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Berlin Calling
Berlin Calling
Kelly Durham | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics, Thriller
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I am quite a bit of a fan, when it comes to books about World War II, add women in it, and I’m intrigued. That was what drew me to this book, a woman figure in the context of war and not just woman, a foreigner. The description above, describes this novel quite well. It started with very romantic notes, how Maggie met Kurt, and how she ended up in Berlin, landing a job in Propaganda House. Maggie is very interesting character in this book, and I really loved her in this novel. She is beautiful, pleasant to be around, incredibly hard working and independent. I’m kind of used to these disturbed characters which are used in most of the books, and it was very refreshing to read about one, who is not mentally or emotionally messed up. Other characters were interesting to read about as well, and all of them where quite the personalities. I really enjoyed, that author did not make this book from one characters perspective, and included most of the characters by allowing them to speak. This made the book more pleasant to read, and more interesting.

The plot of this book was really absorbing, and different from most of the WWII books I read. Normally, I encountered the books, which used to describe the tragedy of war, such as concentration camps or Jew’s killings, and their fighting for survival. This book was softer on that part, it mentioned the cruelties’ which happened during the war, but never in so much detail to make it stomach turning. It was written more about the political aspects of it, and how German propaganda was used to influence people from other countries. It’s been a while since I studied history of WWII, and I studied from different countries’ perspective, so to see how it looked from Germany's perspective was quite appealing. I think that author was trying to show, how Germans thought about this war and why most of them supported what Hitler was doing.

I am a big fan of short chapters, and this book didn’t disappoint me with that. The chapters were divided into smaller parts, which made it more pleasant to read. Every chapter was quite detailed, but the meaning and the point of that chapter was very lovely opened, and concluded for the reader. The story was flowing nicely and smoothly. I believe Author has a great personal knowledge about war, and used it greatly in this book. There was a little bit of monotony while reading this book, and lack of twists and turns, that would’ve make it more exciting. The language used was not difficult and easy to read, but I had to look up some German terms used in this book, as I’m not familiar with the language. The ending of the book was really entertaining but not complete. I wished more conclusions, and to know what happened to Dieter. To conclude, it is a great book if you looking for World War II stories of war from German perspective, love, and survival.
  
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Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated The Zookeeper's Wife (2017) in Movies

Nov 24, 2017 (Updated Nov 24, 2017)  
The Zookeeper's Wife (2017)
The Zookeeper's Wife (2017)
2017 | Drama
Story is harrowing and essential but film could have been made better
As a massive fan of biopics, The Zookeeper's Wife is an incredibly important tale of a the real life Polish couple who sheltered Jews in their zoo during the Second World War, helping 300 people to escape from Warsaw.

Dr. Jan Zabinski was the director of the Warsaw Zoo in the 1930's, and along with his wife Antonina and young son, they ensured the safety and care of animals in the area. Their life came to an abrupt halt with the German invasion of Poland in 1939, when most of their animals and structures were destroyed in the bombings and siege of the city. The zoo was closed under German occupation, but the Zabinskis continued to occupy the villa, and the zoo itself was used first as a pig farm and subsequently as a fur farm. All the while, Dr Zabinski smuggled Jewish people out of the Warsaw Ghetto and aided their way out of city, not before allowing them to stay in their own house. He was injured while fighting in the Polish resistance, but the couple were given an honorary title by Yad Vashem (Israel's official memorial for Jewish victims of the Holocaust) for their brave efforts.

Similar in the vein of films such as @Schindler's List (1993), there is an element of a saviour complex in these films, but unlike Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winner, it is less extravagant and less well-made, as there was very little engagement with the Jewish characters - focusing more on Antonina, played by Jessica Chastain. It is definitely heart-wrenching watching films based on the holocaust, and there were scenes I had to turn away from, such as when an elderly woman and her mother were shot dead in the streets by soldiers. The script and cinematography weren't at a high standard, however, and as a result the film definitely fell short. I would suggest reading the book @The Zookeeper's Wife - it has far more detail than the film, in which there were glaringly obvious plot holes.
  
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Ian McCulloch recommended Berlin by Lou Reed in Music (curated)

 
Berlin by Lou Reed
Berlin by Lou Reed
1973 | Rock
7.7 (3 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I don’t know what concept it was. Whatever the concept was that came out of his addled mind, to me, he’s just got a cob-on with someone and she’s probably shagging around, and obviously he’s set it in Berlin, where he’d probably never have been, and just gets stuck into the misery of it. I remember in an interview with Nick Kent in the NME Lou slagged it off and then changed his mind and said it was absolutely brilliant. At the time everything I played was always in the dark – and I’d tell my mum not to come out of the living room door, and I’d be upstairs and I could sense the light coming from downstairs and it would spoil my vibe. Playing that was just, “woah.” ‘Caroline Says II’, is like, “jeez…” - turning the tables on old Caroline, in a nasty way. I just loved the production. The atmosphere was so dense and the concept is just that the songs ran into each other and this gave it a sense of order. What he was singing about made me think, “hang on, am I really being allowed into this?” It was a bit weird. It’s like a psychopath’s night in, and it got me. Whenever I play that, it’s got a very German, emotive feel. And any emotional German, it’s going to be heavy emotions, bad ones. They’re not renowned for their joie de vivre. Obviously Hitler had emotions, but fuckin’ hell… So it does capture that weird European coldness. It’s weird because you don’t know if Lou really cares, he’s not exactly Sinatra or Lanza, you don’t know if he’s taking the piss. He probably thinks halfway through a song, this isn’t any good, I better sing it weirdly. “She looked like Mary Queen of Scots seemed very regal to me, just shows how wrong you can be". Pure Lou Reed that was. I couldn’t do that because I don’t do sinister. That’s someone who has a different kind of relationship – it’s not just sad, it’s weird. Big favourite with Jimmy Savile at the time, I heard."

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