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The New Sufferings of Young W.
The New Sufferings of Young W. | Ulrich Plenzdorf
3 posts | 3 read | 1 to read
In English translation. One of the most talked-about works ever published in the German Democratic Republic! This innovative novel by an East German writer is a worthy companion to the classic it parodies and parallels: Goethes The Sufferings of Young Werther. Goethe and J. D. Salinger were the two greatest influences on Edgar Wibeau, Young W. Edgar is a 17-year-old with the frustrations of teenagers all over the world, living with the added pressures of an East-bloc state. A model all-GDR boy, the son of a factory director, he suddenly drops out. But not from socialism per sejust from conformity, picky regulations, and official disapproval of jeans, the blues, and girls. Hiding out, he finds and devours an old copy of The Sufferings of Young Werther. From then on he wards off reality with Goethe texts, and young Wibeaus fate is superimposed on that of Werther like a transparent overlay. It is an ironic and revealing linkage.
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LauraJ
The New Sorrows of Young W. | Ulrich Plenzdorf
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Pickpick

This is the 70‘s version of Holden Caulfield in Berlin. He‘s more likable and less serious. He‘s also dead. It starts with Edgar Wibeau interrupting the recollections of friends and family to set the record straight. Wibeau‘s voice eventually dominates the story. The conversational style makes this a quick, enjoyable read.

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LauraJ
The New Sorrows of Young W. | Ulrich Plenzdorf
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Tonight‘s #dinnerandabook
Fried chicken burrito from Trejo‘s and the last 25 pages of Sorrows.

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LauraJ
The New Sorrows of Young W. | Ulrich Plenzdorf
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#bookmail
This is only my 2nd book purchase for June. 😇
Can‘t believe I‘m the first post. The narrator is obsessed with Catcher In the Rye and it‘s very darkly funny.
#catsoflitsy

LeahBergen This sounds great. Stacked! 6y
33 likes1 stack add1 comment