Of Bears, Blue and Berries

Translated from German by John Brownjohn and with all its puns about bears, blue and berries, Walter Moers' 1999 fantasy novel 'The 13½  Lives of Captain Bluebear' is only the first in a series of five books revolving around the fictional continent of Zamonia.

I keep seeing it float around but never bothered to pick it up for a read. Now, decided I should read a book about blue bears. Started it over coffee and finished it over two short flights. The biggest issue about translated texts, many puns are unintentionally lost, anagrams, made-up names and expressions put across in this awkward way that doesn't carry as much oomph. It is fantasy afterall.

Okay, I highly doubt I want to read this book to any child. I'd probably summarize the stories in my head and revise them into a shorter passage as bedtime reading. The vision, the worlds and the happenings in the stories fire up the imagination beautifully. Nope, this isn't exactly a book for kids. You'll have to re-work in the re-telling. The book is printed in different fonts and illustrated at points, pretty much like a children's book, except this is not in color and therefore not that fun.

So Bluebear is a bear with blue fur and 27 lives, thrice more than a cat's. Written in first person narrative, we follow him through 13½ lives, properly divided into 13 stories. It begins with him as a baby floating in a walnut in the north Zamonian sea. He would meet Minipirates, Hobgoblins, Babbling Billows, weird dinosaurs, carnivorous plants, magic mushrooms, cyclops, giants, dwarves, trolls, Fredda the ugly Alpine Imp, Spider Witches, et cetera. Atlantis the lost city came up too. Love all the names. I wonder how they would figure in German.

I like all them stories. Sinking into the world is going to be difficult if one doesn't put aside logic and preferably finish the book in one sitting to avoid re-reading paragraphs. There're like a thousand characters and a zillion things going on. Just float in a whimsical world where nothing makes sense to the human mind. Ironically, the book was conceived of a brilliant human mind.

An excerpt from a story I like. Couldn't help grinning. Yes, one of life's most important lessons. Trust the right people, or trust no one. Life 6. Chapter 6 'My Life in the Gloomberg Mountains' where Professor Nightingale, a Noctournomath (with an average IQ of 4000 and in the night, it rises) with seven brains taught Bluebear all about the universe. Classes at Nocturnal Academy are held in a dark complex of caves in the Gloomberg Mountains. Bluebear is somehow intentionally led lost in the deep caves and by a mean Troglotroll, an evil, sneaky and most reviled creature in Zamonia.

I could see a change take place in the Troglotroll as he walked on ahead. Having at first shuffled morosely along in front of me, he progressively straightened up. His gait became light and springy, almost balletic. 

'Ak-ak-ak!' he chuckled. 'It's incredible! The nearer we get to the exit, the better I feel. 

I'm in great form. I feel... how can I put it?' 

'Good?' 

'Good! That's just the word for it. I feel good!' 

'That's the reward for your good deed,' I explained, 'a clear conscience. It really perks you up.' 

'I think I'm going to change my entire way of life,' the Troglotroll cried eagerly. 'I could do so much good. I could come with you - leave the Gloomberg Mountains, go to some impoverished country and help the needy, perform a good deed every day, ak-ak-ak!' 

'That's a very laudable intention,' I told him encouragingly. 'Once you know how the system works, you just can't stop. It's like an addiction.' I was feeling rather proud of myself, I can't deny. It's nice to be able to help someone, especially in such a practical way. 

'Absolutely! I can hardly wait to perform my next good deed. I'd never have thought myself capable of such a thing!'