Hominid (novel) facts for kids

Hominid is a novel written by Austrian author Klaus Ebner. The story takes place millions of years ago in Central Africa. It tells about a few days in the lives of a group of early humans, called hominids. The book was published in October 2008 by FZA Verlag in Vienna.

The Story of Hominid

Hominid is set millions of years ago in Central Africa, where the rainforest meets the savanna. The main characters are australopithecus afarenses. These are early human-like creatures who mostly lived in trees and didn't yet use tools or fire.

The story is told by the main character, Pitar. He thinks a lot about his group and the world around him. Pitar decides he wants to lead his family towards a more civilized way of life. He even says things like, "Let there be light," showing he has modern thoughts and knowledge. This makes the story funny because he talks about things that haven't been invented yet!

Pitar's good friends are Carpediem, who often uses Latin phrases, and Lao, who talks about Chinese philosophy.

It's hard to convince the others, but Pitar manages to persuade Costello, the leader of the group. Costello had just taken over from the previous leader, Thorn, who had died. The group starts building simple shelters called windbreaks. This allows them to spend more time on the ground, even though it's riskier because of wild animals.

Costello and Re are rivals. Re not only questions Costello's leadership but also wants to take his females. To stop their arguments, Pitar tries to create a parliament. He hopes this will help them settle conflicts peacefully. Costello thinks the parliament will help him stay in power, even quoting famous speeches by Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln. However, the other group members don't take it seriously, and the idea fails.

A smaller part of the story is about the love between Pitar and Maluma, a female in the group. Costello sees the females as his own harem. But Maluma falls in love with Pitar and ends her relationship with Costello.

Each day, the characters discover new things. On the seventh day, everyone is tired and needs to rest. But their peace is broken by an attack from a saber-toothed cat. Several group members are killed, including Costello. This allows Re to become the new leader.

Pitar and Maluma decide to leave the group. They say they should leave Re and his "new Reich." They head towards the savanna. This part of the story reminds readers of both the expulsion from paradise and the Out of Africa theory, which suggests early humans moved out of Africa.

The novel has seven chapters, named "Day 1" to "Day 7." Each chapter covers one day. These chapter titles refer to the seven days of creation in the Bible. The love story between Pitar and Maluma is told only in the odd-numbered chapters. Writer Karin Gayer noted that this placement of the love story gives a "second interpretation of the beginning and the end" of the story.

Characters in Hominid

The author, Klaus Ebner, once explained the hidden meanings behind his characters' names.

• Akshaya: This name comes from Hindi (specifically Sanskrit) and means "the unbeatable." Akshaya is a strong female character who often acts against Costello. She represents a female-led way of governing.
• Bongo: This name reminds us of African people, languages, and places. It also brings to mind the movie "Bingo Bongo" and a type of forest antelope. In the novel, Bongo is a funny, young male character.
• Carpediem: This is Latin for "seize the day." It comes from a poem by Horace. Carpediem is Pitar's closest friend and often uses Latin sayings.
• Costello: An English-Italian family name. Costello is the male leader of the group. He wants to stay in power and sees that Pitar's ideas might help him, so he supports Pitar.
• Djamila: A female character in Costello's group of females. Her name comes from Arabic and means "the pretty one."
• Ischa: Another female character in Costello's group. Along with Djamila, she tries to please the leader. Her name comes from Semitic languages and means "woman."
• Konrad: This name comes from Old High German and means "bold or good adviser." He is a follower of Re.
• Lao: Depending on how it's said, this Chinese word can mean "firm" or "old." It also reminds us of the Lao people in Southeast Asia. The character Lao quotes Chinese philosophers and is a friend of Pitar.
• Lucy: This name reminds us of Lucy, the famous skeleton of an Australopithecus afarensis found in 1974 in Ethiopia. In the book, Lucy is the mother of most of the children in the family. At the end of the story, she leaves for East Africa with Lao.
• Maluma: This is a made-up word from synesthesia, which is when one sense triggers another. It represents round and smooth shapes.
• Manisha: This name comes from Hindi and Sanskrit and means "the wise." In Hinduism, Manisha is known as the goddess of the mind. Among the women in the group, Manisha plays a similar role to Lao among the men.
• Pitar: His name comes from Sanskrit and means "father."
• Re: This is Italian for "king." It also reminds us of the ancient Egyptian sun god Re or Ra. Re is Costello's rival and enemy. He is an aggressive character and sees Pitar as an enemy because Pitar supports Costello. When the saber-toothed cat attacks and kills Costello, Re becomes the new leader at the end of the novel.
• Rhododendron: This name comes from Greek and means "rose tree," referring to a flowering plant. The character Rhododendron is a male member of the group who loves nature.
• Ruth: This name comes from Hebrew and means "companion." Ruth is a female group member with a strong personality.
• Thorn: This name comes from the Germanic languages and is the name of the rune Thurisaz “Þ.” Thorn is the oldest member of the group and is considered wise. He only appears in the first two chapters and dies at the end of them. He was the leader of the group before Costello.

How the Book Was Created

The idea to have prehistoric characters with modern knowledge and language came to Klaus Ebner in 2006. At first, he didn't think the idea was enough for a long novel, so he stopped working on it.

The final push to write the book came in February 2008, when he won the Wiener Werkstattpreis literature prize. Part of the prize was that the publisher FZA would publish a book by him, but it had to be limited to 100 pages. So, Ebner wrote and finished his story, and the book was published in October of that same year. The publisher introduced the book to the public in Vienna.

Books and Articles

Novel

• Ebner, Klaus. Hominide. Vienna: FZA Verlag, 2008. ISBN: 978-3-9502299-7-4

Images for kids

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  Grass savanna in Northern Central Africa

See also

In Spanish: Homínido (novela) para niños