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A review by dreamingandendless
Beyond the Wall: East Germany, 1949-1990 by Katja Hoyer
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
First things first: this is a good book to gain an overview of the history of the DDR, a topic that tends to be dismissed and forgotten due to the state's incorporation into the BRD in 1990.
The book also attempts to show the positives of life in the DDR alongside the very black spots and dark sides of the government and state. Regularly including vignettes of normal people helps to bring other perspectives into the book.
However, the book oftentimes takes on a patronizing tone about citizens of eastern Germany both then and now and seems to miss entirely, that for East Germans DIE LINKE is the only connection still left to the SED and DDR, a lot of which they miss.
I feel the book suffers due to brevity also and would have been a much better read if it had been able to unfold some more areas of the history of the DDR. Many authors have written much more to say much less, and although brevity is oftentimes desired, the topic of the DDR mostly lacks nuance when dealt with nowadays.
The book also attempts to show the positives of life in the DDR alongside the very black spots and dark sides of the government and state. Regularly including vignettes of normal people helps to bring other perspectives into the book.
However, the book oftentimes takes on a patronizing tone about citizens of eastern Germany both then and now and seems to miss entirely, that for East Germans DIE LINKE is the only connection still left to the SED and DDR, a lot of which they miss.
I feel the book suffers due to brevity also and would have been a much better read if it had been able to unfold some more areas of the history of the DDR. Many authors have written much more to say much less, and although brevity is oftentimes desired, the topic of the DDR mostly lacks nuance when dealt with nowadays.