Franz Hohler

Der Granitblock im Kino

«Ein Mann, der den Namen Oskar Vanderbeuren trug, machte einmal eine Erfindung. Es gelang ihm nämlich, aus verschiedenen Substanzen ein Bartfett herzustellen. Dieses Fett bewirkte, dass ein Bart durch und durch fettig wurde, und zwar auf Jahre hinaus. Nach einem solchen Fett bestand aber überhaupt kein Bedürfnis, und so wandte sich Oskar Vanderbeuren wieder anderen Beschäftigungen zu.»

A good children’s book can also be enjoyed by adults and Franz Hohler’s modern book of fairytales «Der Granitblock im Kino» is definitely one of these. The book is a fantastic read full of obscure ideas that turn the world upside-down in order to set things straight. Franz Hohler proves himself a smiling and artful teacher, who has a gift for bringing children and adults alike around to his way of looking at things. In an age when children all over the world learn English early to improve their job prospects, who would have guessed that «Made in Hong Kong» is in fact a greeting from a foreign land?

Once upon a time there was a maggot (‹Made› in German) that was teased because it was smaller than the other maggots. To show everyone they were wrong to make fun, it decided to emigrate and try its luck in South-East Asia. It was very successful and established a toy factory making toys to be sold in Europe. On every toy it stamped a greeting to those back home: «Made (maggot) in Hong Kong». Today, however, this story has been forgotten.
This is just one of the tales in «Der Granitblock im Kino». It is nice to go back to Hohler's stories from time to rediscover the absurdity of the way things really happened and, like Hohler’s chuckling block of granite, close the book with an exclamation of «well well, old friend!»

(Beat Mazenauer, transl by Andreas Mason)

Translation of title: The block of granite in the Cinema

Luchterhand, Neuwied 1981

ISBN: 3-596-27549-0