Kruistocht in spijkerbroek in Never too Late to Read Classics

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Mar 27, 2019 Manybooks rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens-literature, time-travel-time-slip, book-reviews, historical-fiction, translations

After rather totally stalling and generally feeling mostly massively annoyed with the narrative flow of the anonymous English language translation of Thea Beckman's 1973 time travel novel Kruistocht in spijkerbroek (Crusade in Jeans) when I was trying to read the latter about nine or so years ago and became increasingly frustrated with and by how everything in the English rendition seems to feel distractingly distant and that the text also moves along at best awkwardly and very often feeling lik After rather totally stalling and generally feeling mostly massively annoyed with the narrative flow of the anonymous English language translation of Thea Beckman's 1973 time travel novel Kruistocht in spijkerbroek (Crusade in Jeans) when I was trying to read the latter about nine or so years ago and became increasingly frustrated with and by how everything in the English rendition seems to feel distractingly distant and that the text also moves along at best awkwardly and very often feeling like one is actually reading not just a translation but yes indeed a painfully slow literal word-for-word rendition of Thea Beckman's Dutch original into English, I decided to try the novel in German (to see if Kreuzzug in Jeans and Helmut Goeb's translation would be a better and more enjoyable reading fit for me).

And yes indeed, Kreuzzug in Jeans is in my humble opinion very much vastly superior translation-wise to Crusade in Jeans. For while I have had some issues with Thea Beckman's general themes and attitudes (as they are presented in Kruistocht in spijkerbroek), Helmut Goeb's translation has definitely felt to and for me as though I am reading not just a rendering from Dutch to German but a well written, readable and relatable story in and of itself (and indeed, I have also been able to actually and in fact both finish and appreciate Kreuzzug in Jeans, whereas the writing style and pacing of Crusade in Jeans turned me off to such an extent that I ended up not even being able to complete the latter before Crusade in Jeans needed to go back to my local library's interlibrary loan department and I have also never felt like making a further request for it).

However and that having been said (and while Kreuzzug in Jeans has certainly and generally been a very much enjoyable personal reading experience), I also have to admit (as already alluded to above) that some of the thematics and contents of Kreuzzug in Jeans (and by extension also and of course Thea Beckman's Dutch original of Kruistocht in spijkerbroek) make me both a bit uncomfortable and also a bit annoyed from a historic reality point of view. And no, it is actually not so much the cases of anachronisms present in Kruistocht in spijkerbroek (and its translations) that tend to bother me (although indeed they can be a trifle frustrating), as my main issue is with the in the novel generally presented and featured attitude of supposed superiority of the 20th century and that main protagonist Rolf is somehow and far too often placed on some almost unassailable golden pedestal (that he is the almost pre-ordained leader of the children's crusade and not so much due to his personality or his learned skills but simply because at least in my opinion, according to the author, according to Thea Beckman, Rolf is a saviour type and a hero, someone who is basically often all-knowing due to the simple fact that he has time traveled into the Middle Ages from the 20th century and that conversely, Niclas/Nicholas, the original "leader" of the children's crusade, is simply not leadership material because he is both of the Middle Ages and well, also just a peasant, just an animal herder and easily duped by the false monks because of this).

And while yes, I have appreciated reading about Thea Beckman's (and by extension translator Helmut Goeb's) vision of the Middle Ages in Kreuzzug in Jeans and do very much appreciate that the inhabitants presented are generally depicted as not just dirty and unhygienic subhumans, personally I do very much kind of chafe at how glowingly positive and often very much superior to basically almost everyone Rolf is often portrayed within the pages of Kreuzzug in Jeans (probably a symptom and sign of what I tend to label as in particular 1970s optimism of the 20th century being a time of and for advancement and as such much better in and of itself than previous, than prior centuries, but as a 21st century reader that kind of an often holier and better than thou attitude and viewpoint can and does get a trifle frustrating and stale and makes especially Rolf at times appear as much too good to be true), not to mention that I also have found that entire scenario of Rolf meeting up with Leonardo Fibonacci as a student and actually teaching him Arabic numbers a trifle groan-worthy (because it sure makes it seem as though Thea Beckman is basically kind of claiming that the Middle Ages need rescuing and help from the present and that a famous mathematician like Leonardo Fibonacci can only obtain the mathematical knowledge for which he is famous from a time travelling 20th century teenaged boy, and sorry, that kind of makes me think of Erich von Däniken's worldview that great civilisations such as the Incas supposedly needed aliens to teach them how to thrive and become advanced). ...more

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