[ An] intriguing and thought-provoking study . . . -- Stephen Brockmann * MONATSHEFTE * From the starting-point of Honecker's Taboo speech in December 1971, Blankenship demonstrates how Plenzdorf, Heiduczek, Wolf, Müller, Muthesius, and Hein use the subversive potential of intertextual references to portrayals of suicide by authors who belong, according to culture-political doctrine, to the 'classical heritage' (Goethe, Thomas Mann, Shakespeare) or are excluded from it (Günderrode, Kleist). . . . Indicates the potential that the topic 'suicide' still holds in GDR literature. -- Paul Onasch * GERMANISTIK * Blankenship's exclusive focus on the literariness of GDR fiction and his dedication to appreciating this literature for its aesthetic value not only offer new insights into the texts he examines, but foster a better understanding of GDR literary history more generally. * GERMAN STUDIES REVIEW * Blankenship's thesis that fictional suicides enable the transmission of a cultural counter-memory in East German literature is suggestive and produces some provocative insights . . . . * GERMAN QUARTERLY * The outcomes of Blankenship's sequence of analyses are, for the most part, very impressive. * JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN STUDIES * [ A] valuable book. Blankenship is extremely knowledgeable, both on modern and older literature, as well as in the area of literary theory. His major aim to point to the literary qualities of GDR literature, or at least of selected works, is laudable as a counter to the tendency to dismiss every aspect of that now vanished country. * JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN STUDIES] * [ I]ntellectually stimulating . . . . This study serves as a welcome complement to the understanding of fictional suicides as a realistic response to the dilemmas of everyday life under a Communist dictatorship. * SLAVONIC AND EASTERN EUROPEAN REVIEW *