Sleepless Days: A Gripping East German Literary Drama of Political Awakening

by Jurek Becker

An East German schoolteacher is jolted into an awareness of his mortality by a seeming heart attack. The actions he takes afterword put him on a collision course with the state in which he has painlessly, if numbly, lived his life. The results, while harsh, are not unwelcome as he finds a new vitality in a world seen through new eyes.

Genres: German Literature, Fiction, Roman

138 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Jurek Becker (* vermutlich 30. September 1937 in Łódź, Polen als Jerzy Bekker geboren[1]; † 14. März 1997 in Sieseby, Schleswig-Holstein) war ein deutscher Schriftsteller, Drehbuchautor und DDR-Dissident.

Jurek Becker (probably September 30, 1937 – March 14, 1997) was a Polish-born German writer, film-author and GDR dissident. His most famous novel is Jacob the Liar, which has been made into two films. He lived in Łódź during World War II for about two years and survived the Holocaust.

Reviews

[Frizzo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ein bisschen "on the nose", aber ich habe es trotzdem ganz gerne gelesen.

[Marcus Aurelius · Rating 5 out of 5]

A novel that indeed manifests itself as a quiet sadness.

A man of about 36 years feels a sudden pain in his chest. What seems like physical distress at first reveals itself as an existential suffering, a fear of not being oneself, and the inhibitions of unfreedom in Germany's East. This short piece tries to bring us along the protagonist's path, his journey, of discovering himself (at best). But the most that it could achieve is the old Conradian realization that one lives like one dreams -- alone.

Therein lies the power of the novel: What does it take to change something, or even just oneself? Can one achieve it even at all, can one perform the action necessary, can one tilt at windmills? -- For its attempt to convey the melancholy of such endeavors, it remains a great book.

[Laszlo]

"Ich habe getan, dachte er, als sei es nicht meine Sache, mich gegen Bevormundung und Ungerechtigkeiten aufzulehnen. Und das bedeutet: Ich habe mich nicht zuständig gefühlt für mich selbst."

Dürfte das erste Werk eines DDR-Schriftstellers über die DDR sein, das ich gelesen habe. Spannend.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Literature from the DDR is always interesting, and Becker's short novel is no exception. This book is sad, yet somehow gratifying. The steady courage and determination of Simrock, as he battles a cold and distant regime, makes us admire him. The result is a warm-hearted story, easy to like and admire.

[vulvicwater · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2 sterne eher
ging spannend los, hat mich dann irgendwann etwas verloren (irgendwann dachte ich nur noch: ist halt ein mann); zwischenzeitlich ganz interessante & nachvollziehbare gedankengänge;

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 3 out of 5]

2½

[Erica]

sometimes you pick up a book you've never heard of written by someone you've never heard of and it's worth it. an above-average book but not exemplary. still, inoffensive and easy to read

[Erwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25

[Virendra Mistry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sleepless Days centres on the life of Karl Simrock, an East German teacher, who rejects all the values by which he has lived - job, the state, his wife and family. The course of his rebellion is subtle and Becker reflects this rebellion against the somnambulistic obedience of the people around him, with the exception of Antonia Kramm - a woman who breaks her silence and rails against the state apparatus. Sleepless Days has a Kafka-esque quality - a story of a man helpless against a bureaucracy that is more crushing than the pain in the chest, which the protagonist experiences at the beginning of the story.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fascinating novel by Jurek Becker. A real portrait of East Germany, not the overwrought western fantasy of Das Leben der Anderen.

[Vorgedacht · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karl lebt couragiert, nimmt die Konsequenzen in Kauf und reagiert mit Belustigung und Humor. Ein großes Buch!