Zoo Station: Adventures in East and West Berlin (Traveler (New York, N.Y.).)

Rating:
Summary: Song of the Shirt
Review: "Zoo Station" is important as a document of the young Left in the West in the 1980s, during a time when the United States was funding vicious wars in Central America and the Soviet Union was preparing to collapse. Since the Berlin Wall has fallen , few people have had much good to say about the governments of the former Eastern Bloc countries, and the media treats the continued existance of a strong communist movement in Eastern Germany as an anachronism. Having read "Zoo Station", I was able to understand why some people regarded East Germany as a pinnacle of socialist achievement, much more preferable to its capitalist twin in the West. It is good travel writing, and is both politically and culturally astute.

Walker's life among the Turkish residents of Kreuzberg in Berlin also has helped me understand the predicament of guestworkers in Germany, the country with the highest percentage of resident "foreigners" in Europe.

More than anything, "Zoo Station" highlights Walker's skill as a journalist, and it's a shame he never did publish that book on Nicaragua like he said he would.

Rating:
Summary: Song of the Shirt
Review: "Zoo Station" is important as a document of the young Left in the West in the 1980s, during a time when the United States was funding vicious wars in Central America and the Soviet Union was preparing to collapse. Since the Berlin Wall has fallen , few people have had much good to say about the governments of the former Eastern Bloc countries, and the media treats the continued existance of a strong communist movement in Eastern Germany as an anachronism. Having read "Zoo Station", I was able to understand why some people regarded East Germany as a pinnacle of socialist achievement, much more preferable to its capitalist twin in the West. It is good travel writing, and is both politically and culturally astute.

Walker's life among the Turkish residents of Kreuzberg in Berlin also has helped me understand the predicament of guestworkers in Germany, the country with the highest percentage of resident "foreigners" in Europe.

More than anything, "Zoo Station" highlights Walker's skill as a journalist, and it's a shame he never did publish that book on Nicaragua like he said he would.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Top Ten Worst Books Ever
Review: I first visited Berlin over a quarter of a century ago when, like the author, I was a young man in my 20s. I have lived and studied there. I have crashed out in the tower blocks of the satellite suburbs and walked the sleazy inner-city streets at night. I think I know the place pretty well; Berliner friends tell me I probably know it better than some of the locals! The buzz about the place is alluring and irresistible. Berlin is a city I love dearly. I also think I've read most of whatever is worth reading about the place, in both English and German.

Why do I mention all of this? Simply to underline the sheer awfulness of this execrable piece of work.

Heavily influenced by 'On the Road', Walker Dean Moriarties his way through a Berlin populated by spongers, drop-outs and weirdos whose lives revolve around dope, booze and 70s soul. Trouble is, he ain't no Kerouac. Of course, part of the city's attraction - as it has been down through the ages - lies in its vibrant social mix. In many ways, the people ARE the city. But really, to read Walker, you'd think they spent half their lives lying in the gutter, stoned and wondering where the next handout was coming from.

Walker's book does a disservice to a great and wonderful city. There is no sense of balance or perspective about his work, the 'adventures' of the title become predictable and repetitive and the style suffers from a painful desire to show us all how ultra-hip he is.

This is one of those books that you keep reading simply because it's so bad. Like a rabbit transfixed by oncoming headlights, you can't tear yourself away. I wish I could have given it no stars.

Rating:
Summary: description of sybaritic person's view of divided Berlin
Review: Just read while visitng Berlin in 1997. Good historical background of divided city. I enjoyed his perspective of questioning both societies' institutions (he was in his 20's & lived with many other young people who partied & lived a hedonistic poor life in West Berlin.) Excellent background for a 1st time visitor to Berlin. I'd like to find more of author's writing but unable to.