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Meike Ulrike Stein

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Saarbrücken, Saarland, Germany

https://www.goodreads.com/meikereads

Meike Stein ist eine deutsche Journalistin und Literaturkritikerin. Nach ihrem Magisterabschluss in Medien-, Politik- und Anglistischer Literaturwissenschaft und einem Zertifikatsabschluss in Internationalem Journalismus in den USA hat sie ein trimediales Volontariat beim Norddeutschen Rundfunk in Hamburg absolviert. Zusammen mit Robin Schneevogt und Anika Falke betreibt sie "Papierstau Podcast", außerdem ist sie freie Mitarbeiterin bei SR Kultur und Referentin der Landesregierung. Und weil man auf einem M.A. bekanntlich nicht stehen kann, hat sie auch noch einen Master in Neuerer deutscher Literatur und ein Jurastudium beendet. Meike Stein ist eine deutsche Journalistin und Literaturkritikerin. Nach ihrem Magisterabschluss in Medien-, Politik- und Anglistischer Literaturwissenschaft und einem Zertifikatsabschluss in Internationalem Journalismus in den USA hat sie ein trimediales Volontariat beim Norddeutschen Rundfunk in Hamburg absolviert. Zusammen mit Robin Schneevogt und Anika Falke betreibt sie "Papierstau Podcast", außerdem ist sie freie Mitarbeiterin bei SR Kultur und Referentin der Landesregierung. Und weil man auf einem M.A. bekanntlich nicht stehen kann, hat sie auch noch einen Master in Neuerer deutscher Literatur und ein Jurastudium beendet. ...more

