Criminal
12-08-2004, 11:16 AM
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/karlmay.htm
German author of travel and adventure stories, dealing with desert Arabs or American Indians in the Old West. Among May's best known characters are Winnetou, Old Shatterhand, with whom the author himself closely identified, Kara ben Nemsi, and Hadschi Alef Omar ibn Hadschi Abu Abbas ibn Hadschi Dawud al Gosarah. May only visited in his late years the Orient and Asia he so colorfully had depicted in his books. However, he used the first-person narrative, which gives the reader a believable impression of actual experience. May's works have been translated into over 30 languages.
"My father was a man of two souls: One soul of infinite tenderness and one of tyrannic proportions, knowing no limits in his rage, incapable to control himself. He possessed outstanding talents, all of which remained undeveloped on account of our immense poverty. He had never attended any school, but had learnt through his own efforts to read fluently and to write very well. He was naturally handy in all crafts necessary for daily life. Whatever his eyes saw, his hands could reproduce. Though being just a weaver, he was nevertheless capable to tailor his own coats and trousers, and to sole his own boots." (from My Life and My Efforts, translated by Gunther Olesch, 2000)
Karl May was born in Hohenstein-Ernstthal/Sachsen as the son of a weaver. There were 14 children in the family but nine died at an early age. May was blind for the first five years of his life. Through his father's determination to improve the boy's lot, he became a schoolteacher at an elementary school. He had graduated at the age of 19 from Plauen. He had also studied in Waldenburg but he was fired from the school when he stole six candle to take them home. May career was ruined when he was convicted of the theft of a watch, which, he claimed, was lent to him, and he lost his teacher's licence. This experience started a psychological crisis. He was twice arrested for fraud - he masqueraded among others as a medical doctor - and spent several years in prison, where he found the joy of books and good stories.
After his release in 1874 May started to send his own writings to various magazines. He wrote sentimental village stories and for an unscrupulous publisher a large number of novelettes anonymously. But this period also developed May's skills as a writer. His breakthrough idea was to produce Indian novels after the manner of Fenimore Cooper. He worked in Dresden as a journalist and in 1880 he married Emma Pollmer, with whom he had lived for two years. The did not have children and they separated in 1903. May then married Klara Ploehn, who was over 20 years younger and a widow. He had met Klara and her husband already 1889 and they had become his close friends.
In 1883 May moved to Blasewitz. With the appearance of his short story collections and novels, May gained fame in the 1890s, becoming one of the world's all-time best-selling fiction writers. In the last quarter of the 19th century, May was perhaps the most popular author of boys' books in Germany.
"I suppose you know what a tenderfoot is. He is one who speaks good English, and wears gloves as if he were used to them. He also has a prejudice in favor of nice handkerchiefs and well-kept finger-nails; he may know a good deal about history, but he is liable to mistake turkey-tracks for bear-prints, and, though he has learned astronomy, he could never find his way by the stars. The tenderfoot sticks his bowie-knife into his belt in such a manner that it runs into his thigh when he bends; and when he builds a fire on the prairie he makes it so big that it flames as high as a tree, yet feels surprised that the Indians notice it." (from Winnetou, the Apache Knight)
May wrote from 1875 over 70 books. Among his best-known works is WINNETOU, published in three volumes between 1876 and 1893. The story depicted the friendship of Old Shatterhand, an American pioneer of German descent, and Winnetou, the noble Red Indian chief, "roten Gentleman" (the Red Gentleman). Before his death in the third book, Winnetou abandons Indian gods and becomes a Christian. In 1895 May bought a house in Radebeul, which he named 'Villa Shatterhand'. It became his home for the rest of his life. In 1899-1900 May travelled in the Orient and Asia (1899-1900) and in 1908 in America. Having created a fortune with his pen, May wrote for his own pleasure the symbolical novel ARDISTAN AND DSCHINNISTAN (1909), a fairy tale of yearning for peace and redemption. In the age of imperialistic politics, May supported pacifist views, which he defended in his polemical writings.
