Barry Trotter
Barry Trotter is a series of parodies of the Harry Potter saga written by the American satirical writer Michael Gerber . It consists of three books: Barry Trotter and the Shameless Parody , the sequel Barry Trotter and the redundant sequel and the prequel Barry Trotter and the Impossible Beginning .
The books
The three parts of the series appeared in the years 2002, 2003 and 2004 in Great Britain and the USA, a little later also in Germany. The first part achieved bestseller status and sold 200,000 times in three years in England, the second volume 110,000 times, as of June 2004.
The plot revolves around the famous magic student Barry Trotter, his friends Ermine Cringer and Lonald Measly, Barry's archenemy Lord Valumart and school principal Alpo Bumblemore. The characters have already grown up in a large part of the storyline and are doing (more or less serious) occupations. Barry mostly tries to avoid the ongoing attacks by Valumart and also to pull his head out of the loop, which threatens him mostly in the form of mistakes made earlier.
Michael Gerber transformed the youthful book character into an adult, depraved and selfish person who stumbles through the world in a pleasure-oriented and a little naive way and gets a lot of trouble in the process. The joke of the parodies is mostly very direct and slapstick-like, rarely subtle and rather unsuitable for children. The parody's preferred targets are Scholastic Publishing, Warner Bros. , JK Rowling's penchant for anagrams and strange modes of transport.
The German-language version goes back to the acquisition of the rights by Vito von Eichborn , who in retrospect was amused and noted the hesitation of the other German publishers, as they originally considered the material to be a copyright infringement .
characters
- Barry Trotter
The main character of the novels is a wizard boy who was made famous by the author JG Rollins through a book publication and who savored this influence in his own selfish way. He is simple-minded, sex-obsessed and sadistic, but also very gifted magically. Thanks to his friends and his incredible luck, he always manages to escape death.
- Ermine Cringer
The former school friend and current wife of Barry shines like her original with special magical abilities and ambition, but also with her rampant libido. Her otherwise sharp mind gives way to pure obsession when her lustfulness stirs. She and Barry have a son, Nigel, who has no magical abilities, and a daughter, Fiona, who, although still a toddler, is remarkably gifted at all kinds of magic.
- Lonald Measly
Lonald, or Lon, is the best friend of Barry and Hermelines, was a staunch communist who planned to overthrow the wizarding school before a quaddatsch accident (in which Barry was significantly involved) seriously injured his head. He had the brain of a golden retriever inserted in an emergency operation and has lived on since then as a mentally retarded adult with sometimes doggy feelings. He's extremely loyal and sometimes even seems more intelligent than he pretends to be.
- Lord Valumart
Terence ("Terry") Valumart is a criminal genius whose activity extends largely to the financial and consumer worlds, but who does not shy away from kidnapping, extortion and murder. He appears as a Teutone with a spiked hat and a goatee who, after giving up on murdering Barry, now owns a global corporation that floods the world with evil. He pretends to be Barry's friend, but has not yet given up his plans to destroy Barry. The wizarding world speaks of him as "the-who-stinks" and the "stupid Lord".
- Alpo Bumblemore
The director of the Hogwash Wizarding School is an ancient, extremely powerful wizard who has a strong aversion to Barry and his many antics. Alpo has a nauseating appearance and holds on to the post of director through corruption. He hates muddles (non-magical people) and seems to have strange sexual preferences.
- Hafwid
Hafwid, Hogwash's gamekeeper, is an unkempt, brutal alcoholic. He is drunk all day, can almost only articulate himself with swear words and often kills muddles and magicians at random. His dog is the "boo-dog" Fing.
- Ferd and Jorge Measly
The twins and older brothers of Lons are two chaotic, destructive anarchists whose purpose in life consists of little else than senseless destruction and negligent homicide or bewitchment. Both get government jobs where they can act out their urges.
- The Malfies family
Luderwig and Drafi Malfies are the scum of the wizarding world, but Luderwig has a lot of influence as a member of the school board of trustees and even manages to appoint his son Drafi as school director. But this one has become megalomaniac and falls to his death during a self-presentation at the beginning of school. He lives on as a ghost in Hogwash. Drafi's clone son, Larval, is killed by Barry's son Nigel during a fight, whereupon Luderwig decides to make another clone.
- Serious sheet metal
Barry's godfather has a remarkable gift for investing money in such a way that there is guaranteed to be an endless list of debts. He ruined the lives of 14 people with a single investment and was an inmate of the wizard's prison, from which he was the only one to escape. He is teeming with financial ideas, each of which will be a surefire hit.
- Fidibus Snipe
Professor Snipe, the degraded wizarding teacher, hates students, especially the Grittyfloor House, and especially Barry Trotter. He does not shy away from any opportunity to deduct points (be it because a Grittyfloor student got himself shot during his class), is the master of a series of wicked beings, weaves carpets, and has been arrested for illegal pornography on his crystal ball. Today he invents “biomagical weapons” for the military.
- Minolta McGoogle
Grittyfloor's Head of House is an animagus who, however, turns into a cat out of control. As she grew older, the once radiant and astute scholar lost her mind and wandered around the walls of Hogwash as a notorious wreck unless she was trapped in Director Bumblemore's S / M basement. Professor McGoogle died when she, transformed into a cat, swallowed an immortal mouse named Timothy and choked on it.
