The Wall Jumper by Peter Schneider
Even though we’re comfortably into December, I’m going to claim this one for German Literature Month, as I did *read* it in November – I just ran out of reviewing time! And actually, bearing in mind its length, I’ll also claim it for #novellanov!
For those of us who grew up during the Cold War, the divide between East and West, as exemplified by the Berlin Wall, has an enduring fascination. So when I stumbled across mention of Peter Schneider’s “The Wall Jumper” I was very keen to track it down, as I do have something of a fascination with the GDR (which I think I’ve mentioned on the Ramblings!)
Schneider is an author I hadn’t heard of before, and from a cursory look online it seems as if this might be his best known work in English; certainly there are only a few other titles obviously available, and he’s not a writer I’ve seen discussed much. However, on the evidence of “The Wall Jumper” I’d certainly like to read more.
The book is narrated by an unnamed writer who may or not be Schneider himself, and is set in Berlin before the fall of the Wall. It’s populated by characters who live on both sides of the divide: there is Pommerer, the friend in the East the narrator visits and who spins legends of jumpers; Robert, an escapee to the West who tells tales from his bar stool; and there is Lena, the narrator’s past love whose reactions were conditioned by the East which left her temperamentally incapable of a relationship with a Westerner. Binding them together is the narrator, attempting to find the perfect tale of a wall jumper, as he flits back and forth across the Wall. And the tales themselves are fascinating: there are the three youngsters who regularly cross the Wall in its early days to watch Hollywood films; a man who feels compelled to jump back and forth for no good reason; and people with more sinister intent who end up paying the ultimate price. It’s a chilling reminder of just how recent the Cold War was, particularly when you notice that those in the West can visit the East and leave, but those from the East can only escape illegally or if their freedom is bought by the other side.
But as he searches for the perfect story, it becomes clear that the wall jumper of the title is in fact the narrator himself; shuttling back and forth between East and West, collecting stories and legends of other jumpers and weaving them into his tale, he’s unable to resist his fascination with the city’s great divide.
Every story lacks something the next one has; but then the next story is missing something from the one before. Maybe the story I’m looking for doesn’t exist.
The story is dominated by the Wall, of course and the effect that it has had on those living around it. You would think that simply plonking an arbitrary divide through a city wouldn’t change the people on either side, but in fact it has. Those on the opposing sides of the wall have either chosen where to live according to their belief or mindset, or else have tailored their thought to where they live. Either way, their personality is set by the side of the wall which they inhabit and because of this they constantly misunderstand each other. The Wall is shown to be something that exists in the mind, perhaps more so than the physical
It will take us longer to tear down the wall in our heads than any wrecking company will need for the wall we can see. Pommerer and I can dissociate ourselves from our states as much as we like, but we can’t speak to each other without having our states speak for us.
And what of the narrator? I felt that he vacillated, unable to decide exactly where his sympathies lay. Like the jumpers themselves, his narrative shifted constantly, from past to present, East to West and in many ways he seemed unsettled in both regions.
“The Wall Jumper” was an absolutely fascinating read. In this short novel, Schneider crystallises and encapsulates the ideological divide that used to exist between East and West (and probably still does); and it has a powerful message about how different beliefs and mindsets can affect the world today. Essential reading!
MarinaSofia
Dec 05, 2015 @ 07:34:33
This one has been on my wishlist for a while, because, as you know, I too have a fascination with the Wall (both the internal and the external one). Sounds compelling for whenever we tend to go into an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mindset…
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 05, 2015 @ 14:58:20
This would be ideal for you, then because it tackles both aspects of the divide.
JacquiWine
Dec 05, 2015 @ 07:51:57
I’ve been vaguely aware of this but for a while but knew very little about it until now. The themes and ideas sound very interesting – a great choice for German Lit Month.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 05, 2015 @ 14:57:35
It certainly opens your eyes to the differing ideologies – worth checking out and it’s not a long book, but it says a lot.
heavenali
Dec 05, 2015 @ 09:04:38
Although not having read much about it I also think the GDR is fascinating. This book sounds brilliant. Great review.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 05, 2015 @ 14:56:45
Thanks Ali! It *is* a great read and really captures the mindset of a divided city/country.
