Siblings
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- Create Date：2023-01-05 00:51:38
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Brigitte Reimann
- ISBN：0241555833
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Summary
'Spare， chilling， with wild flashes of vivid colour and the tempo of a thriller， Siblings jolts us into the beating heart of a family and post-war East Germany， conjuring the political dreams and divisions that make and ultimately break both' Lisa Appignanesi
1960。 The border between East and West Germany has closed。
For Elisabeth - a young painter - the GDR is her generation's chance to build a glorious， egalitarian socialist future。 For her brother Uli， it is a place of stricture and oppression。 Separating them is the ever-wider chasm of the Party line; over them loom the twin spectres of opportunity and fear， and the shadow of their defector brother Konrad。 In prose as bold as a scarlet paint stroke， Brigitte Reimann battles with the clash of idealism and suppression， familial loyalty， and desire。 The result is this ground-breaking classic of post-war East German literature。
Translated by Lucy Jones
1960。 The border between East and West Germany has closed。
For Elisabeth - a young painter - the GDR is her generation's chance to build a glorious， egalitarian socialist future。 For her brother Uli， it is a place of stricture and oppression。 Separating them is the ever-wider chasm of the Party line; over them loom the twin spectres of opportunity and fear， and the shadow of their defector brother Konrad。 In prose as bold as a scarlet paint stroke， Brigitte Reimann battles with the clash of idealism and suppression， familial loyalty， and desire。 The result is this ground-breaking classic of post-war East German literature。
Translated by Lucy Jones
Reviews
Barry Pierce
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idk maybe the DDR wasn't all that bad idk maybe the DDR wasn't all that bad 。。。more
Alwynne
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Brigitte Reimann was an acclaimed East German writer whose career was cut short by cancer， she died aged 39。 Her short， Cold War era novel， published in 1963， revolves around “Republikflucht”， the act of deserting the GDR for the West。 Told from the perspective of an aspiring artist Elizabeth， it centres on her attempts to persuade her brother Uli not to leave for the West。 For Elizabeth the West’s a symbol of decadence and corruption， a place that’s already swallowed up older brother Konrad。 Fr Brigitte Reimann was an acclaimed East German writer whose career was cut short by cancer， she died aged 39。 Her short， Cold War era novel， published in 1963， revolves around “Republikflucht”， the act of deserting the GDR for the West。 Told from the perspective of an aspiring artist Elizabeth， it centres on her attempts to persuade her brother Uli not to leave for the West。 For Elizabeth the West’s a symbol of decadence and corruption， a place that’s already swallowed up older brother Konrad。 From Elizabeth’s perspective Konrad， dubbed the pushy “elbow man” fell for the lure of consumerism and Elizabeth’s determined to stop Uli from following in his footsteps。 Reimann was part of a circle of writers that included Christa Wolf but， unlike Wolf， Reimann’s relatively unknown outside Germany。 If Siblings is at all representative then Reimann’s work suffers by being less complex and more compromised than authors like Wolf。 Her narrative here’s very much a dramatization of then-contemporary anti-defection campaigns， although it’s partly inspired by the loss of her own brother to the West。 Reimann’s narrative’s framed by a dialogue between Uli and Joachim， Elizabeth’s boyfriend， a dedicated Party worker who confronts Uli with the evils of abandoning his homeland。 A conversation that also illustrates real-life divisions between advocates of the GDR’s so-called “real existing socialism” and those who， like Uli， took a more personal， less structured， approach to socialism。 But although the main thrust of Reimann’s story can seem overly didactic – sometimes reminding me of early Soviet realist fiction - as it unfolds it exposes a surprising element of tension and ambiguity that threatens to undermine its surface certainties。 As Uli and Joachim talk， Elizabeth waits in another room recalling her own conflicts with the Party and its systems。 Like Reimann， Elizabeth’s part of the Bitterfeld movement， artists and writers embedded in factory communities， working on production lines while practicing their art and teaching cohorts of labourers。 But her experiences tussling with older Party members have not been the enlightening ones she’d imagined。 Her encounters raises questions about the GDR’s future， its damaging class and generational divides， as well as the need to confront the changes new technologies will make to traditional working practices。 This preoccupation with division runs through the novel - ideological， cultural， generational， geographical。 As Elizabeth waits， she’s overwhelmed by memories of her childhood during WW2 and the difficult years that followed。 Her brother Konrad was a member of the Hitler Youth a fact that’s clearly bound up in Elizabeth’s mind with her vision of the West， a place too closely bound to the legacies of its National Socialist past， another obstacle intensifying the ideological disconnect between East and West。 Reimann’s adept at conveying the emotional weight of living in a fractured Germany and the dilemmas facing people like Elizabeth and Uli who grew up in the shadow of fascism and war。 It’s these sections of the book that I found the most striking and powerful， although I was also fascinated by the use of imagery and Reimann’s vivid descriptions of everyday life in the GDR。 Not long after it was published Siblings developed a cult following among younger East Germans perhaps because of Reimann’s ability to depict the conflict between Party loyalties and longings for space for self-expression and personal dissent。 But I found Elizabeth a sometimes-frustrating character: she shifts between fiercely independent and curiously self-effacing; often describing herself in terms that foreground her emotional volatility and naivety， suddenly caving to the men in her life， as if she’s unable to function without their mentoring and approval。 I assume she’s a stand-in for Reimann herself on some level but， if so， she’s a curious choice - Reimann had a reputation for being wild and strongminded。 Although， like other aspects of the narrative， it could be the character’s an attempt to portray what’s desirable for an East German woman rather than the reality。 Overall， it’s a promising rather than a fully-realised piece， with some wonderful passages， but it’s also an unusual insight into East Germany’s history and culture。 Translated by Lucy Jones。Thanks to Edelweiss and publisher Transit Books for an ARC 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Siblings
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Siblings&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Siblings&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0