Little Nick
Little Nick (title in the French original: Le petit Nicolas ) is a children's book series, written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Jean-Jacques Sempé , published between 1959 and 1964. It tells the everyday experiences of a little boy named Nick. The stories are considered an early example of modern children's literature, in which the child's rather than the adult's worldview is the focus.
history
Publications
Around 160 Kleine-Nick stories were first printed in the French regional newspaper Sud-Ouest Dimanche between 1959 and 1964 . Many of these stories were later published in 5 books. The books have been translated into more than 30 languages and have sold over 8 million copies.
While moving house, Goscinny's daughter, Anne Goscinny, rediscovered stories of little Nick that had not been published in book form, 80 of them in 2005 in the book News from Little Nick and another 45 in 2006 in the book Little Nick is Back were published. In 2008 and 2009, four smaller selected volumes from these two books were published, each with around 20 stories.
German version
The German versions of the books were translated by Hans Georg Lenzen . The names have also been translated with German names for easier understanding and pronunciation. For example, Georg is called Geoffroy in the French original , Clovis is called Clotaire and Otto Alceste . Lenzen also relocates Nick's hometown to Germany and replaces all French place and region names with German ones; In the more recent translations, the German mark (in the original: Franc) is being replaced by the euro.
Since little Nick appears in the stories as a first-person narrator , the style of language also had to be adapted to that of a little boy. Hans Georg Lenzen writes in the foreword of the book Neues vom kleine Nick : "The sentence structure and punctuation of this book are adapted to the little Nick, not the 'Little Duden'."
Audio books
In 2005 the first audio book was published, Little Nick Experienced a Surprise , in which some stories were read by Rufus Beck . In 2006 four more audio books followed with the titles Little Nick is the best , Little Nick plays soccer , Little Nick cleans up and Little Nick is back! .
comics
From 1955 to 1956 - before the actual series began - 28 full-page, large-format comic episodes about little Nick von Goscinny and Sempé appeared in the Belgian magazine Le Moustique . A book edition of the stories was published in October 2017 (Le Petit Nicolas. La bande dessinée originale, IMAV édtions, ISBN 978-2-36590-136-9 ).
content
The main character and narrator of the humorous short stories is Nick ( Nicolas ), a small, bright boy. He describes his experiences at school, at home, while playing with his friends or on vacation. One of his favorite words is “Prima”, which corresponds to the French “chouette” and in earlier times was part of the French youth language, which parents did not like to hear when they were raised (compare Nick's mother's comments in the books, not always “ great ”to say). He is not a particularly good student and gets along very well with most of his classmates, even if there are always arguments that often end in fights.
The humor of the sometimes subversive stories results not least from the child's perspective, which often includes a misinterpretation of adult behavior. The adults are just as much a target of satire as the children, whereby the straightforward and uncomplicated worldview of the child narrator exposes the weak points of adult perception.
Stories
An overview of all the stories of little Nick can be found in the list of stories from the children's book series Little Nick .
characters
Nick's friends
- Otto ( Alceste ) is Nick's best friend. He's quite fat and eats all the time.
- Georg ( Geoffroy ) has a rich father who buys him everything he wants. He likes to dress up and always wants to be the boss.
- Franz ( Eudes ) is the strongest in the class and likes to punch his comrades on the nose.
- Adalbert ( Agnan ) is top of the class and the teacher's favorite. He's not very popular with others, but since he wears glasses, his comrades are usually not allowed to hit him.
- Roland ( Rufus ) has a father who is a policeman and therefore has a whistle.
- Clovis ( Clotaire ) is the worst in the class and, out of habit, always goes into the corner when asked.
- One day Joachim ( Joachim ) has a little brother.
- Max ( Maixent ) has long legs and fat, dirty knees.
- Marie-Hedwig ( Marie-Edwige ) is the pretty daughter of Nick's neighbors, the Kortschilds ( Courteplaque ), and his little friend.
- Luischen ( Louisette ) plays football better than some of the boys. When Nick grows up, he wants to marry her.
Adults
- Nick's Parents : The parents' names are never mentioned. The father works in an office and often comes home very stressed. The mother is a housewife. In quarrels, she repeatedly threatens her husband that she will "return to her mother".
- The teacher : The teacher is not named by name either. She is very popular with her class, but is often challenged by the pranks of her students.
- Mr. Hühnerfeld ( Monsieur Dubon ) is an assistant teacher at the school and is very strict. The students call it "Chicken Broth" ( Le Bouillon ) because it always says to them: "Look into my eyes" because "there are eyes in the chicken broth."
- Mr Bleder ( Monsieur Blédurt ) lives next door. He and Nick's father repeatedly engage in childish competitions or annoy each other, which sometimes ends in a fight.
- Nick's grandma rarely appears personally in the stories, but occasionally sends her grandson gifts that cause excitement at school and disagreements between parents. She doesn't get along very well with Nick's father.
Books
Original books:
- Little Nick (German 1974)
- Little Nick and his gang (1974)
- Little Nick and School (1975)
- Little Nick and the Holidays (1976)
- Little Nick and the Girls (1976)
- News from Little Nick (2005)
- Little Nick is back (2006) 978-3-257-24172-3
- Little Nick and his balloon, ten great stories about little Nick and his friends. (Original title: Le petit Nicolas - le ballon et autres histoires inédites , translated by Hans Georg Lenzen ), Diogenes, Zurich 2009, ISBN 978-3-257-01139-5 ; as paperback 2012, ISBN 978-3-257-24172-3 , as audio book: unabridged reading by Rufus Beck , 1 CD, Diogenes, Zurich 2009, ISBN 978-3-257-80262-7 .
Compilations from the books from 2005 and 2006:
- Little Nick in the Schoolyard (2008)
- Little Nick and the Neighbors (2008)
- Little Nick Has a Surprise (2008)
- Little Nick and His Pranks (2008)
- Little Nick on the road (2008)
- Little Nick plays soccer, four great stories about little Nick and his friends (translated by Hans Georg Lenzen), Diogenes, Zurich 2008, ISBN 978-3-257-23728-3 ; as audio book: Reading by Rufus Beck, 1 CD, Diogenes, Zurich 2006, ISBN 978-3-257-80033-3 .
Adaptations
Movie
On September 30th, 2009 the film Le Petit Nicolas , directed by Laurent Tirard, was released in French cinemas. In Germany, Der kleine Nick was released in cinemas on August 26, 2010, and the accompanying DVD was released on March 25, 2011.
In the summer of 2014, the sequel was released Little Nick is on vacation .
cartoon
From 2009 the CGI animation series Der kleine Nick was produced. In Germany, the series was first broadcast on KI.KA on May 6, 2010 .
literature
- Anne Goscinny: There is a lot of my father in little Nick , (A conversation with Anne Goscinny), Diogenes Magazin No. 5, Zurich 2010, pp. 73–75
- Jean-Jacques Sempé: Nick is the figure I drew most often (A conversation with Jean-Jacques Sempé), Diogenes Magazin No. 5, Zurich 2010, pp. 76–77
Web links
- Official site (French)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Little Nick in an interview on SPIEGEL ONLINE KULTUR
- ↑ Children's book adaptation "Der kleine Nick" , DVD tip on focus.de from March 18, 2011 (accessed on July 25, 2011)