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**Meike**rated a book really liked it Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
Aaaahh, this is one more novel that's fun to discuss on the content level, but it's even more fun to incorporate the reception, because once more, people can't differentiate between a character and the author, and between the message of the book and Aaaahh, this is one more novel that's fun to discuss on the content level, but it's even more fun to incorporate the reception, because once more, people can't differentiate between a character and the author, and between the message of the book and the convictions of its protagonist: Is it an increasing phenomenon that readers need books to spell it out to them what to think? Half His Age and Yesteryear really make the BookTok crowd (and some GR reviewers) look bad. So let's dive into this rant: Burke's novel is told from the perspective of Natalie, a young woman studying at Harvard who was raised with conservative religious views. Of course she marries young, and although she longs for success and recognition and her husband Caleb dreams of a career that involves raising and educating children, she is convinced that these urges are shameful and impossible. Hence, Caleb, son of a wealthy politician, is gaslit into becoming a farmer in rural Idaho, where Natalie becomes a famous tradwife influencer cosplaying the prairie lifestyle while employing two nannies and a social media manager. While alienated and lonely Caleb disappears into online manosphere rabbit holes, Natalie gets lost in her projection that "angry women" like her former college roommate Reena, who tries to survive in the corporate world, hate her because they envy her. Interwoven with this narrative, we get a second timeline where Natalie finds herself living the authentic prairie lifestyle ca. 1850, and it's dire. So the novel tackles several themes: The couple at the center are raised with a toxic worldview that robs them of the possibility to live a lifestyle authentic to their true selves. Caleb is a failure in the eyes of his overbearing, ambitious father and his wife because he does not conform to the idea of success as determined by reactionary masculinity, and Natalie is such an intriguing narrator because her anger is directed at everyone and everything outside herself while she tries to have her cake and eat it: Be a "good Christian woman" with many children and a wealthy, highly regarded entrepreneur. Meanwhile, Reena is struggling as a woman in the corporate world, and Natalie's social media manager, a young, naive college student who, like many of her peers, has long realized that girl boss feminism is a hoax, gets disillusioned when she realizes that Natalie's online presence is just another kind of grift, a business model exploiting the disappointment and sadness of women. And let me just say that when things go South in the story, it's not the wealthy, influential males who receive the blame. It's a riddle to me how one can possibly read this as an attack on stay-at-home moms, or as a book that puts all the blame on Natalie or that the author hates her protagonist or to complain that Natalie is both a victim and a perpetrator (God forbid: nuance!!) or that there are two (in numbers: 2!!!!) timelines. Natalie is trapped in a toxic mindset, one that sees her in a role that's not fit for her: A submissive wife, a mother, a farmer. What we read is her psychological reaction to this, one that keeps her in a constant loop of convincing herself that her life choices are the only morally correct ones, and thus this miserable woman also becomes an abuser herself. Love is replaced with moral grandstanding, religion becomes a weapon of control and judgement. And most importantly: All women we encounter in this book are forced to play a game that's stacked against them: The corporate hamster wheel is brutal, the fake digital worlds are making us crazy, and the good Christian submissive wife life is a nightmare. Do you want to be fully dependent on the capitalist market economy, or on a man? Sounds shitty either way, but in one case, you have more freedom of choice and independence. Instagram escapism is generally not alleviating the pain though regarding what we all know as "adulting" in the polycrisis that is the 21st century. Tragically, there is no female solidarity in the world the book shows us. This is a fun book to read and to talk about - sure, it suffers from some debut flaws, but I went into this with a German contribution to the tradwife topic in my mind: Heimat was a debacle. This is so much smarter!You can now listen to the podcast gang discussing the German translation (also titled "Yesteryear") here: https://papierstaupodcast.de/podcast/... ...more
12 hours, 6 min ago · 130 likes · like · see review