"Und es ist wirklich wahr, Sidhi, dass du ein Giaur bleiben wills, ein Ungläubiger, der verächtlicher ist als ein Hund und widerlicher als eine Ratte, die nur Verfaultes frisst?" - "Ja." - "Sidhi, ich hasse die Ungläubigen und gönne es ihnen, dass sie nach ihrem Tod in die Dschenna kommen, wo der Teufel wohnt. Dich aber möchte ich retten vor dem evigen Verderben, das dich ereilen wird, wenn du dich nicht zum Ikrâr bi'l-lisân, zum heiligen Zeugnis, bekennst. Du bist so gut, so ganz anders als andre Herren, denen ich gedient habe und deshalb werde ich dich bekehren, du magst wollen oder nicht." (from Durch die Wüste, 1892)
In spite of his Indian novels and popularity in Europe, May did not gain much notice in the United States, where the reading public had begun to tire already in the 1850s of the Indian stories about 'Noble Savages'. May died on March 30, 1912 in Radebeul. He had suffered from a severe case of pneumonia in 1911, and against his doctor's orders he had made a trip to Vienna, where he had spoken before the academy for literature and music. May's autobiography, MEIN LEBEN UND STREBEN (1910), was reissued in an abridged version posthumously, entitled ICH (1917). In the original work May had presented a long series of accusations against Mr. Rudolf Lebius, and due an injunction the book was taken out from the shops.
In his diary, Spandau: The Secret Diaries (1976) Albert Speer mentions, that Hitler would lean on Karl May as proof that 'it was not necessary to know the desert in order to direct troops in the African theater of war... it wasn't necessary to travel in order to know the world.' According to Speer, 'Hitler was wont to say that he had always been deeply impressed by the tactical finesse and circumspection that Karl May conferred upon his character Winnetou.' Such man was the very model of a company commander. Hitler added that during his reading hours at night, May's stories gave him courage like works of philosophy or the Bible for others. He had attended May's fatal lecture in Vienna in 1912. In the middle of World War II May's Winnetou was printed in 300,000 copies to be delivered for German soldiers. For Martin Bormann Hitler told: "I used to read him by candle-light, or by moonlight with the help if a huge magnifying glass." (from Hitler's Table Talks, 1953). This admiration condemned May for some time to the fate of Richard Wagner, whose music wasn't publicly performed in Israel for years because Hitler had praised it.
German author of travel and adventure stories, dealing with desert Arabs or American Indians in the Old West. Among May's best known characters are Winnetou, Old Shatterhand, with whom the author himself closely identified, Kara ben Nemsi, and Hadschi Alef Omar ibn Hadschi Abu Abbas ibn Hadschi Dawud al Gosarah. May only visited in his late years the Orient and Asia he so colorfully had depicted in his books. However, he used the first-person narrative, which gives the reader a believable impression of actual experience. May's works have been translated into over 30 languages.
"My father was a man of two souls: One soul of infinite tenderness and one of tyrannic proportions, knowing no limits in his rage, incapable to control himself. He possessed outstanding talents, all of which remained undeveloped on account of our immense poverty. He had never attended any school, but had learnt through his own efforts to read fluently and to write very well. He was naturally handy in all crafts necessary for daily life. Whatever his eyes saw, his hands could reproduce. Though being just a weaver, he was nevertheless capable to tailor his own coats and trousers, and to sole his own boots." (from My Life and My Efforts, translated by Gunther Olesch, 2000)
Karl May was born in Hohenstein-Ernstthal/Sachsen as the son of a weaver. There were 14 children in the family but nine died at an early age. May was blind for the first five years of his life. Through his father's determination to improve the boy's lot, he became a schoolteacher at an elementary school. He had graduated at the age of 19 from Plauen. He had also studied in Waldenburg but he was fired from the school when he stole six candle to take them home. May career was ruined when he was convicted of the theft of a watch, which, he claimed, was lent to him, and he lost his teacher's licence. This experience started a psychological crisis. He was twice arrested for fraud - he masqueraded among others as a medical doctor - and spent several years in prison, where he found the joy of books and good stories.
After his release in 1874 May started to send his own writings to various magazines. He wrote sentimental village stories and for an unscrupulous publisher a large number of novelettes anonymously. But this period also developed May's skills as a writer. His breakthrough idea was to produce Indian novels after the manner of Fenimore Cooper. He worked in Dresden as a journalist and in 1880 he married Emma Pollmer, with whom he had lived for two years. The did not have children and they separated in 1903. May then married Klara Ploehn, who was over 20 years younger and a widow. He had met Klara and her husband already 1889 and they had become his close friends.
