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michael5000's review against another edition
dark
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
carmenx9's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars - this book was on my to-read list for six years - and I finished it in three days (it's my own fault: I missed the fact that the English translation came out in 2015, and I think the Goethe didn't take me longer than a week either. If there's a bigger idiot that Edgar Wibeau, it might be me).
Thankfully, New Sorrows is one I'll come back to. If you're not on board with The Sorrows of Young Werther or Catcher in the Rye, you won't get on with this book, but thankfully I fit this description pretty neatly so it was very much my thing. If the book suffers from anything it's that the references and subversions of Goethe and Salinger are omnipresent, and I spent most of the read in a maddening connect-the-dots activity compounded by its strong sense of time and place.
But the novel's biggest strength comes straight out of the gate by subverting the original's famous ending and narrative structure - instead of letters, we get tapes, and Edgar is a feisty commentator on his own purposefully ambiguous death. If The Sorrows of Young Werther was the proto-Romantic reactionary piece off the back of the Enlightenment, The New Sorrows of Young W. is in the same spirit, capturing the futility of finding purpose outside of societally accepted channels. I And as sardonic and irreverent as it gets, Edgar (and Plenzdorf) underpin these observations with sincerity, and it's surprisingly moving.
I read the 2015 Romy Fursland translation (the only English translation?) - I've heard nothing can quite capture the original dialect / GDR slang, but until I learn German this is the closest I'm going to get.
Would recommend, but it may be a strange read without any context!
Thankfully, New Sorrows is one I'll come back to. If you're not on board with The Sorrows of Young Werther or Catcher in the Rye, you won't get on with this book, but thankfully I fit this description pretty neatly so it was very much my thing. If the book suffers from anything it's that the references and subversions of Goethe and Salinger are omnipresent, and I spent most of the read in a maddening connect-the-dots activity compounded by its strong sense of time and place.
But the novel's biggest strength comes straight out of the gate by subverting the original's famous ending and narrative structure - instead of letters, we get tapes, and Edgar is a feisty commentator on his own purposefully ambiguous death. If The Sorrows of Young Werther was the proto-Romantic reactionary piece off the back of the Enlightenment, The New Sorrows of Young W. is in the same spirit, capturing the futility of finding purpose outside of societally accepted channels. I And as sardonic and irreverent as it gets, Edgar (and Plenzdorf) underpin these observations with sincerity, and it's surprisingly moving.
I read the 2015 Romy Fursland translation (the only English translation?) - I've heard nothing can quite capture the original dialect / GDR slang, but until I learn German this is the closest I'm going to get.
Would recommend, but it may be a strange read without any context!
admorobo's review against another edition
2.0
I rarely review books, but I felt an explanation was necessary for my rating of "The New Sorrows of Young W." by Ulrich Plenzdorf. Overall, I felt the montage structure, coupled with the first-person narrative detracted from what could have been a much stronger work. Plenzdorf takes the Bildungsroman style to an extreme, and the work suffers accordingly: Characters are never developed, places and settings never described, events occur without any sort of meaningful arc or trajectory. When this genre works, it's because its narrators are compelling and offer something of themselves to the reader. By contrast, Edgar's consistent aloofness and conversational use of slang was more of a distraction and added nothing of substance to the story in the way that similar books have. I felt as though the execution of the novel never lived up to its intent.
cythera15's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
My gosh, read this alongside No Longer Human and Catcher in the Rye for trinity of Strum und Drang emoness
eligbamberger's review against another edition
4.0
First book I've ever started and finished on a plane
sebastianrutter's review
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
luali's review
dark
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
joecam79's review against another edition
3.0
3.5*
Seventeen-year old Edgar Wibeau is a “straight A” student and an upcoming model citizen of the GDR. Until one day he does the unthinkable – he drops out of his apprenticeship, escapes from his sleepy home town, and settles down at his friend Willi’s abandoned summer house in East Berlin. Over the next few months he finds a handyman job, falls in love with a happily-engaged kindergarten teacher named Charlie and develops an unlikely fixation with Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther. After Edgar dies in a cartoonish accident, his estranged father tries to piece together the final chapter of his son’s story by interviewing his friends and acquaintances. Transcripts of the interviews are found throughout the book (possibly an indication of the novel’s early life as a screenplay). They alternate with tragicomic “American Beauty” style monologues delivered by the dead Edgar himself.
The novel’s literary forebears are Salinger’s [b:The Catcher in the Rye|5107|The Catcher in the Rye|J.D. Salinger|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1398034300s/5107.jpg|3036731] and Goethe’s [b:The Sorrows of Young Werther|16640|The Sorrows of Young Werther|Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386920896s/16640.jpg|746264]. Both are referenced in the book, with Goethe’s novel inspiring the title and playing a part in the plot. Indeed, The New Sorrows works best as a parody of Goethe, spiced with an element of political satire. The bucolic backdrop of the original Sorrows is replaced by a grey East Berlin, the OTT Romantic language substituted by Edgar’s “trendy” colloquialisms. It must have been particularly difficult to evoke the now dated 1970s German slang. In her 2015 translation for Pushkin Press, Romy Fursland opts for an argot which veers between the quaint and the cringe-inducing, but which is surprisingly effective.
This feels like a novel of its time – but nonetheless remains an enjoyable and often funny read.
Seventeen-year old Edgar Wibeau is a “straight A” student and an upcoming model citizen of the GDR. Until one day he does the unthinkable – he drops out of his apprenticeship, escapes from his sleepy home town, and settles down at his friend Willi’s abandoned summer house in East Berlin. Over the next few months he finds a handyman job, falls in love with a happily-engaged kindergarten teacher named Charlie and develops an unlikely fixation with Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther. After Edgar dies in a cartoonish accident, his estranged father tries to piece together the final chapter of his son’s story by interviewing his friends and acquaintances. Transcripts of the interviews are found throughout the book (possibly an indication of the novel’s early life as a screenplay). They alternate with tragicomic “American Beauty” style monologues delivered by the dead Edgar himself.
The novel’s literary forebears are Salinger’s [b:The Catcher in the Rye|5107|The Catcher in the Rye|J.D. Salinger|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1398034300s/5107.jpg|3036731] and Goethe’s [b:The Sorrows of Young Werther|16640|The Sorrows of Young Werther|Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386920896s/16640.jpg|746264]. Both are referenced in the book, with Goethe’s novel inspiring the title and playing a part in the plot. Indeed, The New Sorrows works best as a parody of Goethe, spiced with an element of political satire. The bucolic backdrop of the original Sorrows is replaced by a grey East Berlin, the OTT Romantic language substituted by Edgar’s “trendy” colloquialisms. It must have been particularly difficult to evoke the now dated 1970s German slang. In her 2015 translation for Pushkin Press, Romy Fursland opts for an argot which veers between the quaint and the cringe-inducing, but which is surprisingly effective.
This feels like a novel of its time – but nonetheless remains an enjoyable and often funny read.
sur_la_route's review
funny
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Just an incredibly funny mix of The Sorrows of Young Werther and The Catcher in the Rye set in East Berlin. I think the humor is only understandable if you read the two other books and are familiar with East Germany. Just hilarious! Honestly.
time_to_read_23's review
2.0
Meh. It was okay, but I couldn't relate to the 17 year old male main character. Apparently this is a satire of The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goeth (I believe), which I hadn't read before this, so maybe I would have found it more enjoyable if I had. Too much teenage angst for me. And Edgar was very full of himself, which wasn't that fun to read either.