Berlin Tales
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"Poignant, and highly reccommended." --Midwest Book Review
Product Description
Berlin Tales is a collection of seventeen translated stories associated with Berlin. The book provides a unique insight into the mind of this fascinating city through the eyes of its story-tellers. Nearly twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the stories collected here reflect on the city's fascinating recent history, setting out with the early twentieth-century Berlin of Siegfried Kracauer and Alfred Döblin and culminating in an excellent selection of stories from the best of the new voices in the current boom in German fiction. They are chosen for their conscious exploration of the city's image, meaning, and attraction to immigrants and tourists as well as Berliners from both sides of the Wall. These stories also depict Berlin's distinct districts, not just the differences between East and West but also iconic sites such as Alexanderplatz, individual neighbourhoods (Jewish Mitte, Turkish Kreuzberg) and individual streets. There is an introduction and notes to accompany the stories and a selection of Further Reading. Each story is illustrated with a striking photograph and there is a map of Berlin and its transport system (a frequent motif). There is an introduction and notes to accompany the stories and a selection of Further Reading. The book will appeal to people who love travelling or are armchair travellers, as much as to those who love Berlin.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent idea for a book about time and place, in this case Berlin. A good varied collection of stories from a range of authors, some of whom will be familiar to non-specialists in German literature, more of whom will be unfamiliar. All of which adds up to an attractive offering for a literary exploration of Berlin over the last century.
Unfortunately, the quality of the translation here makes the stories virtually unreadable for me. The same stilted style is present in each of the stories, eliminating the nuances of literary style which are undoubtedly present in the original. The translator (Lynn Marven) does not appear to possess the ability to convey the atmosphere and spirit of the original writings, and is bogged down in trying to translate the contents and structure of the original German sentences far too literally and without any literary imagination. Here's one example which I've just selected at random: "I was probably more unhappy than happy at the time, so my silent outpouring of emotion can hardly have been an expression of world-encompassing joie de vivre extending even to the ugliest spots, but rather of recognition and of belonging to what I recognized" (p68). The adjectival participles flow very naturally in German, but make for very clumsy prose in English. And I could have selected similar sentences from virtually every page in the book.
A worthwhile enterprise, but badly let down by the mechanical nature of the translation. Pity the same selection of stories is not available in one book in German, as it would be well worth reading.
Unfortunately, the quality of the translation here makes the stories virtually unreadable for me. The same stilted style is present in each of the stories, eliminating the nuances of literary style which are undoubtedly present in the original. The translator (Lynn Marven) does not appear to possess the ability to convey the atmosphere and spirit of the original writings, and is bogged down in trying to translate the contents and structure of the original German sentences far too literally and without any literary imagination. Here's one example which I've just selected at random: "I was probably more unhappy than happy at the time, so my silent outpouring of emotion can hardly have been an expression of world-encompassing joie de vivre extending even to the ugliest spots, but rather of recognition and of belonging to what I recognized" (p68). The adjectival participles flow very naturally in German, but make for very clumsy prose in English. And I could have selected similar sentences from virtually every page in the book.
A worthwhile enterprise, but badly let down by the mechanical nature of the translation. Pity the same selection of stories is not available in one book in German, as it would be well worth reading.
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This collection of Berlin Tales is one of the best collections of short stories all set in one place that I have ever come across. The tales have been well chosen and reflect a city that has changed vastly over the course of the last century. The choice of authors is also excellent reflecting the cultural diveristy of the city.
I have only read just over half the stories so far but already my fascination with the city has been deepened. The insight provided by the authors is much more interesting than any history book. The other great thing about this book is that I have come across new authors some of whom I hope to be able to read more of.
I have only read just over half the stories so far but already my fascination with the city has been deepened. The insight provided by the authors is much more interesting than any history book. The other great thing about this book is that I have come across new authors some of whom I hope to be able to read more of.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I lived in Berlin for two years and when I was there, I came across this book at a bookshop in Berlin, and bought it here on Amazon. I've read the large majority of the stories and even though I only lived there for a short while, the descriptions and the lives of those who lived (or probably lived) in the city after the fall of the Wall were very vivid against the backdrop of the city where I stayed. It's even more fascinating to read the stories and then walked the same streets as the characters in the book walked, and to compare and contrast the changing facades between the old and the new Berlin, as the city is constantly in flux and never more so in the last 20 years.
Read it if you've never been to Berlin to find out what life was like in the recent history of the city, but definitely read it if you've been or live in Berlin.
Read it if you've never been to Berlin to find out what life was like in the recent history of the city, but definitely read it if you've been or live in Berlin.
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