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thehal's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
2.5
trivial_reads's review against another edition
I believe memoirs shouldn't receive a star ratings because it's unfair to rate someone else's life.
Charlotte Mahlsdorf's memoir is a captivating journey through the eyes of a transgender person. It recounts her childhood longing for a girl's coat, rebellious nights on the streets of Nazi Berlin, and a chilling turning point when she killed her abusive father.
Charlotte Mahlsdorf's memoir is a captivating journey through the eyes of a transgender person. It recounts her childhood longing for a girl's coat, rebellious nights on the streets of Nazi Berlin, and a chilling turning point when she killed her abusive father.
The memoir is also a love letter to Gründerzeit furniture and sheds light on the underground LGBTQ+ community in East Berlin. It traces its growth from covert gatherings to more overt celebrations, capturing the emergence of public queer identity in a society that was once hidden. This memoir is a snapshot of a shifting Berlin through the eyes of someone who dared to be different.
anaki's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, Antisemitism, and Ableism
jenmillie's review
5.0
Absolutely fucking amazing book of survival and pure/quiet independence. Born a man right before the nazis' took over, dresses like a woman and is gay yet somehow survives nazis'. Then takes over abandoned building and makes it into a museum of the time period he loves most. I want to go visit him and his museum, this book is one to buy and to buy another copy to give away. 10 copies to give away...maybe more.
thegreatfoxby's review against another edition
5.0
Sie schreibt wahnsinnig toll, echter Einblick in das Leben der Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. In vielerlei Form erstaunlich aktuell. Read your transcestors!
choirqueer's review
4.0
This was a fascinating and unusual autobiography. The blurb describes it as being about "[the author's] lifelong pursuit of sexual liberty", but it's really more about her pursuit of her passions for furniture, architecture, and history, and what she had to go through to be able to focus on what she loves.
content warnings for: murder, child abuse, intimate partner violence, homo/transantagonism-motivated violence, Nazis
content warnings for: murder, child abuse, intimate partner violence, homo/transantagonism-motivated violence, Nazis
spiderfly's review
4.0
Her story was fascinating, but it was her style of writing that I really loved. I just liked her very matter-of-fact way of writing about things, common and uncommon, beautiful and horrific. It made the horrors of war and of human suffering real, but not so real that I was too traumatized to keep reading. And I'm very easily traumatized by those kinds of things.
Also, it was interesting to get a peek into the point of view of someone who legitimately enjoys the job of homemaking. I have absolutely no love for that work. I would 1000 times rather have someone else tend my house than to be the one doing the tending, the making. I think that homemaking is powerfully important for people's well-being and happiness, and yet the job of doing it appeal to me not one iota. It's often hard for me to believe that anyone ever really enjoys it, but there's no doubt in my mind that the author truly loves it, and that was very cool to see.
Also, it was interesting to get a peek into the point of view of someone who legitimately enjoys the job of homemaking. I have absolutely no love for that work. I would 1000 times rather have someone else tend my house than to be the one doing the tending, the making. I think that homemaking is powerfully important for people's well-being and happiness, and yet the job of doing it appeal to me not one iota. It's often hard for me to believe that anyone ever really enjoys it, but there's no doubt in my mind that the author truly loves it, and that was very cool to see.