Activity

Hermann Kant wants to give up the presidency of the Writers’ Union, but it seems better for everyone — they take soundings — that he stay on as titular head, and five deputies do the work, instead of waiting for a new president to be appointed by Erich Honecker. And apropos Honecker, how long will …

Sometimes, she says, I think that what Hans calls truth doesn’t even exist anymore.

Or it’s just not in the place where he’s looking, says Rosa.

Maybe, says Katharina.

I’m wondering, says Katharina, if I even know what I want. If I want anything anymore. If I exist. Isn’t that how you tell…

[...] He said, what if she just serves up a fresh helping of lies, now that she’s gotten in the habit of deceiving him? She hears the snick of the lighter, then he comes back to bed, and lies down beside her. This morning, while shaving, he felt a little lump on his neck. If this was bad television…

At her mother’s, Katharina stands plaintively at the window, then her mother tells her about a boyfriend she had who had treated her badly just after her separation with Katharina’s father. Very badly. Her weight was down to 115 pounds. And what was I doing at the time? You were with me, says her m…

Did it take his discovery to open her eyes to the monster she truly is? Would she otherwise have carried on with the relationship in Frankfurt, as Hans claims? She doesn’t believe so, but now that the circumstances have changed, she can’t prove it. A monster? Hans laughed at her name for herself, n…