Meike made a comment onher reviewofDie Ärzte. 100 Seiten. Die Ärzte. 100 Seiten. by Stephan Rehm Rozanes "Christian wrote: "Die Texte von "Die Ärzte" - insbesondere von Farin - gehören zu den besten der deutschen Popmusik. Schade, dass sich da kein guter B _Christian wrote: "Die Texte von "Die Ärzte" - insbesondere von Farin - gehören zu den besten der deutschen Popmusik. Schade, dass sich da kein guter Biograf findet. Das "Meerschwein" besticht eher durch das große Fo..."_Das "Meerschwein" lebt ja von der Megalomanie, die Buchtour dazu durch Kinosäle war auch so ein Wahnsinn (und ein Riesenspaß). Das "Buch ä" ist ziemlich gut, und wahrscheinlich gibt es zu den Ärzten mittlerweile auch wissenschaftliche Abhandlungen, müsste man mal checken. Aber ich stimme Dir dennoch zu: Ich würde so gerne Autobiografien von BelaFarinRod lesen!! ...more"
12 hours, 15 min ago · see review
**Meike**rated a book liked it Die Prozesse by Marius Goldhorn Die Prozesse by Marius Goldhorn Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
Now Winner of the Literaturpreis der deutschen Wirtschaft 2026No one:Goldhorn: Kracht's 1979 - let's work it out on the remix! Listen, there are a lot of young authors who take hints from Christian Kracht, but in this case, it's particularly blatant: Now Winner of the Literaturpreis der deutschen Wirtschaft 2026No one:Goldhorn: Kracht's 1979 - let's work it out on the remix! Listen, there are a lot of young authors who take hints from Christian Kracht, but in this case, it's particularly blatant: It's Goldhorn's remix of Kracht's novel about the ruinous effects of Western decadence and the often disastrous wish to believe in something, 1979. In "Die Prozesse", we get a gay couple, one of them, Ezra, with an unexplained sickness that presents in skin lesions ("1979": Christopher dies a martyr to hedonism with AIDS-adjacent stigmata on his skin), the other, the narrator (T.), is a German designer of digital landscapes (in "1979", the narrator is Christopher's partner and a German interior designer). In both cases, political turmoil erupts and the text plays with the juxtaposition of revolution vs. disappearance. Goldhorn wrote kind of the same novel and ran with it, straight to Kracht's publisher Kiepenheuer & Witsch - and it worked, chapeau! (Needless to say: Kracht is the way, way better author.) "1979" is starting with the couple experiencing the outbreak of the Iranian revolution in Teheran, "Die Prozesse" shows the couple experiencing rioters calling for revolution in Belgium in 2030: Coming back from the Thermae Palace Hotel, Ostend where the mold is badly hidden beneath a thin layer of paint (decaying Old Europe in a once glamorous location), Ezra and the narrator arrive in Brussels, which is about to celebrate the anniversary of Congo gaining independence from the Belgian colonizer 70 years before. The mayor is now Geneviève Kaninda, who does exist as a real person and is a lawyer and member of the Green Party of Congolese descent. The President of Congo is also present, and in the novel, it's Denis Mukwege, real-life winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. So is this Belgium moving in the right direction?While the ongoing rain is giving Biblical flood and God's vengeance, the EU has tried to prevent the post- and anti-colonial event which involves erecting ten million (!!!) wooden crosses in and around Brussels to remember the victims. Ultimately, the police in Anderlecht joins the rioters who demand an ending: "So many endings were demanded, whatever ending, the end of oppression, the end of the camps, the end of the war, the end of the world." ("So viele Enden wurden gefordert, irgendein Ende, das Ende der Unterdrückung, das Ende der Lager, das Ende des Krieges, das Ende der Welt.") The narrator doesn't connect to any political aims and just goes along ("1979"), and suddenly has to puke (Faserland), but he knows that he does not want to disappear: The extinction has to go extinct, he maintains. A commune is erected, the House of European History occupied. Then, there's a digital world: In the past, 36-year-old Ezra spent one month in a psychiatric facility, then changed his profile pic to the Angelus Novus (Walter Benjamin! The angel of history!) and writes online as Deborn about, well, human extinction, about the dream of solace in disappearance (there are countless papers on more or less all of Kracht's novels and how they relate to disappearance, especially "1979"). When Ezra/Deborn is attacked for his blog (of course, his eye is bleeding), the narrator and him flee to Northern Italy. The digital theme (to be fair: for obvious reasons not existent in "1979") is mirrored in the narrator's pursuit to design a weeping willow for a multiplayer online role-play game called Egregore which contains so-called Dions, NCPs who develop a culture of their own. And get this: Egregor, a non-physical entity or thoughtform that arises from the collective thoughts and emotions of a distinct group of individuals, is the Western counterpart to the Tibetan term Tulpa - "1979" of course leads us to Mount Kailash. Goldhorn is giving Taylor Swift-level Easter eggs for any Kracht stan.The protagonist is writing to help his own memory, he measures time by the chapters in the book we are reading, which is a great idea. Much like a novel I might have mentioned a couple of times already in this review, Goldhorn is concerned with the human wish to believe in something, anything, to join the revolution, which can be a form of disappearance as well - an alternative to actual disappearance. He shows two protagonists longing to escape the conditio humana while playing and sometimes