Lady Fancifull
Dec 05, 2015 @ 09:34:13
This sounds like my kind of book. Shall investigate. Thank you Shoshi
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 05, 2015 @ 14:55:46
Definitely worth checking out!
Lady Fancifull
Dec 05, 2015 @ 09:37:02
Oops. Sorry.Thank you Kaggsy – you both bring really interesting European books to the table, and both write thoroughly engaging erudite reviews which have me adding to the TBR
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 05, 2015 @ 14:55:27
I really don’t mind being confused with Shoshi – her blog has some great reviews! 😉
Lady Fancifull
Dec 05, 2015 @ 15:09:34
Well, yes, I follow you both for broadly similar reasons – great books, great reviews, interesting individual voices
winstonsdad
Dec 05, 2015 @ 12:17:12
I loved this when I read it seemed a good companion piece to mussel feast
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 05, 2015 @ 14:54:46
It certainly is a great read!
lindylit
Dec 05, 2015 @ 19:38:21
Since visiting Berlin in October I have been determined to read more books set in Berlin and just find out more about The Wall, as I knew very little about it being born in the late 1980s. Thank you for this review, I shall definitely be adding it to my list.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 05, 2015 @ 20:02:03
Hope you enjoy it! It certainly is a bit of an eye-opener and really gets into the mentality of both sides.
lizzysiddal
Dec 06, 2015 @ 09:37:02
I agree with you. Essential reading. I read it just befoe visiting Berlin in 2009 – it brought back all kinds of memories from 1980 ….
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 06, 2015 @ 10:41:39
That’s a great review Lizzy and fascinating to see those pictures of your young self. For such a short book it certainly says a lot.
kimbofo
Dec 06, 2015 @ 11:35:40
Oh, I read this one last year and thought it was a fascinating (if disjointed) look at life on both sides of the wall.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 06, 2015 @ 12:33:32
I think the disjointedness was necessary, if only to reflect the narrator’s ambivalence and his flitting back and forth. Definitely fascinating!
litlove
Dec 07, 2015 @ 17:18:55
I’ve never heard of the author but you make the book sound hugely intriguing. Excellent review, Karen!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 07, 2015 @ 21:35:08
Thanks! I found it fascinating and it’s really great at getting inside the minds of the two sides.
Liz Dexter
Dec 08, 2015 @ 13:16:38
Never heard of this and it sounds absolutely fascinating, will keep an eye out for it.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 08, 2015 @ 14:51:00
It’s great! 🙂
German Literature Month V: Author Index | Lizzy's Literary Life
Dec 10, 2015 @ 05:04:40
Jeff
Dec 10, 2015 @ 20:04:02
Must say I’m drawn to non-fiction such as Stasiland, which I reviewed a while ago, but fiction does give more scope for the personal, and non-fiction does tend to be devoted to the great and the good, neither of which are representative of people in what might be dangerously described as ‘regular everyday life’. Will bear it in mind and grab it if I see it secondhand.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 10, 2015 @ 20:13:15
Although it’s fiction, this does have a kind of reportage feel to it, so I think you would enjoy it. And it certainly shows the ordinary lives of a variety of people!
Jeff
Dec 11, 2015 @ 10:12:32
Aye, it’s in my ‘to acquire’ folder. Really need to write them in my notebook though – I reverted to analog-by-default a while ago, for mobile that is. Just don’t lug the iPad around anymore. Maybe I should take interest in the apps on my rubbish phone? Don’t get me started.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 11, 2015 @ 10:33:55
I tend to use analog too – a small notebook is aesthetically more pleasing and lighter than a heavy iPad!
trewisms
Dec 13, 2015 @ 09:42:19
That looks really interesting, I’ll have to add it to my list!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 13, 2015 @ 10:04:22
I thought it was fascinating! But I do have an interest in the Iron Curtain…