The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Ulrich Plenzdorf's The New Sorrows of Young W. -- a new translation (by Romy Fursland) just out from Pushkin Press.
This 1972 novel might well be the bestselling (outside the Soviet bloc, at least -- locally, who knows ?) East German novel ever -- it has reportedly sold over four million copies -- and it certainly is one of the most significant works of fiction of GDR-times; you'd be hard pressed to make any meaningful reading list of three or more GDR titles on which you wouldn't include it (and I'd go so far as to rate it a strong contender for one of the ten most significant works of postwar German fiction -- both because it covers a lot of bases, and because it's pretty damn good). With its Goethe-connection (and teenage protagonist -- an East German Holden Caulfield), it's also an ideal school text, ensuring it will continue to be widely read regardless.
While it has been available in translation for quite a while -- and has long been a staple of college German literature courses -- it never really seems to have made much of an impression in the US or UK. This very attractive Pushkin Press edition is certainly more reader-friendly -- maybe it will finally get the recognition the book deserves.
(As the Christmas-gift-giving season approaches I also note that there's a Christmas connection of sorts here -- but, no, maybe not ideal .....)
This 1972 novel might well be the bestselling (outside the Soviet bloc, at least -- locally, who knows ?) East German novel ever -- it has reportedly sold over four million copies -- and it certainly is one of the most significant works of fiction of GDR-times; you'd be hard pressed to make any meaningful reading list of three or more GDR titles on which you wouldn't include it (and I'd go so far as to rate it a strong contender for one of the ten most significant works of postwar German fiction -- both because it covers a lot of bases, and because it's pretty damn good). With its Goethe-connection (and teenage protagonist -- an East German Holden Caulfield), it's also an ideal school text, ensuring it will continue to be widely read regardless.
While it has been available in translation for quite a while -- and has long been a staple of college German literature courses -- it never really seems to have made much of an impression in the US or UK. This very attractive Pushkin Press edition is certainly more reader-friendly -- maybe it will finally get the recognition the book deserves.
(As the Christmas-gift-giving season approaches I also note that there's a Christmas connection of sorts here -- but, no, maybe not ideal .....)