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Loading... Berlin Now: The City After the Wall (original 2014; edition 2014)by Peter Schneider, Sophie Schlondorff (Translator)
Work InformationBerlin Now: The City After the Wall by Peter Schneider (2014)
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"A vibrant look at Berlin--perhaps Europe's most exciting city--since the fall of the Wall"--
"A smartly guided romp, entertaining and enlightening, through Europe's most charismatic and engimatic city. It isn't Europe's most beautiful city, or its oldest. Its architecture is not more impressive than that of Rome or Paris; its museums do not hold more treasures than those in Barcelona or London. And yet, when citizens of "New York, Tel Aviv, or Rome ask me where I'm from and I mention the name Berlin," writes Peter Schneider, "their eyes instantly light up." Berlin Now is a longtime Berliner's bright, bold, and digressive exploration of the heterogeneous allure of this vibrant city. Delving beneath the obvious answers--Berlin's club scene, bolstered by the lack of a mandatory closing time; the artistic communities that thrive due to the relatively low (for now) cost of living--Schneider takes us on an insider's tour of this rapidly metamorphosing metropolis, where high-class soirees are held at construction sites and enterprising individuals often accomplish more without public funding--assembling a makeshift club on the banks of the Spree River--than Berlin's officials do. Schneider's perceptive, witty investigations on everything from the insidious legacy of suspicion instilled by the East German secret police to the clashing attitudes toward work, food, and love held by former East and West Berliners have been sharply translated by Sophie Schlondorff. The result is a book so lively that readers will want to jump on a plane--just as soon as they've finished their adventures on the page"-- No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)943.155088History and Geography Europe Germany and central Europe Northeastern Germany Brandenburg and Berlin Berlin Historical periods 1866- 1990-LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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In the 30 years since the fall of the Wall, Berlin has been going through change after change. Interleaved chapters cover some of the history and some of the outcomes of these changes. Berlin is admitted to have little beautiful architecture, but a great night life, difficult citizens, and a lively arts scene, violent youth and determined anti-fascists. One of the only capitals in the world with plenty of unused land, all development seem to be the subject of major contention. I was pretty worn out 2/3 of the way through, but then it picked up again 3 of the penultimate chapters deal with the Holocaust & Jews in the past and current Berlin. Altogether it presents a picture of a city of many segments and those segments compounded with layers of past and present, German and non German, Berliner and non-Berliner, easterner vs westerner with the divisions made in history echoing against different walls. ( )