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The Short End of the Sonnenallee

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Theirs is a world in which a misdemeanour at school will result in the students having to deliver self-abasing lectures on their ideological crimes, with titles such as “What Quotations from the Classical Authors of Marxism-Leninism Have to Say to Us Today”. One cheeky boy, invited by his school sports coaches to train for Olympic cycling, replies, “Training’s not my thing. Pole-vaulting’s as far as I’ll go.” But why pole-vaulting of all things? “Because it means practicing clearing three meters forty-five,” he replies, to bemused coaches who don’t seem aware of the significance of that number: the height of the Wall. Another prominent character is Uncle Heinz, Micha's uncle from West Berlin. The character shows how many living in West Berlin had a tainted, sympathetic and often condescending view on life on the other side of the wall. Uncle Heinz often smuggles small gifts for the Kuppisch family on his trips, despite the fact that everything he "smuggles" is, in fact, legal to bring into the GDR.

The Short End of the Sonnenallee, is a satire set, literally, on the Sonnenallee, the famed "boulevard of the sun" in East Berlin. A charming comedy of mid-80s East Germany; funny and tender, [this book] damns totalitarianism through its warm focus on ordinary, riotous teenage life." — The Guardian Thomas Brussig’s classic German novel, The Short End of the Sonnenallee , now appearing for the first time in English, is a moving and miraculously comic story of life in East Berlin before the fall of the Wall That’s how it must have gone, thought Michael Kuppisch. How else could such a long street have been divided so close to where it ended? Sometimes he also thought: If stupid Churchill had only paid attention to his cigar, we’d be living in the West now. He pursues her throughout the novel, managing to get into a fair amount of trouble along the way -- though no less than many of his friends.I)t is a pitch-perfect takedown of the totalitarian experience. A reminder that no matter the harshness of a situation, a community can still live with hope and humour." - Ben East, The Observer Tatsächlich aber ist der schmale Episodenroman Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee, der etwa Mitte der achtziger Jahre unter Ostberliner Heranwachsenden spielt und bis in die umstandslose Syntax hinein ihre Gefühls- und Erfahrungswelt evoziert, reinste, heiterste, zärtlichste Poesie des Widerstands. Und zwar des richtigen Widerstands, von dessen Risiken seinerzeit selbst die armen Prol-Kinder und multikulturellen Underdogs vom längeren Ende der Sonnenallee nicht den mindesten Begriff gehabt haben dürften. (...) So stereotyp seine Figuren auch sind, so schimmernd und vielsagend sind ihre Gesten." - Andreas Nentwich, Die Zeit Throughout the novel Brussig shows almost perfect comic timing, the humour almost never too forced, and adding one or two layers to each situation in pushing it to the limits of the believably absurd. Cine doreste cu adevarat sa pastreze tot ce s-a intamplat nu trebuie sa se lase in voia amintirilor. Amintirile oamenilor sunt un fenomen mult prea placut pentru a reusi doar sa pastreze lucrurile asa cum s-au petrecut; sunt exact opusul a ceea ce se doresc a fi. Pentru ca amintirile sunt in stare de mai mult, de mult mai mult: cu perseverenta lor infaptuiesc minunea de a te determina sa faci pace cu trecutul, o pace din care dispare orice urma de manie si in care valul moale al nostalgiei se asterne peste tot ceea ce odata a fost perceput ca ascutit si taios. Brussig vermag es, dieser so unendlich oft erzählten Geschichte von der ersten großen Liebe Anmut und Witz zu geben. (...) DDR-Nostalgie der feinen Art." - Volker Hage, Der Spiegel

The officials tend to believe wholeheartedly in the system, and try to impose their beliefs, but with little success.

Brussig shows the proper restraint in this novel -- unlike his earlier, more obvious efforts, where the humour sometimes is too heavy-handed. This novel . . . performs what the author calls ' the miracle of making peace with the past' . . . Jonathan Franzen and Jenny Watson offer a stylish and elegant Sonnenallee." —Maren Meinhardt, The Times Literary Supplement This is an entirely charming tale of “rich memories” and “making peace with the past”." - John Self, The Guardian A kind of miracle … Not only made me laugh (again and again) but brought tears to my eyes’ Jonathan Franzen Thomas Brussig’s classic German novel, The Short End of the Sonnenallee, now appearing for the first time in English, is a moving and miraculously comic story of life in East Berlin before the fall of the Wall

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