Publisher's Synopsis
Badger matures, loses a few brothers, has quarrels with his mum, is pursued by fox, leaves, moves again, and eventually settles in with the "Ditzens," Hans Fallada's family. They don't like him because he destroys the cornfield. He's meant to be wiped out, but that doesn't happen. They are ecstatic that they are unable to contact him. The whole thing is written in a humorous manner. But it's still unromantically distant; badgers, foxes, and other animals are ironized as "self-sufficient," which means carrots, chickens and corn.They still come first, and while wild animals are appealing to the eye, they must die if they do too much harm.It's a mentality seen, for example, in Otto Boris' "Fuchs Schade" as well, and it's most likely attributable to the period in which it was published (war and post-war years).Even if one overlooks this and a few slight contradictions, such as the foxes' green eyes (there are, admittedly, worse offenses), "Fridolin" is a fun, linguistically appealing read for adults.A tragic sidenote: the manuscript was sent to Fallada's daughter Mücke as a Christmas gift three years before his death in a mental institution during his "happy" period in Carwitz.
