The Ringmaster's Daughter

The story seller ( Norwegian Original Title: Sirkusdirektørens datter ) is a novel by Jostein Gaarder, published in German in 2002.

Content

The story is about Petter, a somewhat strange child. His parents are separated and he lives with his mother. Petter has a very strong imagination. He prefers to sit alone at home and thinks stories instead of playing with other children outside. He tells these stories also his mother, who does not understand him and is worried because Petter is always alone.

In the third class Petter finds the benefit of his imagination: For a small fee he makes the homework of other children. This makes it even fun, as it always has to come up with new error, because it would be more noticeable when all the children had perfect homework. Petter gets older, his mother dies and he has the house on their own, so he often invites woman visit. These women are for him but nothing special, a strong bond he 's not one to them.

Petter still has idea about the idea and he writes it down in notebooks: Designs for novels, plays and much more. He himself would never run course further, as his new ideas would immediately distract him from the original plot. Shortly after high school he meets a young writer and shows him a novel design. This is so enthusiastic and Petter sold him the idea. Later he learns on a walk Maria know that is about ten years older than him and is now something special for him. They begin a relationship. Petter Maria tells many of his self- devised fables, but little by little gets Maria afraid of his imagination, as he tells her about a small man he called "meter". "Meter" is originally from his dream, but is now also daily at Petter around when he is awake. He remains in the apartment and do not follow him on his walks. So Maria ended the relationship, but can be pre- pregnant by him because she " wants to take something from him." Petter gets the child, a girl, still to be seen a few times and also told her some stories. Then Maria breaks contact to Petter from perfect and moves to Stockholm. You never see each other again.

Petter continues his life by offering all of its historical designs for sale and as writers with writer's block helps. A small empire He slowly builds up, at first only in Norway and later internationally. Slowly but surely he must fear to be caught because his clientele is so large and disgruntled authors could make him responsible for a failure. In addition, appear to be two German books based on his ideas that he has never sold. Petter immediately think of Mary, as only they had the privilege to hear the stories he later sold. When he is as a publisher representative at a book fair in Bologna, is rumored on "The Spider", to be responsible for most new books - Petter. A friend told him that the applied authors have possibly hired a killer and Petter takes the next plane to escape. He rents a room in Amalfi.

There he meets Tom, in which he falls in love and with whom he also sleeps. Having, however, a story told her that he had then told his little daughter, she is shocked and does not want to see him. As Petter 's back in his room, he rhymes together, that Beate is his daughter, whom he has not seen in years and that it was she who wrote the novels that are based on his ideas. "Meter" is still with him and forces him to write a traumatic experience of his childhood, which has captured the imagination idea of ​​"meter" caused. Then "meter" disappears forever. Finally, Petter meet the next day for the last time with Beate. The end is left open.

Language

The entire story is written in first-person perspective, which allows a deep insight into the clear, albeit unusual thoughts and feelings Petters.

The narrator looks back over large parts of the story, but does not keep strictly to the chronology of events (such as is mentioned before the story with Beate, that the thing is not going well ), which may possibly slightly confusing to the novice reader.

• Literary work
• Literature ( 20th century)
• Literature ( Norwegian)
• Jostein Gaarder
• Novel, epic