Thanks for your honest and in-depth review! I agree with most of what you said but found some of the subthemes related to the formation of the GDR and the initial socialist dream and the whole idea of a country simply not existing from one day to the next interesting. The love story was monstrous and because taking up most of the narrative, masking the more interesting aspects. The mass of cultural/historical/political content was indigestible, especially for non-German readers. Having read it in both languages, I feel it is an excellent translation.
