Link: living with the Stasi

[tree_and_leaf]

Thoughtful reflection on living under surveillance and on East Germany, by Neal Ascherson:

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2030955,00.html

Comments

[greenwoodside.livejournal.com]

Excellent article. Thank you for linking to it!

[tree_and_leaf]

Glad you enjoyed.

[aervir.livejournal.com]

That's indeed a marvellous article. Thanks a lot for the link! (And I still haven't seen The Lives of Others, shame on me...)

[tree_and_leaf]

It sounds an interesting film - I'm hoping it will turn up over here, but German films can be a bit hard to track down over here.

[aervir.livejournal.com]

As it's an Oscar-winning pictures, some arthouse cinemas like the Phoenix Picture-house should probably show it.

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

A fascinating article - thank you.

[tree_and_leaf]

Glad you found it intersting. I do find East Germany very interesting, although possibly in a sslightly morbid way.

[eagles-rock.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this; just makes me feel grateful that I've never had to face that sort of test of my integrity, or been placed in a bad situation due to some foolishness as a teenager.

I am reminded of the Republic of Ireland, where now can be commemorated soldiers who fought for Britain in WWI, and The Queen can be played at Croke Park. It's been a long slow haul; which has not really started yet in the North. I know that's not a complete analogy, but the wounds will take years to heal, and whole generations may have to pass on before detachment is possible. The ending of relationships after the hated regime has been replaced - such a terrible waste.

[tree_and_leaf]

That's an interesting comparison; and yes, it will take a deal of time before E. German society recovers. There's something peculiarly horrible about discovering someone you trusted, even only partially, betrayed you, and when it's someone you were close to. It's also horrible to imagine being put in a position where you had to choose whether to comply and spy, or to refuse, and risk - well, considerable unpleasantness.

Of course, it's also very bad for a society to be dominated by fear and suspicion: the former E. is still a very frightened and distrustful place, by and large (notwithstanding that there are some fine people there).

[eagles-rock.livejournal.com]

I appear to have lost al control of English in my first reply. Sorry.

Have you seen placet? It's an HP/Wimsey crossover. Just in case it amuses you.

[tree_and_leaf]

I wouldn't have said so - I understood, it, and I've just frazzled my brain by trying to copy-edit and listen to Radio 3 being Dramatic at the same time.

I saw placet earlier today - came up on a fic newsletter. Quite fun, though I have serious difficulty believing Snape/ anyone these days, and especially Snape/ Lupin...

I once vaguely remember reading a long fic which seemed to suggest, in a throwaway reference, that Diane de Momerie was a witch (or possibly a Squib) who had gone off the rails. It was a Draco/ Hermione, and featured an Anglo-Catholic Draco who was a fan of Harriet Vane (i.e., I would be forced to describe it as majorly OOC - though it must have been pre-OOTP at least - but it had some points of interest none the less...)

[harriet-wimsey.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow, what an amazing article! Our family had a good friend who was West German, and I remember understanding quite clearly about the two Germanies, and the police state presence on the other side of the wall. It's hard to believe I was only 7 when the wall came down.

[tree_and_leaf]

It is really hard to imagine what it would be like to live in a society like that - and I hope none of us ever find out.