What Remains and Other Stories [Paperback]

Christa Wolf (Author), Heike Schwarzbauer (Translator), Rick Takvorian (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1995

What Remains collects Christa Wolf's short fiction, from early work in the sixties to the widely debated title story, first published in Germany in 1990. Addressing a wide range of topics, from sexual politics to the nature of memory, these powerful and often very personal stories offer a fascinating introduction to Wolf's work.
What Remains and Other Stories . . . is clear and farsighted. The eight heartfelt stories in the book show why she has been respected as a serious author since her 1968 novel, The Quest for Christa T. . . . Wolf uses her own experiences and observations to create universal themes about the controls upon human freedom.--Herbert Mitgang, New York Times
Christa Wolf has set herself nothing less than the task of exploring what it is to be a conscious human being alive in a moment of history.--Mary Gordon, New York Times Book Review
The simultaneous publication of these two volumes offers readers here a generous sampling of the short fiction, speeches and essays that Wolf has produced over the last three decades.--Mark Harman, Boston Globe

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Eminent German writer Wolf displays her versatility and sharp talent for social and political commentary in these eight short fictions. Echoes of Germany's Nazi past erupt unpredictably in the Kafkaesque world of the title story, the interior monologue of an East German writer playing a cat-and-mouse game with the secret police. The parable "A Little Outing to H." describes Hero Town, where ordinary residents wear orange badges inscribed with the letter P (for Person), while townsfolk who wear no badges are Heroes, a superior breed. The witty fantasy "Self-Experiment" explores the division of emotional labor between the sexes as a female research scientist takes a drug that changes her into a man. "The New Life and Opinions of a Tomcat," inspired by the E.T.A. Hoffmann tale, is both a satire on academic psychology and a dissertation on human follies. In "Unter den Linden," a jolting meditation on a life unlived, a stroller converses with her "dream censor," with an imaginary Golden Fish and with specters of old friends. The assured, nimble translation helps readers through the elaborate, digressive style of these complex tales.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This uneven collection evokes themes of isolation and repression. There is a family's flight as Americans pour into a defeated Germany, then the juxtaposition of a mother's care for her daughter with the "impenetrable maze of motives and countermotives" during an East German factory brigade meeting. Muddled prose loses the story in the loquacious "June Afternoon" and the tedious "Unter Den Linden," but from this low point the collection soars with astute political observations and a more mature style. A tomcat relates his master's attempt to quantify human happiness, a writer tours a political theme park for "the heroes of our literature," and a scientist changes himself into a man, then back again. "What Remains," however, is Wolf's crowning achievement. Biting and sylish, it shows a writer's struggle under constant police surveillance and the way informants turn all others into "trapeze artists." Despite her reputation, Wolf is under attack in the former East Germany for failing to confront the police state more forthrightly. For literary fiction collections.
- Paul E. Hutchison, Bellefonte, Pa.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press (December 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226904954
• ISBN-13: 978-0226904955
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #638,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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