Konrad goes into a magic wardrobe and comes out in a very weird world. Everything in this book is designed to be fun to children and optionally offend adults at the time. For example the rich suburban villa district where deceased generals play with tin soldiers. The roller-skating circus horse made redundant by automation. A school where difficult parents get educated and punished. A futuristic city where a completely automated slaughterhouse suddenly starts working in reverse and begins sucking in finished handbags and spitting out calves.
Interestingly, Kästner’s future predictions have aged well ninety years later: Moving sidewalks and pocket telephones with voice dialling, anybody?
