Zwölf Jahre

by Joel Agee

Joel Agee, the son of James Agee, was raised for twelve years in East Germany, where his stepfather, the novelist Bodo Uhse, was a member of the privileged communist intelligentsia. This is the story of how young Joel failed to become a good communist, becoming instead a fine writer."A wonderfully evocative memoir. . . . Agee evoked for me the atmosphere of postwar Berlin more vividly than the actual experience of it—and I was there." —Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times"One of those rare personal memoirs that brings to life a whole country and an epoch." —Christopher Isherwood"Twelve Years consists of a series of finely honed anecdotes written in a precise, supple prose rich with sensual detail." —David Ghitelman, Newsday"By turns poetic and picturesque, Agee energetically catalogues his expatriate passage to manhood with a pinpoint eye and a healthy American distaste for pretension. . . . Huckleberry Finn would have . . . welcomed [him] as a soulmate on the raft." —J. D. Reed, Time"A triumph. . . . Unfettered by petty analysis or quick explanations, a story that is timeless and ageless and vital." —Robert Michael Green, Baltimore Sun

Genres: Memoir, Germany, History

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Christopher Newton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this so much. Beautifully written memoir of growing up in East Germany in the 1950's. It seems to have been surprisingly like growing up in San Mateo in the 1950s. Same teenage obsessions with girls, trying to figure what matters in the world, sex, fitting into school society, girls, and, oh yes, sex.

[Neil Pierson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a remarkably detailed account of the author's adolescent years. His stepfather returned to East Germany after World War II and edited a literary journal. He was a true believer in Communism. His mother was a Jewish American. Their family was relatively privileged in the supposedly classless DDR.

The author himself was a dreamy boy, very smart--he consulted Ovid for advice on wooing girls--and a wretched student. The family's attempts to improve his academic performance are among the more interesting parts of the book.

There are occasional glimpses of the devotion, ironic humor, exasperation, and fear with which the citizens of East Germany regarded their clumsy, scolding government. But mostly, it's just the growing pains of a teenage boy--therapeutic for the author but of limited interest to the reader.

[Michal Crum · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really was exactly what I needed to get a snapshot of this decade in the history of the GDR. Thankful for an English memoir of a childhood. More sexual coming-of-age stuff than I wanted, but a good read nonetheless.

[Benjamin Thomas Sutpen]

http://sensemania.blogspot.com/2008/0...

[Mark Coovelis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Profoundly moving. A tour de force of memory and imagination.

[Michelle Barker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strongly written but the emphasis was on boyhood rather than on East Germany, which was too bad. I would have liked more setting and less teenaged angst.