Cassandra: Amazon.ca: Christa Wolf: Books

Product Description

In this volume, the distinguished East German writer Christa Wolf retells the story of the fall of Troy, but from the point of view of the woman whose visionary powers earned her contempt and scorn. Written as a result of the author's Greek travels and studies, Cassandra speaks to us in a pressing monologue whose inner focal points are patriarchy and war. In the four accompanying pieces, which take the form of travel reports, journal entries, and a letter, Wolf describes the novel's genesis. Incisive and intelligent, the entire volume represents an urgent call to examine the past in order to insure a future.

About the Author

In 1980 East German author Christa Wolf took a trip to Greece accompanied by her husband, Gerhard. In 1982 she was awarded a guest lectureship at the University of Frankfurt, where in May she delivered a series of five "Lectures on Poetics" relating to her Greek travels and studies. The fifth "lecture" was ad raft of the novel Cassandra, which she then revised and expanded for publication. The four introductory lectures were published separately in Germany under the title Conditions of a Narrative: Cassandra; The Frankfurt Lectures on Poetics (Voraussetzungen einer Erzählung: Kassandra). This volume presents the novel first, followed by its companion lectures, which illuminate its background and implications.

Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
It was here. This is where she stood. Read the first page

Explore More
Concordance

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

Tag this product

(What's this?)

Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.

Customer Reviews

13 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

3.7 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Nostalgic, wistful, absorbing, breathtaking, July 16 2004

By

A. Dani "Roomtrader" (Lubbock, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Cassandra (Paperback)

Cassandra by Christa Wolf is a quite difficult (at times frighteningly difficult) work, but a proper understanding allowed me to remain absorbed in the plot. The style is a classic stream of conscience, quite possibly the reason why this book is so demanding. There have been allegations that Wolf is an elitist, that she cares only for the "happy few", which is partially true considering that you have to have read Homer's famous epic poem Iliad.Otherwise, it will be difficult to keep up. Moreover, even if you have read the Iliad, you'll probably still be lost at times. The thing I like about Wolf's Cassandra is that it is a very detailed and a very thoughtful first person narrative. And for those who are fascinated by ancient Greek or Roman cultures, there is an added bonus because the book is written as if it is viewed by a "doomed prophet" named Cassandra. I suggest that right-wing chauvinists keep away from this book because of Wolf's feminist inclination: Cassandra is always right while the mostly masculine rulers overlook her warnings about the coming doom. Besides, she's antiwar.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

1.0 out of 5 stars Wrong..., Jan 29 2004

By

Jeremy Davies (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cassandra (Paperback)

Forced to read this book due to a third year literature course, and being a lover of great literature as well as 'fireside' reads, I got some chuckles from the 'elitist' ramblings of other reviewers regarding the complexity and importance of this book. I agree that anyone who doesn't 'get it' when it comes to this book - particularly after reading all the exegetical text that goes with the story - must be a little simple; Wolf's narrative touch is a subtle as a poorly wielded jaw-bone. This is such horrid revisionism and politically motivated story-telling as to make a thinking reader retch. Wolf dips her toes into Aeschylus' ocean of ideas, shrinks back from the cold, and retreats to the comfort of the sand. If the writings of the Ancient Greeks are considered misogynist (which I don't believe), then this text, judged by similar standards, is misandrist to the point of mania; I mean, the archetype for the modern misandrist novel is to make the central male figure incompetent, sexually disfuntional, emotionally disfuntional, ugly/sleezy, hate-filled, bitter and compulsively obsessed. This is almost a how-to book; 'An Idiot's Guide to Writing A Misandrist Novel'.

Having said all that, Wolf is certainly not a poor writer; her craftsmanship is excellent. The characters she chooses to portray more than one dimensionally are vividly drawn. If the type of book described above is up your literary alley - and there is a market for this type of book, unforunately - then you'll really enjoy it.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

5.0 out of 5 stars Prophetic on many levels, Feb 20 2001

By

Edward Shaw (Manchester, CT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cassandra (Paperback)

Anyone so fixated on this narrative that they don't spend the entire time picking apart the metaphor only proves how engrossing this story really is. How can anyone miss the allusion to communist East Germany in Wolf's use of Troy, which Homer called the walled-city? How can anyone fail to see Wolf herself as the real Cassandra who published this novel BEFORE the fall of the Berlin Wall? How can anyone who reads the opening passage not be unnerved by Cassandra's last prophecy that her captor, Agamemnon, will find his own end when he finally returns home (especially anyone who follows the news of increasing right-wing violence in the reunified Germany)? Yes, there is something of a dispassionate voice in the narrator, but this is the voice of disheartened resignation, knowing she can see all, yet influence nothing.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 13 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Want to see more reviews on this item?

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 17 reviews 3.6 out of 5 stars

Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars It's Literary. What do you expect?
At the risk of sounding somewhat elitist (if a high school student may call himself that), I have the distinct feeling that many highly critical reviewers of Cassandra have either... Read more

Published on Dec 1 2000 by suppliciter

5.0 out of 5 stars Cassandra
I have to admit that I had some difficulties in reading this book in the first place. Christa Wolf uses a very stylised language which is not easy to understand although it sounds... Read more

Published on Mar 30 2000 by Friederike Kaufel