DDC/MDS
891.8Literature & rhetoricLiteratures of other languagesEast Indo-European and Celtic literaturesWest and South Slavic languages (Bulgarian, Slovene, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Serbo-Croatian, and Macedonian)
LCC
PG7167 .U86 .W413Language and LiteratureSlavic languages and literatures. Baltic languages. Albanian languageSlavic. Baltic. AlbanianSlavicPolish
BISAC

Statistics

Members
137
Popularity
235,910
Reviews
3
Rating
½ (3.65)
Languages
12 — Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
25