"Hi folks, my name is Benjamin Lebert and I'm a cripple." is how the author introduces himself to his class at each new school. Castle Neuseelen Boarding School is the fifth, he has failed at four others.
Benjamin has a sardonic voice, at sixteen he has dealt with a lot already. His parents are exasperated and divorcing, and he has partial paralysis on the left side of his body since birth, "a boy who drags his left leg in a suspicious fashion" he is forced to announce to the staff. The other kids don't seem to care - he is just another nerd.
The old school with its wood floors and halls is his new home, and he shares a room with Janosch, a year ahead in grade 10. Sixteen other boys are on the floor, and a tight group of friends quickly forms: Janosch and Benni, Fat Felix, Skinny Felix, Florian from grade 8, and moody Troy from grade 12. They spend their time smoking clandestine cigarettes, talking about girl's tits, crack jokes in sex education class, and hatch a plan to slip out the fire escape to visit the girl's dorm in the night. Janosch has his eye on pretty Malen, and the boys are excited to find the girls are waiting, in their panties, with beers and romantic burning candles.
These friends will discover many firsts together; Janosch is the sensitive leader, Troy is an outcast, and Benni's affliction is not a problem. "You are one of us. A hero," as Janosch would say. "Crazy."
We don't need no education getting right under their skin, they get the idea to escape on an adventure to Munich after the gates close at 11pm. "Has anyone done this before? We were born for wild ideas." His eyes sparkle.
Indeed, they pull off the illegal breakout, taking a bus and then train into Munich, befriending an old man who takes them under his wing, leading them to the safety of a strip club where the young men are treated as honoured guests.
These are no miscreants, they become blood brothers sharing the light of friendship and respect, and showing their sensitive side, too, reading Hemingway to each other aloud.
Wherever these boys are now, they have been immortalized, as this autobiographical fiction is the work of Benjamin Lebert, himself paralyzed on his left side. This was an instant bestseller when it was published in 1999, when the public was shocked to find the hot new author was was only 16 years old. I have kept my copy since then, a translated first American edition. Rereading it now, I am still impressed by the depth and range of observation. A solid novel for any age to write. As a coming-of-age novel, it has naturally been compared to The Catcher In The Rye. Published by Borzoi/Knopf, this had a massive reach at the time, and was made into a hit German film in 2000.
1999 / Tradeback / 175 pages
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