MLR, I01.2, 2006 597 Parry provides a series of thoughtful, intelligent, and highly differentiated com mentaries on many of Handke's most important novels: the quotation of what amount to cultural cliches about the USA (in Der kurze Brief) and Paris (in Die Stunde der wahren Empfindung); the geological excavation of space in Langsame Heimkehr; the private mythology of space inDie Wiederholung; the indeterminacy of space inDie Abwesenheit. Parry is at his best when analysing the interplay of formal structure and the thematics of landscape. Of many excellent examples, one might single out the section on Mein Jahr in der Niemandsbucht, inwhich Parry argues persuasively and ingeniously that the long and rambling novel not only thematizes suburban develop ment and living, but embodies in its very structure the nature of suburbs themselves. The suburbs are repetitive and decentred, with fluid boundaries and unencumbered by the sedimentation of historical meaning, hence open to any textual significance the viewer or reader cares to impose. Handke's text is likewise repetitive and decentred, its beginning and end arbitrary, and its intertextuality foregrounded to the extent that the text ultimately has no clear boundaries (pp. I8 I-83). Peter Handke's Landscapes of Discourse is a digressive book. The initial theoretical framework is augmented by amethodological eclecticism that incorporates Laca nian psychoanalysis, the theory of suture, and a plethora of theorists whose work helps to elucidate individual aspects of Handke's work. There are also sections on the construction of landscape in the work of other writers, notably Joseph Conrad, Rainer Maria Rilke, Thomas Pynchon, Christoph Ransmayr, Botho Strauss, and Sten Nadolny. In his final paragraph, Parry points to the meandering and contemplative nature of Handke's novels, and argues that this allows the familiar to emerge in a new light, as accumulated layers of information are stripped away. The same could be said of Christoph Parry's book itself. DURHAM UNIVERSITY J. J. LONG Troubling Maternity: Mothering, Agency, and Ethics inWomen's Writing in German of the 1970S and I98os. By EMILY JEREMIAH. (MHRA Texts and Dissertations Series, 58; Bithell Series of Dissertations, 26) Leeds: Maney. 2003. xii+ I98 pp. ?C35. ISBN 1-904360-I0-0. Emily Jeremiah's topical study coincides with awave of new publications focusing on mothers and motherhood in fiction, biography, and criticism appearing in the media and on the book market in Germany. Troubled motherhood drew particular attention at the beginning of the new millennium. In June 201I Der Spiegel devoted a title story to the topic 'Der neue Mutterstolz: Kinder statt Karriere', and theApril 2003 edition of the journal Literaturen scrutinizes the problem of motherhood in a series of articles with the title 'Mutter- Dichtung und Wahrheit'. In Die deutsche Mutter (Munich: Piper, 2002) the sociologist Barbara Vinken concludes that the 'German Mother' is a singular species in Europe with a strong tendency towards self-abandonment, subordination, and the renunciation of equality. She recognizes behaviour that borders on a fanaticism seen nowhere inEurope or the US. According to her, even inpostmodern times theGerman mother is caught in adelusion of natural female destiny compelling her to engage exclusively in a forced symbiotic relationship with her child. Such national stereotyping is questionable, but the recent problematization invites a new look at the past, either for guidance or for new interpretation. Jeremiah's study fulfils this need. A related book, Susanne Lackner's Zwischen Muttermord undMut tersehnsucht (Wiirzburg: Konigshausen & Neumann, 2003), presents a rereading of the mother-daughter literature from the I970S to 2000. Lackner revisits the theo retical writings of Irigaray, Cixous, and Kristeva and applies in her analysis the by 598 Reviews now controversial ideas of ecriture feminine. By contrast, Jeremiah expressly turns to newer post-structural views in her approach. Her theoretical basis is informed by Judith Butler's writings-not even mentioned by Lackner-and other more recent theoretical sources. She develops a line of thought related tomothering and to ethics that goes back to Sara Ruddick's seminal idea of 'maternal thinking' and Christine Everingham's 'maternal attitude', which she expands into 'maternal performativity'. Jeremiah's discussion on maternity is based on the post-essentialist argument that pays close attention not only to the...