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Loading... Flugasche. (original 1981; edition 1986)by Monika Maron
Work InformationFlight of Ashes by Monika Maron (1981)
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Fiery novel of a woman journalist's struggle to expose industrial pollution. Classic feminist voice -- honest, funny and angry. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)833.914Literature German literature and literatures of related languages German fiction Modern period (1900-) 1900-1990 1945-1990LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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The young journalist Josefa is sent to write a magazine article about the industrial town of B. (Bitterfeld). She soon discovers that the real story is not about heroic workers exceeding plan targets, or the new swimming pool in the workers’ leisure centre, but about an outdated power plant that endangers the people working in it, as well as belching out 180 tons of fly ash a year over the town, making it “the most polluted place in Europe”. Industrial injuries and lung disease are at appallingly high levels in the area. Management and workers all want the plant decommissioned and replaced, but central government is deaf to their worries. Josefa writes about the situation, with a “naive” sense of justice, but of course nervous editors won’t publish her article. Maron shows us how the fear of expressing criticism built into the system creates a completely unnecessary conflict between Josefa and her colleagues, and eventually damages her personal life and her mental health.
A powerful, strongly felt book, which perhaps goes some way towards explaining why Maron is still regularly getting into trouble for saying the wrong thing. ( )