Kara and I have started to read “Alice’s Abenteuer im Wunderland” (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland) as a duet for LibriVox in German.
»Und was nützen Bücher,« dachte Alice, »ohne Bilder und Gespräche?« (and what is the use of a book,’ thought Alice ‘without pictures or conversation?’)
I would never have thougt that it could be so much fun to read Alice. As a kid I didn’t particularly like it…. too confusing, too many weird animals and really annoying voices. Ok… all I’ve ever seen of Alice was the Disney version. (Normally I love Disney movies but this one is the exception to the rule). Actually I’m pretty astonished how different the book is from the Disney version… (not that I can remember very well!)
»Vielleicht versteht sie nicht Englisch,« dachte Alice, »es ist vielleicht eine französische Maus, die mit Wilhelm dem Eroberer herüber gekommen ist« (‘Perhaps it doesn’t understand English,’ thought Alice; ‘I daresay it’s a French mouse, come over with William the Conqueror.’)
Anyway the book is great (the translation really is awesome) and so much fun to read. We’ve already done the first two chapters. If you want a peek you can find our combined effort here.
»Sagt mir das erst, und dann, wenn ich die Person gern bin, will ich kommen; wo nicht, so will ich hier unten bleiben, bis ich jemand Anderes bin.« (“Tell me that first, and then, if I like being that person, I’ll come up: if not, I’ll stay down here till I’m somebody else”)
If you are wondering why we are reading in German, it’s my native lanuage. For Kara it’s a second language and she speaks it REALLY well. I especially love her way of reading the poem right at the beginning of the first chapter… 😀 (While you are at it listen to her recording of “Der Struwwelpeter“… it’s one of my very favs and her charming accent makes it doubly enjoyable.)
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