A review by anticonstitutionnellement
Siblings by Brigitte Reimann

3.0

i’m rather conflicted about what to say about this book, which seems to be a theme for my reviews as of late. i really enjoyed the intimate portrayal of life in the DDR and the conflict between party loyalists and a younger, more liberal generation who felt stifled by the rigidity of the state. that being said the novel is definitely a product of its setting. at times the narrative felt constrained and ‘overly didactic’ as though it was written for those who wanted to flee to the West, as a way of discouraging them from doing so, using Elisabeth’s efforts to persuade Uli to stay as a wider allegory for an obvious divide in East German society. Furthermore, I often found my mind wondering for pages at a time, which says a lot given its relatively short length, something about the setting and the author’s purpose felt as though the target audience was quite narrow. i found myself struggling to connect with the characters at times, the romantic feelings Elisabeth had for Uli were hard to ignore and at times distracted from the captivating prose.