German Book Prize (Deutscher Buchpreis)
In Times of Fading Light
A family saga centered on East Germany that shows the exhaustion of political ideals and the ruptures between generations as private life and state history intersect.
Work Information
A sweeping East German family saga.
Through multiple generations, the novel asks how personal memory changes as a state and its ideals collapse.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Faber & Faber
- Published
- 2014-06-19
- Pages
- 320 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 12.7 x 2 x 19.8 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9780571288588
- ISBN-10
- 9780571288588
- Price
- 3223 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Literature & Fiction/Contemporary
'Already hailed as a Cold War classic.' Boyd Tonkin, Independent Books of the Year 'Utterly absorbing, funny and humane. A romp through a twisted century in the heart of Europe.' Anna Funder, author of Stasiland International bestseller and Winner of the German Book Prize A sweeping story of one family over four generations in East Germany: the intertwining of love, life and politics under the GDR regime.
Eugen Ruge was born in the Urals and studied mathematics in Berlin. Before leaving the GDR for the West in 1988 he was a writer, contributing to documentaries made at the state-owned DEFA Studios. Since 1989 he has been writing and translating for theatres and broadcasters, and periodically teaches at the Berlin University of the Arts. In Times of Fading Light, his first novel, was an international bestseller and won the German Book Prize. Anthea Bell was a freelance translator from German and French. Her translations include works of fiction and general nonfiction, books for young people, and classics by E.T.A. Hoffmann, Freud, Kafka, and Stefan Zweig. She won the UK Schlegel-Tieck award for translation from German (four times); the 2002 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize (UK) and the Helen and Kurt Wolff Prize (USA), both for the translation of W. G. Sebald's Austerlitz ; the 2003 Austrian State Prize for Literary Translation; and the 2009 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize.
Reviews
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Isabel Szantayl
No lo he terminado pero es muy bueno Hay otras novelas de este autor ? También me gustan las policiacas
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Great historical view of life in the GDR over most ...
Great historical view of life in the GDR over most of the 20th century. Reading in translation is always different, so it's hard to evaluate the style, but it could use a little more humor and liveliness. But there is sly irony in some parts. Interesting read!
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Não disponibilidade de versão em alemão
Teria muito apreciado ler este livro no idioma original, alemão. Infelizmente, no Brasil não consigo comprar livros de autores alemães, austríacos e suíços em alemão. Sei que a demanda de livros em alemão aqui no Brasil deve ser baixa, não sendo economicamente viável. Ainda assim, isto me frustra!
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intriguing
i found this book to be be, not exactly an easy read, but enjoyable, and one I have 'savoured' , with the insights into the times and locations. The times jump forward in 'lots' but includes times I remember living through with my memories of the events changing. Some of the prose, after a very readable translation, exquisite in parts. It is a book I will keep and refer back to.
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A remarkably honest look at the subtleties and complexities of family and culture
It's hard to say I "enjoyed" reading this book: it's too complex and honest and in some ways, even brutal, to enjoy. I will say I was profoundly moved by it, if not awed by the quiet way in which the author told his story. It's not a happy story: it's an honest one. Four generations of a family living in East Germany, each generation coming to terms with the German Democratic Republic: idealists who believed in the revolution, their children who live decently in their society, the third generation that wants out, and the youngest who suffer the freedom after the wall comes down. But, this is not a book about politics and oppression: it focuses always on the family members. We come to know each person intimately: we see how they develop, we note their foibles, we watch as they search for love and peace and stability. We watch them stumble and suffer and never quite get it right. And we see ourselves through them. A beautifully conceived book, profound and important. I'm ever so glad I read it. Thank you, Eugen Ruge for this amazing book.