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I had been looking forward to this book, assuming it would be a serious historical novel about life under the oppressive East German regime under Honnecker, and it's subsequent fall.
What in fact I got was an overly romanticised pro Russian depiction of life in the communist East, criticism of the West materialism and decay, and an unrealistic and absurd love story between two rather despicable characters with very questionable behaviours.
Throughout the book you are left feeling that the whole story is completely unrealistic; a young attractive balanced 19 year old student and a married man in his fifties 'fall in love at first sight' on a #57 bus going home. They then in broad daylight go back to his place in view of neighbours, make love in the marital bed, and then subsequently frequent high profile and very public restaurants and cafe's...even though they agree to be discreet!! This at a time when informants were rife and the Stasi would be very interested in any behaviour that might be able to compromise an individual. Furthermore the girls parents, rather than being shocked by the affair, actually condone the unsuitable match.
The affair then progresses in its intensity, with the girl 'stalking' the man and his family whilst on holiday...enabling them to make love amongst the dunes a few yards away from the wife and son!
It then takes a dramatic turn as Katharina writes a note about her 'fling' with a student in Frankfurt and leaves the incriminating piece on her desk for Hans to find. What follows is cruel systematic psychological and physical abuse, portrayed in great detail which K just limply accepts due to her obvious and overwhelming sense of misplaced guilt.
I could go on and on, but basically the book now becomes a tale of control, manipulation, guilt throwing and receiving, and physical and mental abuse towards K, amongst constant references to obscure poets, writers and artists.
The book culminates with the fall of the Berlin Wall which supposedly only brings negative consequences and is largely undesirable.
Overall the book may be allegorical....The East German people living in a sado-masochistic relationship with their oppressive regime, unable to escape, but apparently loving them all the same....in the same way that K accepts the abuse from H and never even imagines leaving him, or seeking help from friends or family. Of course there are hints that this is all caused by the dysfunctional relationship and experiences of Hans as a child with his Nazi father and the fall of Hitler, and possibly the need for a father figure for Katharina, after her father left for Leipzig, but really?
This is an incredibly disappointing and inaccurate rewriting of history with little attention to the realities of life under the GDR and the Stasi at the time, the failure of Communism and the Soviet experiment, or the thousands who were killed, tortured or imprisoned under the regime. It is true that many Ozzies now appear to romanticise sentimentally the 'so called good times' in the East, rationalising and forgetting the realities of oppression, lack of freedom of speech, intrusion, food and material shortages etc and indeed a life of fear and injustice which thousands tried to vainly escape.
If you want a book about a weird unrealistic sado-masochistic relationship set in a world that really did not exist, then this is for you. I am sure that Erpenbeck has found many 'left behind' in the East as well as intellectual left wingers to appreciate what was for me "Terrible Book". I didn't help that once again some modern writers feel it is fashionable to leave out punctuation, but i could forgive that if the content had been 'serious', meaningful and historically accurate. Frankly it is an insult to the West, to the billions invested in East Germany, and above all the millions whose lives were severely affected by more than 40 years living within the Soviet Empire.