Following the best-selling classic novels such as "The Kite Chaser", "Splendid Thousand Suns", and "The Little Post Office on the Mountain", the "Healing Series" of Century Wenjing has recently added new products and launched the warm healing novel "The Guardian of Lies". The Healing Series is a high-quality book series designed to look at the world's best-selling literary works, providing readers with good stories to pass on by word of mouth, which is suitable for adults and is also a good choice for parent-child reading. "The Guardian of Lies" tells the story of a young boy in search of magic, in the process, he and a strange old man who has gone through the vicissitudes of the past to establish a friendship beyond time, but also understand the meaning of love and life.
The author, Emanuel Bergmann, is a budding German writer who studied journalism and film in California and has worked for several publishing houses and film production companies. The Guardian of Lies, his debut novel, was a worldwide bestseller when it was published, selling rights in 17 languages and touching millions of readers.
At the beginning of the story, we come to Prague in the early 20th century, using flush toilets, gas street lamps for electric lighting facilities, and the fierce sparks of friction when the tram starts, all of which we are accustomed to at the moment, but for the Jewish Rabbi Blair, it is a miracle brought by the new century. But his greater "miracle" was that he had a son, Moshe.
The author's pen turned sharply, to los Angeles in the 21st century, a little boy named Max had a strange grandmother, all day long thinking about death, concentration camps and other things, Max was annoyed by this, why did Grandma think about these things? Recently, Max has run into new trouble as his parents plan to divorce him, and he thinks it's his fault, and he becomes sad and withdrawn.
Moshe's mother died unexpectedly, and his father was very sad and became an alcoholic. One day, the locksmith upstairs took Mosche to a magic show. In amazement, Mosher fell in love with the circus's taste of a mixture of sawdust, wet wood, and years of sweat, the glow of the spotlight and the applause of the audience—but most importantly, he fell in love with the "Persian Princess" floating in mid-air on stage. Following the circus, he renounced his Jewish identity, assumed the persian prince Zabatini, and began to wander around the European continent.
Max then discovers that a magician named Zabatini will use the "spell of love" to make people fall in love again, so he runs away from home to find Zabatini. At this time, Zabatini had gone through vicissitudes, poverty, cynicism, lived in a nursing home and prepared to commit suicide...
Stories weave between two eras, two regions, and two generations, and magic is undoubtedly a bridge connecting two generations. It was magic that drew Moscher away from his father and put him on the glittering stage in the center of the Third Reich, and it was magic that made the fate of the strange old man and the little boy meet in a ridiculous encounter. The author borrowed the words of the characters in the book and said: "Magic is the most beautiful lie in the world." As the story unfolds, this beautiful lie also creates a miracle of life.
Mosche's experience in the Third Reich is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant chapters in the book. Magic is a lie, but this "full of lies" liar has a special perspective on the subtle mentality of the Führer, commanders and ordinary members of the Nazi Party, especially the chapter on "fortune telling" for Hitler, which is both funny and thought-provoking. The description and study of this history is not uncommon, but "The Guardian of Lies" gives new connotations to the Third Reich with novelty and abundant imagination, making people think about serious history in laughter, examine human nature in tears, and reach truth in absurdity. The German newspaper Le Monde thus praised the book as "both movingly humorous and in no way diminishing the authenticity of history".
When the young boy Max learns the secrets of his family, he looks up "at the blue sky and the looming sun among the treetops" and feels that everything that seems ordinary in life has an extraordinary meaning. At this time, he really grew up and began to understand how precious life is and how love saves people from darkness.
As the American Library Association's Book List magazine commented, "Bergman's novels allow magic to shine in everyday life." The author's superb storytelling skills also turn the book into a dazzling magic show: re-illuminating history and illuminating the wonders of our daily lives.
Yangzi Evening News/Purple Cow News reporter Huang Yanwen
Proofread by Li Haihui
Source: Purple Cow News