In 1883 May moved to Blasewitz. With the appearance of his short story collections and novels, May gained fame in the 1890s, becoming one of the world's all-time best-selling fiction writers. In the last quarter of the 19th century, May was perhaps the most popular author of boys' books in Germany.
"I suppose you know what a tenderfoot is. He is one who speaks good English, and wears gloves as if he were used to them. He also has a prejudice in favor of nice handkerchiefs and well-kept finger-nails; he may know a good deal about history, but he is liable to mistake turkey-tracks for bear-prints, and, though he has learned astronomy, he could never find his way by the stars. The tenderfoot sticks his bowie-knife into his belt in such a manner that it runs into his thigh when he bends; and when he builds a fire on the prairie he makes it so big that it flames as high as a tree, yet feels surprised that the Indians notice it." (from Winnetou, the Apache Knight)
May wrote from 1875 over 70 books. Among his best-known works is WINNETOU, published in three volumes between 1876 and 1893. The story depicted the friendship of Old Shatterhand, an American pioneer of German descent, and Winnetou, the noble Red Indian chief, "roten Gentleman" (the Red Gentleman). Before his death in the third book, Winnetou abandons Indian gods and becomes a Christian. In 1895 May bought a house in Radebeul, which he named 'Villa Shatterhand'. It became his home for the rest of his life. In 1899-1900 May travelled in the Orient and Asia (1899-1900) and in 1908 in America. Having created a fortune with his pen, May wrote for his own pleasure the symbolical novel ARDISTAN AND DSCHINNISTAN (1909), a fairy tale of yearning for peace and redemption. In the age of imperialistic politics, May supported pacifist views, which he defended in his polemical writings.
"Und es ist wirklich wahr, Sidhi, dass du ein Giaur bleiben wills, ein Ungläubiger, der verächtlicher ist als ein Hund und widerlicher als eine Ratte, die nur Verfaultes frisst?" - "Ja." - "Sidhi, ich hasse die Ungläubigen und gönne es ihnen, dass sie nach ihrem Tod in die Dschenna kommen, wo der Teufel wohnt. Dich aber möchte ich retten vor dem evigen Verderben, das dich ereilen wird, wenn du dich nicht zum Ikrâr bi'l-lisân, zum heiligen Zeugnis, bekennst. Du bist so gut, so ganz anders als andre Herren, denen ich gedient habe und deshalb werde ich dich bekehren, du magst wollen oder nicht." (from Durch die Wüste, 1892)
In spite of his Indian novels and popularity in Europe, May did not gain much notice in the United States, where the reading public had begun to tire already in the 1850s of the Indian stories about 'Noble Savages'. May died on March 30, 1912 in Radebeul. He had suffered from a severe case of pneumonia in 1911, and against his doctor's orders he had made a trip to Vienna, where he had spoken before the academy for literature and music. May's autobiography, MEIN LEBEN UND STREBEN (1910), was reissued in an abridged version posthumously, entitled ICH (1917). In the original work May had presented a long series of accusations against Mr. Rudolf Lebius, and due an injunction the book was taken out from the shops.
In his diary, Spandau: The Secret Diaries (1976) Albert Speer mentions, that Hitler would lean on Karl May as proof that 'it was not necessary to know the desert in order to direct troops in the African theater of war... it wasn't necessary to travel in order to know the world.' According to Speer, 'Hitler was wont to say that he had always been deeply impressed by the tactical finesse and circumspection that Karl May conferred upon his character Winnetou.' Such man was the very model of a company commander. Hitler added that during his reading hours at night, May's stories gave him courage like works of philosophy or the Bible for others. He had attended May's fatal lecture in Vienna in 1912. In the middle of World War II May's Winnetou was printed in 300,000 copies to be delivered for German soldiers. For Martin Bormann Hitler told: "I used to read him by candle-light, or by moonlight with the help if a huge magnifying glass." (from Hitler's Table Talks, 1953). This admiration condemned May for some time to the fate of Richard Wagner, whose music wasn't publicly performed in Israel for years because Hitler had praised it.