inverting Kracht's ideas. The Middle Ages come up again and again, but not as the historical epoch, but as a projection surface, much like a digital counter world, a foil to mirror the present. The title trials are theater productions taking place in the commune and imitating due process in a court of law - justice has been replaced by a spectacle instead of Bashar al-Assad and Lothar von Trotha, actors are put under "damnation", a quasi-religious punishment. In the archives, history is re-written. So all in all, this is an ambitious political novel that remains interesting throughout, but the disturbing, innovative potential, almost 25 years after the publication of Kracht's founding text, is now very limited: Been there, done that. The longer the story goes on, the more it goes off the rails, and not in a good way: Thematically, it bit off more than it can ultimately chew.You can listen to the podcast gang discussing the book (in German) here: https://papierstaupodcast.de/podcast/... ...more
16 hours, 13 min ago · 52 likes · like · see review
Meike made a comment onher reviewofPerfection Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico "_Steve wrote: "First time I've seen pars pro toto..."_Every day, we learn something new, Steve! :-) _Steve wrote: "First time I've seen pars pro toto..."_Every day, we learn something new, Steve! :-) ...more"
18 hours, 20 min ago · see review
Meike made a comment onher reviewofTranscription Transcription by Ben Lerner "Cole wrote: "This is sublime— “The bass line of Lerner's novel is a timeless meditation on family and what it means to be a father, but it is amplifie _Cole wrote: "This is sublime— “The bass line of Lerner's novel is a timeless meditation on family and what it means to be a father, but it is amplified by the role of technology, what it can reveal and capture,..."_Thank you very much, Cole! ...more"
21 hours, 46 min ago · see review
**Meike**rated a book it was ok Die Ärzte. 100 Seiten. by Stephan Rehm Rozanes Die Ärzte. 100 Seiten. by Stephan Rehm Rozanes Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
Ich liebe Die Ärzte, ich bin mit ihnen aufgewachsen, kenne alle ihre Songs und habe die großen Biografien Die Ärzte: Ein überdimensionales Meerschwein frisst die Erde auf sowie Das Buch ä: Die von die ärzte autorisierte Biografie gelesen. Die Auswahl Ich liebe Die Ärzte, ich bin mit ihnen aufgewachsen, kenne alle ihre Songs und habe die großen Biografien Die Ärzte: Ein überdimensionales Meerschwein frisst die Erde auf sowie Das Buch ä: Die von die ärzte autorisierte Biografie gelesen. Die Auswahl der auf 100 Seiten komprimierten Fakten ist gar nicht schlecht (was bei der Masse der Informationen eine Leistung ist), aber die Sprache ist eine mittelschwere Katastrophe, und die Deutungsversuche von Songs und Entscheidungen der Band sind gerne mal fragwürdig. "Ätze gegen Ärzte", "Kein Ände in Sicht", "Äbrakadabra", Farin und Bela als "Chefärzte", "Kurt Co(ol)bain" - wie cringe hätten Sie es gerne? Antwort von Rehm Rozanes ganz klar: JA. Ein Festival des SWF in Saarbrücken kommt vor - das ist interessant, war Saarbrücken doch nie Sendegebiet des SWF. Da wir im Content-Zeitalter leben, gilt form follows function, hält der Autor fest - eine der zahlreichen völlig sinnfreien Aussagen. Der Plattentitel "Planet Punk" sei "vielleicht eher als Orientierungshilfe für eine neu herangewachsene Generation Publikum gedacht", denn da "bekannte sich die Band amtlich zum Punk" - ich muss wohl nicht erklären, dass es das Konzept zahlreicher Ärzte-Songs ist, sich eben nicht "amtlich" zum Punk zu bekennen und stattdessen die ideologische Dimension des Genres in Frage zu stellen, und dass der Plattentitel eine Satire auf die damals grassierende Punkwelle war. Ich habe auch, anders als Rehm Rozanes ausführt, noch nie erlebt, dass Eltern bei schlechten Tischmanieren des Nachwuchses als Homage an Die Ärzte sagen "Füße vom Tisch", sonst gebe es kein "Zitroneneis" - WTF?! Die Kritik an Geschlechterbildern in alten Ärzte-Songs, an der sich der Autor versucht, ist richtig und wichtig, aber bitte schlau. Und und und.Das Buch ist einfach schrecklich schlecht geschrieben, was für einen professionellen Musikjournalisten schon erstaunlich ist. ...more
May 07, 2026 12:25AM · 19 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview ofDie Ärzte. 100 Seiten. by Stephan Rehm Rozanes. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Die Ärzte. 100 Seiten. by Stephan Rehm Rozanes
Meike made a comment onher reviewofJohn of John John of John by Douglas Stuart "_Kerry wrote: "Most interesting review. I will watch for this as Shuggie Bain was so good. Thanks for your thoughts"_Thank you for reading them, Kerry! _Kerry wrote: "Most interesting review. I will watch for this as Shuggie Bain was so good. Thanks for your thoughts"_Thank you for reading them, Kerry! ...more"
May 06, 2026 10:13PM · see review
