Product Description
Provocative and hilarious, Heroes Like Us was the first novel to comment on the downfall of East Germany by an author who had grown up with the Berlin Wall. Klaus Uhltzscht, born in 1968 in East Germany, grows up across the street from the Ministry of State Security, and he is inspired early on to do his share to win the Cold War. Naturally he joins the Secret Police, but his glorious career as an international agent never materializes. Instead, he spends countless hours keeping his fellow citizens under close surveillance -- never quite sure what he is looking for. Frustrated on all counts, Klaus’s life is changed only when a strange accident in the fall of 1989 dramatically alters the size of his penis.
Amazon.com Review
The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, and according to KlausUhltzscht, hero of German author Thomas Brussig's novel, HeroesLike Us, he was responsible. Klaus feels responsible for a lot ofthings, not the least of which is his parents' happiness. It is toplease his father--an agent with the notorious East German secretpolice, the Stasi--that Klaus himself joins up. Once there, he hasserious doubts about whether his Stasi is the genuine articleor just a decoy to distract attention from the Stasi for which hisfather works. When the Wall finally falls, Klaus worries that hisactivities will be distorted in the Western press, so he decides tounburden himself to Oscar Kitzelstein, a New York Timescorrespondent. The darkly ribald, satirical tale Klaus tells inHeroes Like Us marks the strong debut of an important new voicein the postcommunist literary world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Readers like us
I started studying Germany a few years ago, including the DDR and some of its history.

This book is an entertaining fictional story set in East Germany in the 1980s for the most part. Considering the typical american doesn't have any idea what is was like "behind the iron curtain," and because I am interested in the DDR, the setting for the story was extremely well-suited for me.
Besides that, being a liberal young male helped also, as the protagontist Klaus explains his every thought on growing up, puberty and misunderstandings about those subjects that are gradually straightened out as he gets older.
His obsessive thoughts and little over-explanitory details get a bit tiresome as the story progresses (the story is written in the 1st person), but I was laughing a lot while reading this one. Very entertaining and unique.

thomas brussig gets real
a fine newish book from germany.... brussig has a similar bite to philip roth... facing real issues especially the german fear of being german....

Oustandingly funny and brilliant!
I laughed from page 2 to the last.Brussig is an imaginative and talented writer that truly knows the meaning of satire.If you like dark humor and cynicism, then this book is for you.

Be aware that if you can't handle"penis talk" then you definitely should not read this.TheGerman version is equally as good, and likewise the translation is quiteaccurate.

reading this book you cannot stop laughing
Originally I gave "Heroes like us" to my stepfather, because Ithought it was about the term of history he has lived in, and so he wouldbe interested in a witty story about East Germany. But when he read he wasso enthusiastic about it that he could not give it away. I immediately took the book and did not wonder any more about his reaction. The slightlyironic style of Thomas Brussig took possession of me. The action mainlytakes place in the area where I was born and so I could comprehend how"hero" Klaus experiences his surroundings. But I think for anyother reader this book will also bring perfect entertainment and betterunderstanding of "life in the DDR".

An excellent story of East Germany, the falling of the Wall
For anyone interested in life on a day to day basis in the DDR, this is the book. An insight into the working of the infamous Stasi, in a very humorous tone. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Laughter Behind the Iron Curtain
Though Thomas Brussig belongs to the post-Wende generation of German writers who satirize the Ostalgie (nostalgia about the "good ol' days" of life behind the iron curtain in East Germany), his Heroes Like Us stands out in the torrents of funny stories about life in the DDR. In his sober survey of socialist realism, Brussig has a particular sense of humor as he mixes the serious (propaganda) with the improbably comedic circumstances. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Delivery
The delivey of this product is unbelievably slow. I ordered it over a month ago and i still have not received this book.

how cute can East Berlin be?
Brussig's novel is a wonderful instance of self-conscious "Ostalgie."Here we have a group of teenage boys growing up, quite literally, in the shadow of the Berlin Wall and wanting nothing more than to get out and be free (to listen to the Rolling Stones). Ultimately though, there is no way for them to possibly escape, because what they want to leave is their home and their past - things that will always be part of them and that have made them who they are. A cynic could claim that Sonnenallee attempts to romanticize Stasi surveillance and the repression of the GDR, but it seems from my readings that it instead romanticizes the past in general.In the end, we all miss our home town... even if we never want to go back.

The novel itself is part school-novel, part teenage romance, and part everything else.Quite postmodern in its inter-relation to music and film (not to mention the Haussmann film starring Alex Scheer), it is a very enjoyable read.Even intermediate German students should be able to read it with little difficulty.I reserved the final star only because it's a little too short, in my opinion, to really reach beyond "cute" or "novel accompanying hit film" and make an interesting statement about our relationship with our past.

I highly recommend this novel to all... hopefully a translation will appear soon for the Anglo/American audience (I know at least one person working on one, but who knows if it'll be published). ... Read more

Product Description
Die Wenderomane "Helden wie wir" von Thomas Brussigund "Nox" von Thomas Hettche nehmen bei derliterarischen Verarbeitung des Mauerfalls am 9.November 1989 eine besondere Rolle ein: Die beiden1995 veröffentlichten Werke sind als Gegenentwurfzur offiziellen Geschichtsschreibung zu verstehen,da sie gegen die medial präsente Realität des 9.Novembers anschreiben. Die politisch-historischenEreignisse und die Metaphorik von Wende, Teilung undVereinigung kommentieren die Romane durch die ThemenKörperlichkeit, Sexualität und Perversion.In "Helden wie wir" wird die Wende als Geschichteeiner sexuellen Befreiung mittels Witz und Ironieerzählt. In "Nox" wird die Wende als Geschichte desSchmerzes und der Wunde mittels einer Ästhetik desHässlichen und einer düsteren Vision präsentiert.Die vorliegende Arbeit erläutert zunächst denBegriff der Gegengeschichtsschreibung. Daranschließteine Einordnung der Romane an, die die offiziellePerspektive in den Medien und die andere Sichtweiseder Literatur vorstellt. Es folgt eine detaillierteTextanalyse beider Werke anhand ihrer provokantenPositionen bei der Sicht auf Wende und Mauerfall. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from World Literature Today, published by University of Oklahoma on June 22, 1996. The length of the article is 564 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Helden wie wir.
Author: Robert Schwartz
Publication: World Literature Today (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 1996
Publisher: University of Oklahoma
Volume: v70Issue: n3Page: p681(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from World Literature Today, published by University of Oklahoma on September 22, 2000. The length of the article is 609 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Am kurzeren Ende der Sonnenallee.(Review)(Brief Article)
Author: Ulf Zimmermann
Publication: World Literature Today (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 2000
Publisher: University of Oklahoma
Volume: 74Issue: 4Page: 849

Article Type: Book Review, Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more