just finished stasiland

thank yooo sqodger for the eventual lend.
i am now reading this interview with anna funder, author of stasiland.
and i have to share this quote with you.

Well, here’s a bizarre fact that I didn’t put in the book. I’d long been fascinated by George Orwell’s work, but I resisted reading 1984 until I finished the manuscript for Stasiland. After that, I devoured it, and I couldn’t believe Orwell’s prescience. When I went into Mielke’s office, I saw it had the number 101, which in 1984 is the number of the torture chamber. 1984 was banned in the G.D.R. but of course, Mielke and Honecker had access to banned material. The guide told me that Mielke wanted this number so much that even though his office was on the 2nd floor, he had the entire first floor renamed the Mezzanine so that he could call his room 101.

in case you be as stasi-illiterate as i was...

mielke be the head of the stasi

the stasi be the secret service of East Germany or the GDR

now go read it ya lazy punk

xx