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Description

The Land of Green Plums is the story of a group of young people in Nicolae Ceausescu's Romania. Having left their impoverished villages for University in search of education and camaraderie, yet largely unprepared for urban life by their provincial childhoods, the youths quickly find their... read more

Summary

Five Romanian youths under the Ceausescu regime are the focus of this moving depiction of the struggle to become adults who keep "eyes wide open and tightly shut at the same time." Through the suicide of a mutual friend, the unnamed narrator a young woman studying to become a translator meets... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Cast of Characters

  • Edgar: Friend of Lola's.
  • Lola: A poor girl from Romania.
  • Kurt: Friend of Lola's.
  • Georg: Friend of Lola's.

Memorable Quotes

  • “You think you're innocent, but no one gets beaten up without cause.”
  • “And then I have the feeling that whenever someone dies he leaves behind a sack of words.”

First Sentence

When we don't speak, said Edgar, we become unbearable, and when we do, we make fools of ourselves.

Authors & Contributors

  1. Herta Muller (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. Michael Hofman (Translator)
 

More Books Like This

   
  • The Appointment: A Novel
  • The Passport (Masks)
  • Traveling on One Leg
  • Nadirs (European Women Writers)

Books with Additional Background Information

   
  • Body and Narrative in Contemporary Literatures in German: Herta Muller, Libuse Monikova, and Kerstin Hensel (Oxford Modern Languages and Literature Monographs)

Books That Influenced This Book

List the books that influenced this book.


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