Reviews

Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin

hannahcmwright's review against another edition

Couldn't understand what was happening and wasn't enjoying it.

emilyberrios's review

Rough. Too rough. I keep procrastinating. Main male lead is an ex-con who likely shouldn't have been released. 

janaostro's review against another edition

1.0

This is one of the rare books that I didn't even bother to finish reading. Usually I push through no matter what, but I noticed that I started to procrastinate on reading and doing different things instead, which is not what I actually want to do. Sometimes you just have to know when to let something go, I guess.
What put me off so much was that this novel is just so confusing. I never even knew who was talking, let alone what they were talking about. There is so much dialect and "slang" words which even I, whose native language is German, didn't know and thus the whole plot and the literary finesse was just lost on me. This book read more like a stream of consciousness than a story, and the consciousness in this case is like that of someone who's drunk. Maybe in some years I may pick it up again and enjoy it, but for now, it goes back into the shelf and I simply feel relieved.

adogcalled_bernese2's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

jujubahn's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

spadeano's review

challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

rabebi's review

challenging dark informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Ik its important literature but it was so stressful... and for what?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Violence

nctascha's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

booksntea99's review against another edition

5.0

I had to read this book for school and I hated it. Oh my god, I hated it so much because it was coarse and brutal and ugly and everything which I didn't want to be confronted with as a teenager. But even at that age, I realized that it was an important and yes, amazing book, Took me the whole book to find that out but when I closed the book, I loved it.

thymenvb's review against another edition

4.0

I really appreciate the narrative style(s) and overall structure of the novel. I was also really surprised by the prominence of gendered violence to the plot and how many well-developed female characters this novel has!!

I've seen reviews saying that Berlin is the real protagonist and Franz's story is a foil, but I honestly wish there was even more of the Berlin montages. Franz's story was really hard to get through sometimes and I think all the crime was dragged out too much.