Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall

Stasiland: Stories From Behind the Berlin Wall by Anna Funder
review copy provided by publisher
Description from Goodreads:
In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell; shortly afterwards the two Germanies reunited, and East Germany ceased to exist. In a country where the headquarters of the secret police can become a museum literally overnight and one in#160;50 East Germans were informing on their fellow citizens, there are thousands of captivating stories. Anna Funder tells extraordinary tales from the underbelly of the former East Germany. She meets Miriam, who as a 16-year-old might have started World War III; she visits the man who painted the line which became the Berlin Wall; and she gets drunk with the legendary "Mik Jegger" of the east, once declared by the authorities to his face to "no longer to exist." Each enthralling story depicts what it's like to live in Berlin as the city knits itself back together#151;or fails to. This is a history full of emotion, attitude, and complexity.

My take:
I remember when the Berlin Wall came down. I remember being glued to the news during these events and being excited and happy that things were changing in the world.  But, I was far more familiar with the U.S.S.R. than I was  the GDR. This may have been because I hung out with a few Russian Studies majors in college, and I was generally interested in Russian history. Stasiland was a real eye-opener for me. My own ignorance about East Germany was shocking to me.  For some reason, I had always assumed that East Germany wasn't as communist as Russia somehow. I'm not even sure how that could be, but that was the general impression I had.

Stasiland set me straight regarding my misconceptions about East Germany. Anna Funder does an excellent job of conveying the depressing aspects of life in communist Germany while inserting moments of much needed humor. Most of the humor is of the incredulous kind. For instance, when a young woman who has been continually unsuccessful at finding employment makes the mistake of saying that she is unemployed to the clerk at the Employment Office.

'Miss, you are not unemployed, she barked.
'Of course I'm unemployed,' Julia said. 'Why else would I be here?'
'This is the Employment Office, not the Unemployment Office. You are not unemployed; you are seeking work.'
Julia wasn't daunted. 'I'm seeking work,' she said, 'because I am unemployed.'
The woman started to shout so loudly the people in the queue hunched their shoulders. 'I said, you are not unemployed! You are seeking work!' and then, almost hysterically, 'There is no unemployment in the German Democratic Republic!' p. 104

I really liked that the book helped to put history of Germany into perspective for me. I don't know enough about German history to judge how accurate some of her statements are, but because of many of her references, I was able to roughly line up the German history.

I thought the memoir format worked well here. Funder retells personal stories of several people who lived through the communist years and many of them were personally affected by the Stasi. She also interviewed some former Stasi and that was extremely interesting. 

If you've read my blog at all, you probably have guessed that I really like books that make me want to read even more about a topic. And this book succeeded at this.  I found it fascinating, horrifying, funny, sad, and frustrating. All this means it was a very good read.

Half the Sky

Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

borrowed from library
Summary from Goodreads:
From two of our most fiercely moral voices, a passionate call to arms against our era’s most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women and girls in the developing world.

With Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as our guides, we undertake an odyssey through Africa and Asia to meet the extraordinary women struggling there, among them a Cambodian teenager sold into sex slavery and an Ethiopian woman who suffered devastating injuries in childbirth. Drawing on the breadth of their combined reporting experience, Kristof and WuDunn depict our world with anger, sadness, clarity, and, ultimately, hope.

They show how a little help can transform the lives of women and girls abroad. That Cambodian girl eventually escaped from her brothel and, with assistance from an aid group, built a thriving retail business that supports her family. The Ethiopian woman had her injuries repaired and in time became a surgeon. A Zimbabwean mother of five, counseled to return to school, earned her doctorate and became an expert on AIDS.

Through these stories, Kristof and WuDunn help us see that the key to economic progress lies in unleashing women’s potential. They make clear how so many people have helped to do just that, and how we can each do our part. Throughout much of the world, the greatest unexploited economic resource is the female half of the population. Countries such as China have prospered precisely because they emancipated women and brought them into the formal economy. Unleashing that process globally is not only the right thing to do; it’s also the best strategy for fighting poverty.

Deeply felt, pragmatic, and inspirational, Half the Sky is essential reading for every global citizen.

My take:
I have to admit that if this book wasn't chosen for my book club, I probably would not have picked it up. But after reading it, I feel that  it is a very important book for women to read. I was touched by the stories as well as frustrated, angered, and saddened. But in the end, there is a feeling of hope and there are several examples of simple ways that we can each get involved if we so choose. This is a worthwhile read, but not necessarily an easy one.