Customer Reviews

Die Verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum (German Edition)

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I read this in the original German with the extremely frequent help of a German-English dictionary. Got to love those page-long sentences with ten or 12 dependent clauses! I'll have to look at a translation one of these days to see how they're handled in English.

This is a powerful statement about the position and treatment of women in German society circa 1974. A young divorcee from a troubled childhood who nonetheless has established a good reputation for herself as a hardworking, respectable, even somewhat prudish individual finds herself the object of a smear campaign by a sensationalistic yellow newspaper for her relationship with a man she thought was an Army deserter but was in fact a bankrobber on the run whom she helped slip through a police cordon. (That was a much longer sentence than I usually write. Must be that German influence at work.) The consequences for her and her friends and supporters are dramatic.

This book illuminates the pressures felt by young women in post-War German society due to widespread sexual objectification, hypocritical public moralizing, and economic disparity. It is a cogent argument against sexual discrimination and for equal opportunity. The author uses his considerable skills in satire and humor to advance his theme. He skewers many of the basic institutions of German society: the justice system, the church, business, and journalism. Anyone who appreciates wit, insight, and social concern will enjoy this book. Five stars.