- More figures
- Genital "Genny" Measly (the sister of Lon, Ferd and Jorge)
- Angus Filz (the caretaker)
- Madame Ponce (the librarian)
- Girlrboy Rockhard (teacher and porn actor)
- Zed Grimfoot (the armorer)
- The Farting Fanny (Farting Ghost)
- The almost mindless Bill (house spirit of "Grittyfloor")
- The whaler widow (ghost)
- The bloody layman (house spirit of "Silverfish")
- Cyril Broadbottom (Barry's schoolmate, dead)
- Shameless O'Stereotype (schoolmate, at the IRA)
- Lee Jardin (schoolmate, gay)
- Don Tomas (see Lee Jardin)
- Junior (son of Lee and Don, in Nigel's year)
- The Dimsleys (Barry's foster parents whom he turned into zombies)
Plot of the novels
Barry Trotter and the shameless parody
The Hogwash Magic School is the most famous school of its kind and Barry Trotter is its most famous student. He became widely known through a book by the author Rollins, and since then Muddles have been besieging the area around the castle and driving the residents crazy. Barry doesn't mind this, he has no fool's freedom at school and his fun with the groupies. However, when it becomes known that Barry's adventure will be filmed, school principal Alpo Bumblemore forces him to drop out of school and prevent the film, otherwise Hogwash would have to be closed. Together with his canine best friend Lon and his girlfriend Ermine, Barry sets out to track down Rollins and prevent the film, no matter what the cost.
Barry Trotter and the superfluous sequel
Barry and Hermeline are now married and have two children, of whom the older, Nigel, is finally accepted into the Hogwash Magic School. However, Nigel is not magically gifted, and when the school principal Drafi Malfies falls to his death, Hermeline and Barry are appointed as interim directors. But a foreign teacher with the suspicious name Opla Mumblemumble does not seem to like to see this, and soon a diabolical plan threatens the school, which would result in the destruction of everyone; meanwhile, a curse makes Barry younger and younger until he is about to die. "With the second part of 'Barry Trotter and the superfluous sequel', the 'Harry Potter' cult is targeted in a snappy and tongue-in-cheek manner."
Barry Trotter and the impossible beginning
Barry's infantilism has stopped, but he is now stuck in the skin of a nine year old. His wife, Hermeline Cringer, is desperate, forces him to find the cause by psychological means, and sends him to therapeutic sessions with the mentally somewhat confused school psychologist Hogwashs. In the course of the meetings, Barry unconsciously rolls back into his ninth school year, which probably seems to be the cause of the illness. He remembers Lon's quaddatsch accident, his first real love, and when the hypnosis gets out of hand, Barry goes through a wild odyssey, in the course of which he even has to go through the underworld.
Reviews
Barry Trotter and the shameless parody
"Less than 30 pages and it is clear that the jokes of the" Parody "are limited to dull nonsense . The target group is apparently pubescent, who have just outgrown the Harry Potter novels fan age and are full of lust for disgust and supposed provocation. But should the joke of this " satire " really be measured in feces ? In a "Note from the publisher", at least in advance, the poor quality, the flat jokes and the dirty jokes of the book are pointed out. This should not be taken as irony, but taken seriously. "
“The only relevant page for the - hopefully few - readers of this book is the last: a coquettishly phrased complaint form. It's a shame that it can't be sent by owl mail - "a rather unsavory type of mail delivery". "
Barry Trotter and the superfluous sequel
“Michael Gerber wrote an imaginative parody. He relentlessly turns the "perfect Harry Potter world" with good and bad guys into the "broken Barry Trotter world", in which everyone is a bit crazy. The allusions to the names of the "Harry Potter" story are also delicious.
The satirical novel "Barry Trotter and the superfluous sequel" is written amusingly and full of humor, sometimes a bit crude and therefore not suitable for everyone. People who love "Harry Potter" should leave "Barry Trotter" out of their hands, and otherwise it is said: Read at your own risk! "
Barry Trotter and the impossible beginning
“The plot, even if it is a bit flat and transparent from time to time, still offers a few surprises for the reader. The author advances his story with style and skill, and the interaction between the characters should be emphasized here. This is precisely where Gerber has made significant progress if you contrast the first two parts. [...] All in all a wonderfully entertaining book full of bad black jokes and ambiguities. Recommended only to a limited extent for Harry Potter fans, as the author is pretty much sawing his throne. But if you can tolerate hearty humor and swipes, it is highly entertaining and recommendable. "
Trivia
The video artist Coldmirror took over some elements from Michael Gerber's books for her well-known re-dubbing of the Harry Potter films . The intro text from Harry Potter and a Stone largely corresponds to a section from Barry Trotter and the shameless parody .
expenditure
- Michael Gerber: Barry Trotter and the Shameless Parody ("Barry Trotter and the Unauthorized Parody"). Goldmann, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-442-45815-3 .
- Michael Gerber: Barry Trotter and the superfluous sequel ("Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel"). Europa-Verlag, Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-203-77504-2 .
- Michael Gerber: Barry Trotter and the Impossible Beginning ("Barry Trotter and the Dead Horse"). Goldmann, Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-442-41665-3 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tim Spanton: Barry Trotter is a hit too . In: The Sun, June 11, 2004. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
- ↑ Holger Noltze: Buy Out. Vito von Eichborn buys Europa-Verlag. An interview with Vito von Eichborn. On: Deutschlandradio . April 23, 2004. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
- ↑ Harry Potter Parody for Adolescents. No magic potion helps: Michael Gerber has implemented a good idea very poorly. On: www.literaturkritik.de. No. 12, December 2004. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
- ↑ A mess. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . November 7, 2003. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
- ↑ Review of: Barry Trotter and the superfluous sequel ( Memento of May 2, 2005 in the Internet Archive ). On: literaturtipp.com. 2004. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
- ↑ Ramona Schroller: Review of Barry Trotter and the Impossible Beginning by Michael Gerber. On: www.fantasyguide.de. 2006. Retrieved May 24, 2012.