Customer Reviews

Willenbrock: A Novel

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I read Willenbrock for a course in German literature. I felt the book offered a time capsule to non-Germans of what life was in the decade following the fall of the Berlin wall. While the prose nor the plot carry much potential for the novel to be called great literature (perhaps partially due to translation issues), it is literature, nonetheless, and by that I mean it carries a certain "snapshot" of human emotion in that particular period of time. Willenbrock is *not* a likable character, but he is a familiar character, one people will relate to immediately. Hein does a service by offering him upon a silver platter to be analyzed and scrutinized by even the most casual reader. For someone who appreciates the characters of a story above all else, I found Willenbrock to be an interesting read.

I'm an American and I read the English translation of this novel. I'm sure you have to be a German to get a true feel for the context (Berlin and East Germany). It was obviously written for a German audience, so Hein leaves out details that could flesh things out for those of us who are unfamiliar with what it's like there.

That becomes a problem when you consider that the book is intended to be satirical -- you have to be familiar with what the author is satirizing in order to get it. If you don't know what post-reunification Berlin and its middle class are like, "Willenbrock" will only give you the sketchiest hints.

If you're a German or are very familiar with Germany, maybe you'll love it. If you're not, I can't recommend this book, as it reads rather bland and doesn't have enough to offer an international audience.