The Architects

by Stefan Heym, Peter Hutchinson (Foreword)

Written between 1963 and 1966, when its publication would have proved to be political dynamite—and its author's undoing— The Architects of political intrigue and personal betrayal takes readers into the German Democratic Republic in the late 1950s, shortly after Khruschev's "secret speech" denouncing Stalin and his methods brought about a "thaw" in the Soviet bloc and, with it, the release of many victims of Stalinist brutality. Among these is Daniel, a Communist exile from Hitler who has been accused of treachery while in Moscow and who now returns to Germany after years of imprisonment. A brilliant architect, he is taken on by his former colleague, Arnold Sundstrom, who was in exile in Moscow as well but somehow fared better. He is now in fact the chief architect for the World Peace Road being built by the GDR. In Daniel, Arnold's young wife Julia finds the key that will unlock the dark secret of her husband's success and of her own parents' deaths in Moscow-and will undermine the very foundation on which she has built her life. A novel of exquisite suspense, romance, and drama, The Architects is also a window on a harrowing period of history that its author experienced firsthand-and that readers would do well to remember today.

Genres: Fiction, German Literature, Germany, Novels, Ebooks

327 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Jake Goretzki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up in Daunt books in Marylebone, seeing a pile of copies of it superbly merch'd on a table in the corner, emblazoned with TLS quotes about its brilliance.

What a peculiar choice for a reprint. At best, it's an interesting GDR artifact, set in a pretty fascinating period (post *that* 1956 speech). At points, it has the potential of a low level thriller. It's also obviously strong on the public vs private, the tight political game of favourite and out-of-favour and the ghastly charade of socialist realism.

So far, so good.

What I struggled with was the morality. Stefan Heym isn't satirising or trying to deflate the overarching idea. Stalin's bad, sure - and, comrades, awful things were done by him. But the revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat - that's fine. Forget ye not: this writer went back to the GDR. All of which left me cold and actually irritated me at times for its careful posturing and, frankly, hypocrisy.

Odd on the language front too. He wrote it in English, but it's full of idiosyncratic Germanisms that soon set you bemoaning an imagined sloppy translater. 'Mishmash' instead of 'chitchat'; 'no skin off my back'; 'stop yammering', etc. Ganz komisch.

[Angela Kitchen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't finish this.... The potential was there but in the end I did not care about it

[Umberto Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ein definitiv gutes Buch, dass mich aber nicht abholt. Obwohl inhaltlich und historisch bedeutsam, bleibt es erzählerisch irgendwie auf der Strecke. ich weiß nicht, ob mir seine Charaktere immer zu holzschnittartig sind, oder irgendwas anderes, aber schon bei "Schwarzenberg" ist mir aufgefallen, dass es irgendwas gibt, was ich nicht mag. Dies ist aber subjektiv, sollte auch als dieses gewertet werden und niemanden abhalten, dieses Buch zu lesen.

Immerhin ist die mangelnde Entstalinisierung ein wesentlicher Faktor für den Untergang der DDR. Das nicht Aufbrechen mit dem großen Mann, der top-down Sozialismus, vor allem aber die deutsche Spießigkeit haben die Reformen verhindert, die letztendlich der Anfang vom Ende dieses friedlichen Deutschlands waren.

[Kathi S · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy the story and the theme of architecture in it. But i absolutly hated the very last page of the book and what conclusion we got there.

[Alexandra]

Dnf

[Val · Rating 2 out of 5]

The novel is set in the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (German Democratic Republic or East Germany). The characters in it are a team of architects working to rebuild post war Berlin. There is a lot of discussion of what type of architecture is politically correct for a socialist republic, which shows that every decision had a political element at that time.
There is a lot of sexual and professional jealousy among this so-called team and an historical incident dating back to when the older architects were working in the Soviet Union after fleeing Nazi Germany.

[Malcolmaffleck · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are at all interested in what life would have been like in the GDR (East Germany before the fall of the Cold War) then you should give this book a read. It's a love square between 4 different architects set slightly before and after Kruschev's speech denouncing the Stalinist regime with the 4 architects taking different aspects of the socialist state - whether they are people who profess to agree with the positions of the regime for status and power, or have been imprisoned in Russian Concentration Camps and can see some of the hypocrisy of the regime.

At times, it does seem like there will be a very large denouement by the end of the story, but the reason why Laura's parents and Wollin were imprisoned in Russia are very small and commonplace - which is probably more true to life. The reason why it doesn't get 5 stars is that some of the characterisation runs a little odd - to get the plot going some of the characters act in ways that are slightly out of sorts.

Still, a fascinating read into ideas about architecture and living in a Communist state.

[John Henderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find it difficult to explain why I liked this book. I suppose it comes down to the political intrigues and descriptions of communist GDR. I did find some of the architectural stuff a little boring but on balance I am glad I continued to read.

[Linda Mcbain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating historical novel about 1950s East Germany a period of history I knew little about. Difficult to emphasise with any of the characters though - bit frustrating.

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very hard going - I almost gave up after struggling to get into it.

[Aletta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beklemmende roman over hoe het wereldbeeld kantelde in Oost-Duitsland 1956, voor maar vooral na de toespraak van Chroetsjov verteld door de levens van 4 architecten