**Meike**rated a book it was amazing John of John by Douglas Stuart John of John by Douglas Stuart (Goodreads Author) Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
Once again, Douglas Stuart is viciously attacking my jaded heart with a perfectly composed, beautifully written story about family, community and individuality that has no business being so damn suspenseful until the very last page. Set on the Scotti Once again, Douglas Stuart is viciously attacking my jaded heart with a perfectly composed, beautifully written story about family, community and individuality that has no business being so damn suspenseful until the very last page. Set on the Scottish island of Harris during the 1990's, the novel tells the story of 22-year-old John-Calum ("Cal"), son of crofter and tweed weaver John and grandson of Calum, an already deceased former soldier. As the telling names and the title of the book suggest, the recent college graduate lives through the faithful cycles of his ancestors, and what he will make of his emotional heritage is the question that moves the book forward. At the beginning, Cal comes back from the mainland to live with his dad and grandmother in the tiny farm community where he grew up, because he couldn't find a job after graduating textile college. Throughout the text, he remains torn between the demands of the community and his family and his own needs. Cal is gay, which he conceals from everyone on the island, a place ruled by strict Presbyterian morals. What he doesn't know though (and this is not a spoiler, because it's already clearly suggested at 7% into the book, I checked) is that his father John is also gay: Cal's parents separated because his mother found out, but she never told on John out of concern for him. 48-year-old John has been in love with his neighbor Innes since he was a teenager, but their relationship is of course under constant threat. Cal's grandmother Ella, herself a Glaswegian outsider, is aware though, and she knows what stigmatization means: Her deceased husband Calum married her when she was pregnant from another man, a story arc that will return in a different form during the course of the novel... Stuart's book puts its considerably big cast of islanders under constant outside pressure - the community's standards based on religious convictions as well as familial expectations - as well psychological strain: Whether male or female, gay or straight, young or old, we meet a plethora of people questioning their moral worth and belief system and what they can or should sacrifice for their own happiness or the (assumed!) happiness of others. Another core topic is finding the courage to go against traditional and/or majority values when they appear to be wrong, and to stand with those who are harmed and shamed. Stuart's characters are so alive, messy and psychologically plausible that they bring you to tears, even more so here than in Shuggie Bain (yes, that's possible). Sure, this is very traditional storytelling, a country tale about family and religion with the slight twist of some queer characters, and there is nothing truly experimental or aesthetically daring here. But do we complain about this when it comes to, let's say: William Trevor (who also knows a thing or two about religion and outsiders)? No, because his traditional storytelling is outstanding, and Stuart's is, too. And he knows his subject matter, as he, much like Cal, is a gay Scottish man who graduated a college of textiles and, after publishing "Shuggie Bain", spent a considerable amount of time on the Outer Hebrides, which leads to him being able to deliver atmospherically dense, moody nature writing peppered with bits of Gaelic. This author has a special talent for interrogating people's complicated humanity, a talent with religious sensibilities to see their potential for personal salvation through charity and compassion, but also self-love: Part of the impact of his writing stems from the fact that he seems to love his characters a lot more than they manage to love themselves.Hey, Booker (feat. Jarvis Cocker!!): Nominate this, or seriously show me thirteen better novels this season, I dare you.EDIT: I have read an ARC of this - some person apparently flagged this review because the info wasn't contained in the text. Do we now have to go back through thousands of reviews to check whether they were ARCs or not because of a new rule that didn't exist before? Get ready for people abusing GR's latest insanity, pathetic people who feel like THEY should have gotten an ARC, and THEY should get more likes etc. And when will GR take on the bugs, the review bombing etc.? Jesus Christ.You can listen to the podcast gang discuss the German translation, also titled John of John, here: https://papierstaupodcast.de/podcast/... ...more
May 06, 2026 11:35AM · 178 likes · like · see review

More of Meike's books…

Irvine Welsh

“By definition, you have to live until you die. Better to make that life as complete and enjoyable an experience as possible, in case death is shite, which I suspect it will be.”
― Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting

Jack Kerouac

“Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don't be sorry.”
― Jack Kerouac

David Foster Wallace

“I do things like get in a taxi and say, "The library, and step on it.”
― David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest

William S. Burroughs

“A paranoid is someone who knows a little of what's going on. A psychotic is a guy who's just found out what's going on.”
― William S. Burroughs

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