The book The adventures of the Baron of Münchhausen It is one of the most extraordinary works by the overflowing fantasy that it presents, by the amazing characters that it includes, by the time in which it is set, the end of the 18th century and by the overflowing imagination it offers. This work was apparently conceived as a response to the rational and scientific message that existed at that time.
And it is that the Baron of Münchhausen travels mounted on a cannonball (the sculpture of the image is a recreation of this moment), travels to the Moon, leaves a swamp pulling his own ponytail, has friends that run at full speed or with prodigious sight or extraordinarily strong or with a very fine ear. The original character is from Rudolf Erich Raspe although the one that definitely turned around creating a character full of attractions is Gottfried August Bürger, a German poet who translated the work from English to German and gave the Baron an extraordinary personality.
We bought the book recently, in a paperback edition of the Youth Library of the Editorial Alliance that includes reproductions of prints of Gustavo Doré, like the one in the image, and that is translated, extended and with annotations of Miguel Sáenz, Spanish translator who in June 2013 entered the SAR reading a speech claiming the translation.
I am not sure at what ages it can be directed, although I believe that from 12 years of age it can be a good read to contrast the lessons learned in school and that have to do with science, technology and the influence of rationality in western civilization. The book I think tries to turn around the discoveries of the time enriching them with a lot of imagination and oriented entertainment. Even Georges Méliès has a film about this character being the Terry Gilliam version of 1988 one of the most famous.
At the time this story was written, it was not known what the transmedia was. At the present time, so in need of characters to generate merchandising, the Baron of Münchhausen is one of the richest and follows in the wake of other great characters such as Don Quixote, Gulliver's travels and many other classic characters full of immortal fantastic stories that I recommend reading and discovering by younger readers.
