Book reviews

As most of the young people of his age, orphan boy Krabat goes away from his town to be an apprentice; the place of his choice is the mill at the Koselbruch.
Soon Krabat is welcomed into the brotherhood of twelve miller’s apprentices, where he’s taught by their master not only the miller’s trade, but also the art of black magic. It is when his friend and mentor at the brotherhood dies on New Year’s Eve, and his love for the Kantorka, who’s waiting for him at the village, gets into peril, that Krabat decides to take up a long fight against the evil powers and to defeat the master. But before there are some crucial questions to answer: Who is the mysterious Gaffer who comes once a year to visit the miller? What is the purpose of the Dead Grindstone? And what is the nature of the events which take place on New Year’s Eve, during which inevitably one of the apprentices encounter death? To find the solutions to these enigmas Krabat will find an unexpected ally in Juro, the fool of the company, who will teach him that things are not as they appear, and that love is the greatest power to rule the world.

The book is gripping: has a fascinating and timeless storyline, where the supernatural is a discreet and ominous presence and the focus is all on the personal growth of the protagonist. The immortal themes of friendship, love and justice emerge as a delicate thread going across and reuniting the various characters, in a book that not only is Preussler’s masterpiece, but at the same time makes it hard for all who’d like to label it as “fantasy” due to its uniqueness. Preussler sets the story in Sorabia, at the time the area was part of the Sacred German Empire, but the truth is that it could be set anywhere and anytime: it is not so much a story about a miller, his deal with the devil, and his apprentices, as a story about personal growth, development of sense of justice, and transformation of a boy into a responsible adult. Preussler writes essentially for children: this book being targeted to a wider, adult-based audience, constitutes an exception in which the writer strips to show his system of values and his cultural background, and the importance of everyone’s roots.