Siblings
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3.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A story of sibling love ruptured by the Iron Curtain, by one of the most significant East German writers.
“I will never forgive you,” Uli says to his sister Elisabeth. It is 1960 and the border between East and West Germany has long been closed. Their brother Konrad has already fled to the West. Disillusioned by life in the East, Uli also dreams of escape, while Elisabeth still holds out hope for the political project of the GDR. With physical checkpoints and ideological tensions between them, the siblings must navigate emotional rifts as they enter into a drama fueled by love in this unflinching portrayal of life in the early years of the German Democratic Republic.
One of the most significant East German writers, Brigitte Reimann (1933–1973) wrote irreverent, autobiographical works that addressed issues and sensibilities otherwise repressed in the GDR. Outspoken and idealistic, she wrote in her diaries that she would rather “live 30 wild years instead of 70 well-behaved ones.” Considered a master of socialist realism, she heeded the state’s call for artists to engage with the people, teaching writing classes for industrial plant workers. Of her generation’s suffering, she wrote to her brother, “We marched forth carrying such a heavy baggage of ideals.” After her death from cancer in 1973, at age 39, Reimann garnered cult-like attention. This is her first work of fiction to appear in English.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The spirited English-language debut from Reimann (1933–1973) chronicles young love, idealism, and disillusionment in 1960s East Germany. Twenty-something siblings Elisabeth and Uli Arendt visit their parents over Easter weekend, accompanied by Elisabeth's fiancé, Joachim, a Communist Party member and manager of a mill. Elisabeth, a painter, loves Joachim, but she treasures her bond with Uli, which borders on romantic, so it's a shock when Elisabeth learns that Uli, an engineer frustrated with political difficulties that have hurt his career, is planning to defect to West Germany, as their materialistic, resentful older brother Konrad has already done. Desperate to keep Uli with her, Elisabeth contemplates informing on him to Joachim. As the weekend unfolds, Elisabeth reflects on painful memories of their childhood during fascism and on her own difficulties under communism, all the while arguing with Uli, who vows to bring communist principles to "his" shipyard in the west, a contradiction Elisabeth calls him on. There are plenty of engaging discussions about industry and politics, which Reimann enlivens with Elisabeth's volatility and enthusiasm. It stands as a solid work of socialist realism.
