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Gunter de Bruyn, the son of Carl and Jenny (Hilgert) de Bruyn, was born on November 1, 1926 in Berlin, has lived there most of his life, and uses the region as the setting in the majority of his work. Although most of the region was Protestant, he was raised Catholic, and thus is familiar with the difficulties of being an outsider.
Gunter studied library science from 1949 to 1953.
Before Gunter turned to writing full time, he was selected to serve in the army and actually spent time as a prisoner of war. He was a schoolteacher in a village for three years, and then worked as a librarian from 1949-61. His first novel, Der Hohlweg ("The Path through the Gorge"), draws on his personal experiences in the army. Though this first work was not highly praised, he learned from it and earned international acclaim and attention for his second novel, 1968s Buridans Esel (translated as Buridan's Ass in 1973).
Despite the fact that optimistic perceptions of life are seldom prevalent in his essays, short stories, and novels, de Bruyn is well liked and well respected throughout his homeland. His loyal following is primarily due to his sympathies with society's underdogs - the working class. He writes with compassion for the masses, espousing the virtues of the economically and socially oppressed while portraying the few benefactors of a socialist government - including academics, politicians, functionaries, and the aristocratic elite - in a very poor light. He exposes the key differences between the ideals of a socialist society and the unfortunate realities that occur as a result of its implementation.
The style and content of de Bruyn's fiction is successful and appreciated because he is not heavy handed with his messages and philosophies. He befriends his presumably working class readers, using humor to depict the challenging and often unfair circumstances of a climate in which virtuous and well-intentioned characters lose their battles to the behemoth Establishment. In many of his books, the main characters are faced with dilemmas that call upon their own moral codes, but choosing to abide by their personal codes inevitably leads to loss of career, relationships, reputation, and even sanity.
His works attempt to illustrate that solutions in life are seldom easy, choices are not always black and white, and there is never a climactic ending in which all loose ends and dangling dilemmas are neatly and conveniently tied up.
Although his protagonists are always clearly presented as the characters with whom readers should identify and for whom they should root, de Bruyn does not indulge the reader or stray from his "realist" doctrine. In other words, he does not allow the protagonists to be victorious. Although he does not necessarily celebrate the defeat of the average, morally conscientious and law-abiding protagonist, he does not entertain any possibilities or scenarios in which the protagonist might overcome the villainous representative of the Establishment.
Interestingly, de Bruyn's later works exhibit a pattern in which the author more often features women as central characters. In Neue Herrlichkeit ("New Glory"), a novel published in 1985. he lends his talents to weave a rich tapestry of female characters, all of whom, unlike in his earlier work, are hard-working, appealing, and even heroic.
Gunter is a prominent writer whose works range from the frequently autobiographically colored Realist novels and narratives which explain critiques of the private lives of the artists in East Germany to essays on literary science and historical themes, particularly Prussian history.
Gunter has edited a series of works from 18th and 19th century authors in Berlin and Brandenburg, which appear under the title Märkischer Dichtergarten.
Gunter had great success in the 1990s with the two volumes of his autobiography, Zwischenbilanz and Vierzig Jahre. Gunter received many awards for his works.
Socially and politically, Gunter is dedicated to peace, but he is otherwise somewhat low-key for a social critic.
De Bruyn is said to be an easy-going, relatively witty man who tries to stay out of the public eye as much as possible. Greenberg characterized him as "strongminded and decisive in his views and... known for his integrity. The impression he gives is, above all, one of kindness and gentleness."
Quotes from others about the person
According to Greenberg, "De Bruyn has been called a moralist, yet he provides his readers with no easy or conventional moral guidance."
