Christa Wolf's In the Flesh: or, why Case Histories wasn't such a bad choice after all

My review of Christa Wolf's novel In the Flesh can be found on the new-look Ready Steady Book.

The review was written before the Lit Blog Co-Op controversy over the choice of Kate Atkinson's Case Histories for its first Read This! choice and The Complete Review's subsequent revelation that Wolf's novel was its nomination. Unfortunately, due to an administrative mix-up by an unnamed third party, it got lost. So here it is, four months late.

What I didn't say explicitly in the review, I shall say here: In the Flesh is one of the worst novels I have ever read.

While the greatest living writer of German (Peter Handke) is treated with scandalous neglect by English-language publishers, this edition adds insult to that injury.