Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von Die Zauberstadt
Für wen es gedacht ist
For readers who love children's fantasy, parents looking for a story to read aloud, and anyone who remembers building a world out of odds and ends.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
The Magic City is a children's fantasy novel by E. Nesbit, first published in 1910. Nesbit was by then a writer long loved for stories in which ordinary children meet magic in ordinary places. Here the magic grows out of play. A lonely boy builds a city out of the things lying around a house, and then he finds he can walk into it.
The book gives you a quick, funny adventure with real feeling underneath. It also gives you a sharp look at what it is like to be a child in a house run by grown-ups who do not quite notice you. As you listen, you will meet a boy who makes a world, a world that makes demands on him, and a question that Nesbit asks gently: what do you owe to something you have made? Let us begin with the boy, and with the house where he feels he does not belong.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1A lonely boy in an unfamiliar houseFree
- 2Play becomes a city of everyday things
- 3The city comes alive around him
- 4The people of the city need a Deliverer
- 5What the story is really about
- 6How Nesbit tells it
Punkt 1 von 6
A lonely boy in an unfamiliar house
The story begins with Philip, a boy who has lost the settled life he knew. He lives with his sister Helen, who is much older than he is and who takes care of him. Their circumstances change, and Philip finds himself in a new home where he is not sure of his place.
Nesbit is good at the small unhappiness of a child in this position. Philip is not mistreated in any dramatic way. He is simply surrounded by adults and their plans, and nobody has much time to ask what he thinks. The reader feels how large a house can seem to a small person with nothing to do.
This matters because the whole fantasy grows from that loneliness. Philip does not go looking for magic. He goes looking for something to occupy his hands and his mind. Nesbit lets us see that his need comes first, and the wonder follows from it.
A good way to listen is to watch what Philip lacks. He lacks company, a purpose and a sense that his ideas count. Each of these will be answered in some way once the city appears, though not always in the way he expects.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Philip
- A lonely boy cared for by his sister Helen, Philip builds a city that becomes a living world.
- Helen
- Helen is Philip's much older sister, who looks after him as changes unsettle their life together.
- Lucy
- Lucy is a girl from Philip's new household who joins him in exploring the city he has built.
- The people of the city
- The people of the city are citizens of Philip's creation who look to him as their promised Deliverer.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 62,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 4 h 10 min
- Listening time6 h 55 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 10 other languages
Questions about Die Zauberstadt
What is The Magic City about?
It follows Philip, a lonely boy who builds a city from household objects and then finds he can enter it. The people there treat him as their Deliverer, and he faces trials alongside a friend.
Who wrote The Magic City and when?
E. Nesbit wrote it, and it was first published in 1910. She was already known for children's stories in which magic appears in everyday settings.
Is The Magic City hard to read?
No. The language is clear, the chapters are lively, and the narrator is chatty and funny. It reads well aloud to children.
What is the main message of The Magic City?
Imagination can comfort a lonely child and give him courage, but what you create brings duties with it. Friendship also helps people face difficult tasks.
Is The Magic City a good book for children?
Yes. It is an adventure with humor, danger and warmth, written for young readers, and it is also enjoyable for adults who like Nesbit's style.