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lauraellis's review against another edition
3.0
The subtitle of the book says that it is a portrait of a city through the centuries. This is a portrait of mythos, of story, of legend. It is not concerned with rigorous historical accuracy, which I found problematic right from the beginning. I enjoy historical fiction and I enjoy fantasy, so I have no problems with authors rewriting history to suit their story. But I do find it annoying when people infuse fiction into a work of nonfiction. A particularly glaring example of this is the author writing about what a young soldier thought and felt minutes before he died.
I did find the author's narrative on Marlene Dietrich, Leni Renistahl, Goebbels, a young WWII architect and stories of cold war Berlin particularly riveting. And for that, mostly, I'm giving this three stars instead of 2.5.
I did find the author's narrative on Marlene Dietrich, Leni Renistahl, Goebbels, a young WWII architect and stories of cold war Berlin particularly riveting. And for that, mostly, I'm giving this three stars instead of 2.5.
olgagl92's review against another edition
5.0
A wonderful portrayal of a complicated city. Made me appreciate what I saw when I was there and more than anything made me want to go back.
shannonm's review
3.0
I really wanted to give this a 4 but some of the writing was so melodramatic that it took away from the stories. That said, it's gives some great insight on the history of Berlin through the people who created some of that history.
sabai's review
4.0
It takes a bit of time to get into, but its worth persevering. Berlin is illustrated through the engaging, detailed, almost novel-like portraits of the characters that have inhabited the city over hundreds of years, and how their presence impacted the city and Germany and vice versa. Highly recommend this to anyone who likes reading about cities and urban life.
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