The Short End of the Sonnenallee

The Sonnenallee has been split unequally by the Berlin Wall, and Mischa and his friends are growing up on the short end of it, the part that was allocated to East Berlin. They experience the same kinds of problem as kids anywhere else — they fall in love, hopelessly or not, they are exasperated by the behaviour of their parents, they quarrel with teachers and petty authority, they worry about how their lives are going to turn out, and they try to listen to the right music, read the right books, and wish for the right clothes, hairstyles and personal transport. Like all young people, they push against boundaries, but in the DDR these boundaries can turn out to be a lot harder than they are elsewhere, leading to comical and sometimes show more frightening situations.

Brussig wrote this book in a rush, when he realised that he had a lot of extra Sonnenallee material he hadn’t used in the film he wrote it for. Of course, the tie-in novel had to come out no later than the release date of the film, so there was a sharp deadline, and that comes across in the taut, fast-paced narrative and the brilliantly laconic dialogue. (And the scene where Mischa boasts to Miriam about how he records his feelings in his diaries, and then has to write seven years worth of retrospective diary entries for her in a single night...) He makes it clear that this isn’t supposed to be read as an account of East Berlin as it really was, but as “pleasant memories of unpleasant times”. When we remember our childhood, we do so in particular ways, and that always has more to do with nostalgia than with accurate socio-political analysis. It’s a feel-good book, and that’s a good thing, but we shouldn’t try to read more than that into it. show less

I still sort of remember watching the film as "Eastie Boys" in Prague, I think in German with Czech subtitles. I enjoyed that, and the book as well. I should write something clever about the transcendence of nostalgia for our childhoods - but I'm not going to.

I had to read this book as a Hauslektüre for my German class. I find it thoroughly enjoyable. The setting of the story is East Germany (DDR: Deutsche Demokratische Republik) in the time after World War II. The story is about the lives in East Germany, and focuses mainly on the protagonist Michael (aka Micha). Michael Kuppich is in love with a girl called Miriam, whom he describes as the most beautiful girl in the world. Throughout the book we'll see how Micha is trying to get the girl, how the lives of teenagers there are like, and how the 'system' works in the DDR. It's a story about going through life and growing up. I really like this book.

The story about a group of boys growing up on the shorter end of Sonnenallee, a street in Berlin that was split in two by the wall. It's a coming of age story set in the time before the wall came down.

"Denn die Erinnerung kann viel mehr: Sie vollbringt beharrlich das Wunder, einen Frieden mit der Vergangenheit zu schließen, in dem sich jeder Groll verflüchtigt und der weiche Schleier der Nostalgie über alles legt, was mal scharf und schneidend empfunden wurde."
Das ist einer der letzten Sätze dieses Buches und er drückt ziemlich genau aus, was im Buch stattfindet. Erzählt wird über das Jungsein direkt an der Mauer und trotz aller Einschränkungen ist es, wie das Jungsein eben ist, voller Verrücktheiten, voller Hoffnungen, voller Träume. Sowohl was die Jugend betrifft als auch was den Osten betrifft, ist die Darstellung ziemlich idealisierend. Aber genau das macht das Buch so charmant.

Skæg lille bagatel, nærmest fortalt i anekdoteform, om Micha og hans venners liv i 80'ernes Østberlin. Det er både de almene ungdomshistorier om pigerne og de mere satiriske absurditeter fra livet i DDR's sidste dage.
Sjovt, underholdende og fint nok, men der kunne sagtens have gjort meget mere ved bogen, der er skrevet efter, at filmen af samme navn kom. Det kan desværre godt mærkes... Den er mere et stykke filmmerchandise end en roman i sig selv.

A delightfully funny book, with a very serious undertone: being a teenager in the former GDR.