Describe Based On Books The Quest for Christa T.
| Title | : | The Quest for Christa T. |
| Author | : | Christa Wolf |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 185 pages |
| Published | : | November 1st 1979 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (first published 1968) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. European Literature. German Literature. Cultural. Germany |
Christa Wolf
Paperback | Pages: 185 pages Rating: 3.7 | 815 Users | 80 Reviews
Commentary Toward Books The Quest for Christa T.
When The Quest for Christa T. was first published in East Germany in 1968, there was an immediate storm: bookshops in East Berlin were given instructions to sell it only to well-known customers professionally involved in literary matters; at the annual meeting of East German Writers Conference, Mrs Wolf's new book was condemmed. Yet the novel has nothing explicitly to do with politics.Praise for The Quest for Christa T.
On the surface we merely have the story of a sensitive woman as recalled by her friend. On this level Christa T. was a good citizen who did as she was told and lived a seemingly unexceptional life. But between the lines lies the real story of Christa T. -- the story of an individual crushed by the pressures of uniformity. If you bear in mind it is the first novel of any consequence to emerge from Ulbricht's East Germany, then it becomes something of a literary landmark. - John Barkman, New York Post
The contours of silence and the outline of things articulately left unsaid loom large in the muted brilliance of this novel. - Ernst Pawek, The New York Review of Books
It is a courageous book that breaks taboos and, as we have come to expect from Christa Wolf, it is infused with an integrity and a deep moral concern. . . - The (London) Times Literary Supplement
Particularize Books Conducive To The Quest for Christa T.
| Original Title: | Nachdenken über Christa T. |
| ISBN: | 0374515344 (ISBN13: 9780374515348) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rating Based On Books The Quest for Christa T.
Ratings: 3.7 From 815 Users | 80 ReviewsRate Based On Books The Quest for Christa T.
The greatest book ever written! Let me repeat: The greatest book ever written! If you are someone I care about a lot, you will most likely get this as a Christmas gift.Also, it requires a lot of concentration and the ability to allow the complexities of the writing style to subdue you. Don't resist it. Don't ask questions like... who's the narrator or what year is it? That's not the point. It's about fluidity. It's about narrative that transcends the basic dimensions of storytelling andIn 1968, Christa Wolf reflected on time.In a hundred, or no, she corrected herself mid-sentence, in 50 years, she'll be a historical character on a stage herself, to be looked at in the same way she - in 1968 - looked at time past, time finished, time gone. Almost exactly 50 years later, I read her words, and think about how right she was, and how wrong. Her world, the world of socialist East Germany, had only two decades left, and she outlived the state she believed was built to last forever
This is a difficult book to describe. The author is writing about the life of a woman she knew who is destroyed by life under the communist regime in East Germany. It speaks to the reader about the dangers of totalitarianism, the freedom and beauty of the human spirit, and about relationships. The relationship between the author and the title character is in itself interesting. She is trying to keep the memory of Christa alive, and yet the author seems to say at times that she doesn't know if
During the last 15 years of her life Jean Rhys, one of the most remarkable writers of the 20th century, often spoke about how much she wanted to "get things right", i.e., to be as true as possible in her writing to place, speech, mood, the taste and texture of experience, and to achieve this precision without--as she once said in a letter--"any STUNTS". Indeed, she never used any words rhetorically, her language does what it needs to do with an elegance and economy which is perfectly natural and
I liked this. A study of how oppressive societies suffocate creative/alternative minds, Christa T. was never content with the life that was expected of her. The non-narrative structure is a bit difficult to follow, but the message makes itself clear. The translation is also quite excellent.
Reading this 1968 novel out of East Germany reminds me a lot of an LSD trip I took as a college freshman in 1969. Under duress of the mismatch between my sense of self and the world I was to play some role in (it was the Vietnam era and I had a low draft number), I spent many an hour observing people in everyday activities compelled with the basic question: What do people do? Here the largely anonymous narrator seeks to accurately reconstruct the reality of a close friend from childhood and
One of my favorite books. One that I feel that I will need to reread a few more times in my life.This book is difficult to describe. Personally, I found it to be more of a book of self exploration than anything else. Wolf writes about a woman trying to find her friend through her friend's writing... and therefore it questions the act of writing itself.There are of course political implications in some of the questions the author, character, and reader stumble upon. It is hard for a novel written
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