Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Suddenly Everything Was Different: German Lives in Upheaval
    Unavailable
    Suddenly Everything Was Different: German Lives in Upheaval
    Unavailable
    Suddenly Everything Was Different: German Lives in Upheaval
    Ebook400 pages6 hours

    Suddenly Everything Was Different: German Lives in Upheaval

    By Olaf Georg Klein

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    What happens when the world in which people have crafted identities for themselves and lived their lives suddenly disappears? How does a person -- or a nation -- confront such a shock? From 1990 to 1993, at an unparalleled momentin German history, Olaf Georg Klein interviewed almost a hundred fellow former East German citizens, probing their experiences of the sudden collapse of the German Democratic Republic, then crafting that material into twelve first-person narratives. The result is a literary account whose narrators include representatives from the cities and the countryside, from young and old, from the East German power elite and the resistance, as well as from those in position to be critical of both the GDR and united Germany. The book was a sensation in Germany upon its publication in 1994, and the translation will be of interest to students and scholars in history and political science, sociology, psychology, and literary studies. It includes an introduction and extensive annotations to assist the reader in understanding the East German and unified German contexts.

    Olaf Georg Klein's novel Aftermath was published in translation by Northwestern University Press in 1999. Ann McGlashan is Associate Professor of German and Dwight D. Allman is Associate Professor of Political Science, both at Baylor University.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCamden House
    Release dateJun 15, 2008
    ISBN9781782047551
    Unavailable
    Suddenly Everything Was Different: German Lives in Upheaval

    Related to Suddenly Everything Was Different

    Related ebooks

    Literary Criticism For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Country That Went To The Wall

      Apr 27, 2023

      I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO CATCH the twilight years of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). As a Financial Times correspondent, based in Bonn, I made many trips to East Germany in 1988 and even more in 1989 as the Wall crumbled. It was easy, then, to pit

      4 min read

    • Article

      Don’t Mention the War

      Apr 9, 2018

      Don’t Mention the War
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Paradox Of Nazi Culture

      Nov 26, 2020

      HERMAN GOERING is famous for supposedly having said, “When I hear the word ‘culture’, I reach for my revolver.” In fact, the quote originated elsewhere. It would have been surprising if the case were otherwise, since the Nazis, being Germans, could h

      5 min read

    • Article

      Germany’s Crisis Of Conscience

      May 26, 2022

      THE JOKE OF JOHN CLEESE’S “Don’t mention the war” routine was aimed more at the British than the Germans. But nearly half a century after that episode of Fawlty Towers was first broadcast, the Germans are again thin-skinned about the war. Not that wa

      8 min read

    • Article

      European Champions

      Oct 29, 2020

      European Champions
      4 min read

    • Article

      Kale idoscopic nation

      Apr 13, 2023

      Kale idoscopic nation
      10 min read

    • Article

      Ghosts Of Germany’s Past

      Feb 15, 2024

      Ghosts Of Germany’s Past
      2 min read

    • Article

      After The Nazis

      Sep 7, 2023

      After The Nazis
      2 min read

    • Article

      Can The German Path To Truth And Reconciliation Work In America?

      Jul 15, 2020

      From my apartment in Gesundbrunnen, to the north of Berlin’s city centre, it is about a six-kilometer walk to the Brandenburg Gate. The route I take leads me through housing estates built in the gaps where World War II rubble was cleared, and past 19

      9 min read

    • Article

      The Fog Factory

      Feb 12, 2019

      The Fog Factory
      14 min read

    • Article

      The Road To Genocide

      Feb 16, 2023

      The Road To Genocide
      2 min read

    • Article

      Twin Totems Of Teutonic Angst

      Jun 29, 2023

      Twin Totems Of Teutonic Angst
      8 min read

    • Article

      ‘All Quiet On The Western Front’: A German Retelling For A Modern Time

      Oct 28, 2022

      War was sold to a young Paul Bäumer as a romantic ideal. Spurred by a patriotic teacher, he volunteers to join his fellow classmates – mere boys – on the front lines of a war that quickly manifests as anything but aspirational. The protagonist of “Al

      5 min read

    • Article

      'Travelers In The Third Reich' Examines Outsiders Views Of Hitler's Germany

      Aug 14, 2018

      Similar books have been attempted before, but this one stands out due to both its the breadth of its investigation and the palpable tone of frustration that runs through it.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Everyday Nazis

      Jul 9, 2021

      Everyday Nazis
      4 min read

    • Article

      After The Nazis

      Oct 5, 2023

      After The Nazis
      5 min read

    • Article

      Monuments To The Unthinkable

      Nov 14, 2022

      Monuments To The Unthinkable
      43 min read

    • Article

      IAIN MacGREGOR

      Oct 10, 2019

      IAIN MacGREGOR
      3 min read

    Reviews for Suddenly Everything Was Different

    4/5

    1 rating1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      This is a collection of oral history transcripts documenting the lives of twelve former East Germans before and after reunification. The individuals whose stories are included in this collection represent a variety of age groups, occupations, and political views. Some had been supportive of the East German government, while others had been opposed to it. They all seemed to agree on one point. Even the interviewees who desired a change in the structure of government wanted their country to remain independent. None of the interviewees seemed to be in favor of reunification with West Germany. They all experienced an identity crisis in various degrees resulting from the loss of their national identity.Readers of the English translation shouldn't skip the translator's preface. The translator describes some of the loaded German terms used to refer to the transition period and explains her choice of words for the English translation.