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will_foster's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
By far the best book I've read this year. I loved it from beginning to end. This seems like an odd thing to say for a book that explores some very human and sad stories, but it really was excellent.
When I was growing up, I had this idea that the Stasi were some buffoon-ish group, not as brutal as the NKVD or Cheka, and in some ways I was right; in others, so very wrong. I was aware the Stasi knew everything about almost everyone, following you and writing reports of almost everything you did, but I did not fully appreciate the depths they would go. Ruining lives, marriages and careers, all because you weren't moulded into the perfect 'socialist man' (I love that section, it made so much sense suddenly how the GDR could come to be and exist). They 'grey' men all did what they did because people wouldn't conform and the effects are still felt in many people today.
On the other hand, they were also buffoon-ish. They acted like overly serious school bullies but, as one person showed, you could shut the door in their face as long as you made the mandatory appointment at some point in the day. The stasi man would just wait for hours until you reappeared some point later in the day.
This book drew me in so much. Funder's prose and journeys and encounters are so captivating, insightful, harrowing and beautiful that it's difficult to write something coherent without wanting to talk about everything we hear about.
I think ultimately, Stasiland is a masterpiece of providing the human face behind the GDR. I felt sorry for the people whose lives were affected by the regime and have to live with the consequences. I also felt sorry for the former GDR and Stasi men whose way of life just vanished over a short time and now view the world bitterly, or as though they're stuck in a way of life hostile and incompatible with them. You feel for all in East Germany and in a book under 300 pages long, that's an absolute triumph.
The final section is an excellent conclusion that I simply couldn't ignore To know that the memorabilia, artefacts, very way of life of the GDR was so quickly put behind museum glass screamed of the federal republic's wish to forget this episode of history. An embarrassing failed state of communism, best to leave it to history. By doing so, so quickly after the regime fell, made it feel as though it was distant history, but people affected, maybe still to this day, exist. The effects of the GDR for them will maybe never go away. You can't just put their life behind glass, implying it's all over now and can be forgotten about. It will never heal that way. Hopefully, now after decades of reunification, efforts have been to heal and comfort the people affected who needed it.
When I was growing up, I had this idea that the Stasi were some buffoon-ish group, not as brutal as the NKVD or Cheka, and in some ways I was right; in others, so very wrong. I was aware the Stasi knew everything about almost everyone, following you and writing reports of almost everything you did, but I did not fully appreciate the depths they would go. Ruining lives, marriages and careers, all because you weren't moulded into the perfect 'socialist man' (I love that section, it made so much sense suddenly how the GDR could come to be and exist). They 'grey' men all did what they did because people wouldn't conform and the effects are still felt in many people today.
On the other hand, they were also buffoon-ish. They acted like overly serious school bullies but, as one person showed, you could shut the door in their face as long as you made the mandatory appointment at some point in the day. The stasi man would just wait for hours until you reappeared some point later in the day.
This book drew me in so much. Funder's prose and journeys and encounters are so captivating, insightful, harrowing and beautiful that it's difficult to write something coherent without wanting to talk about everything we hear about.
I think ultimately, Stasiland is a masterpiece of providing the human face behind the GDR. I felt sorry for the people whose lives were affected by the regime and have to live with the consequences. I also felt sorry for the former GDR and Stasi men whose way of life just vanished over a short time and now view the world bitterly, or as though they're stuck in a way of life hostile and incompatible with them. You feel for all in East Germany and in a book under 300 pages long, that's an absolute triumph.
The final section is an excellent conclusion that I simply couldn't ignore
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Rape
standardissuecat's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
fast-paced
5.0
Loved this as a German minor and someone who's been to Berlin, but it would be great even if you have no experience in the German language. Felt like longform journalism in parts. I really loved how the author incorporated her personal experience into her writing. You really felt like you had gotten to know her by the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking
Moderate: Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual assault
questingnotcoasting's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
I've read this book several times but felt like picking it up again because I was reading another book about the Stasi which I wasn't really getting on with. The Stasi are something of a special interest for me, as I wrote my uni dissertation about the file archives and I'm still just as interested now.
This is quite a strange read at times and I know it's not for everyone but I really enjoy Funder's mix of memoir and journalism. It's also interesting because it was published 20 years ago so the history and stories it discusses are even further removed from us now but are still so powerful and fascinating. I listened to the audiobook for the first time, which isn't narrated by Anna Funder herself but I still really liked it.
This is quite a strange read at times and I know it's not for everyone but I really enjoy Funder's mix of memoir and journalism. It's also interesting because it was published 20 years ago so the history and stories it discusses are even further removed from us now but are still so powerful and fascinating. I listened to the audiobook for the first time, which isn't narrated by Anna Funder herself but I still really liked it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality and Confinement
Moderate: Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence
sophie42's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Kidnapping, Torture, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Murder, Rape, Death, Grief, Violence, and War
Minor: Death of parent
anna_wood's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape
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