Saint Georges from Berlin

In the Eastern side of Berlin, close to Eberwalderstrasse and Greifswalderstrasse, at Saint Georges, I discovered two big rooms, stuffed with English books. Used books, but not second-hand. You could find there good books, 1-2-year old, at 4-5 Euro the book, but also new ones, for 10. Many many of them are dedicated to Germany's history.

The bookstore is also offering the possibility of ordering books, or if you have at minimum 15 and high-quality titles for sale, they could  visit you and offer a proper financial evaluation of your collection. A fair deal, I think.

And, of course, everybody is speaking English there.

Bookstores in Berlin: Schleichers

Just another bookstore, you might say. When I'm here - maybe every three months - I never look after English books: all I want is to have some direct immersion into the German culture and language. And I have a lot of options, with many books about politics, history, sociology and, of course, the latest titles in literature. Periodically, here are hosted various conferences and meetings with authors, and posted information about other cultural events taking place in the cultural neighborhood. And, smartly enough, Schleichersbuch is online as well, with a good and functional website.

Berlin in Books: Stefan Zweig - Confused Feelings

Image via Wikipedia//Stefan Zweig

A special section I would like to dedicate on this blog will be called "Berlin in Books". In other words, I will try to share with you the images of the city through the eyes of writers all over the world and historical periods. I will start with the mentions from Stefan Zweig's Verwirrung der Gefüle - which I read in the French version La confusion des sentiments. Written as a confession, the book is the evocation of a  professor of philology through the  eyes of a former pupil and admirer. Berlin is mentioned a couple of times - 

 maximum five, as a stop in the university career of the author of the story, but also a placen of sexual obscurity and human degradation. A kind of double of Zweig's Vienna.

Coming soon in Berlin - Jonathan Safran Foer and Nicole Krauss

The bookstore is in Kastanienallee

Hans Wall and the Berlin pride

I had an interesting evening yesterday, watching Hans Wall telling stories about his life, on the occasion of the presentation of his book. I bought the book only a couple of days ago so no enough time to finish reading. Wall is a very lively and relaxed presence and full of humour, in the front of an audience hosted in a small hall, of maximum 100 persons, keen to ask questions and wait for autographs.

His "American dream" story was presented as an example of the equal chances you have to achieve in Germany, whatever the social, religious and educational background - what an impressive difference with the approach of a Sarrazin, I will have maybe the occasion to write about one day. Maybe a bit optimistic, if thinking about the book I've read recently, regarding the basis of the current elites in Germany. He introduced his success as part of his pride to be part of the development of the city of Berlin, as part of the special identity of this place, in comparison with other German cities. A brand of the city presented as such internationally, as an example of the force of the good ideas. 

The location was the Stadbibliothek Steglitz located at the third floor of the Schloss, a big superstore in the area. As other local libraries I visited in Berlin, is offering a rich collection of books, CDs, movies and a nice kids' corner.