christa wolf – Cannonball Read 17

“The world could go on after our destruction.”

Accident: A Day's News by Christa Wolf

April 24, 2020 by blauracke Leave a Comment

On a beautiful spring day in 1986, an East German writer putters around her garden and house while waiting for a call from the hospital where her brother is undergoing brain surgery. At the same time, news and concerns about the Chernobyl nuclear accident constantly intrude on her thoughts. Written in the form of a monologue and a rather short one at that, there are still a myriad of topics that are at least touched on, from the traps of technology, humanity’s relationship with science, […]

Now I Am Medea; My Wit Has Grown Through Suffering.

Medea by Christa Wolf

July 22, 2019 by blauracke Leave a Comment

This is a retelling of the myth of Medea, with her depiction differing greatly from most others, in that she is not a jealous mad woman that does not even shrink back from killing her own children to get revenge, but a proud outsider who gets caught up in a political battle and is made the scapegoat for any evil that befalls the city of Corinth. In my last year of secondary school, I read this as one of a few adaptations of the myth […]

Seeing how a hand carves out meaning with a pencil point lets us remember that the human touch is essential

Act of God by Jill Ciment

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn

The Vacationers by Emma Straub

Accident/A Day's News by Christa Wolf

Wigs on the Green by Nancy Mitford

And Now You can Go by Vendela Vida

Victory over Japan by Ellen Gilchrist

Alexander's Bridge by Willa Cather

The Two of Them by Joanna Russ

June 26, 2019 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

Act of God – 3/5 Stars This is a funny and odd little book by a writer I don’t really know, but as I did a little research into has been writing and publishing for a while. This book is told from an ever-shifting third person limited perspective following different women who are responding to a crisis they all share. Kat and her twin sister Edith are older twins living in the rent-controlled apartment that belonged to their late mother. Their mother was a famous […]

What does the world need to become perfect?

The Quest for Christa T by Christa Wolf

January 6, 2019 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

German cover: Strange translation choice abounds here – I read this as “Thoughts about Christa T,” but the novel does discuss the word “Sehnsucht” a few times as well. So who knows! (Photo: https://www.amazon.com/Nachdenken-Uber-Christa-T-German/dp/3630610315) An odd little book from an East German writer, this book feels in some ways similar to Elena Ferrante, especially the earlier novels from the Neapolitan Novels, as well as novels by Magda Szabo. It’s a curious book for numerous reasons. One, it’s a book that appears on David Bowie’s 100 books […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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