Moving between the ancient markets of Aleppo and the bars of Berlin, the hero of the novel “Berlin Papers” rediscovers himself time after time, opens his hands to various experiences and new people, and listens closely waiting for someone to tell him a new story so that he can write it down. We see him escaping from a failed love story through exploration. The history of Germany in the two world wars: the first and the second, to get lost in memories, pictures, and maps, between western and eastern Aleppo and between western and eastern Berlin, and to flip through the paintings of the German painter Otto Dix, which embodied the ugliness of the First World War; In order to forget the images of destruction and killing that were preserved in his memory.
In his novel, Nihad Siris moves lightly between places, people, and events, within one flowing text, and his work hides behind a documentary character that explores the history of wars and city architecture, and then surprises the reader with an unexpected dose of imagination about marvels and supernatural powers that help people overcome the scourges of war by escaping towards... New beginnings.
Can a person escape from a war in his country by diving into the history of another war that took place in another time and place?
"This is freedom. It is a winter thing that cannot be tolerated for long. In it one must constantly move, as we do now. In freedom one must dance, it is cold and beautiful. But do not fall in love with it, because this will make you very sad later. A person only exists in the areas of freedom for moments, and no more. We have crossed the limit now. Look at the wonderful path on which we are skating, how it is slowly dissolving. You can now see freedom dying. When you open your eyes, this will be a haunting scene The heart is yours many times.”
*****
Walser treats language in this novel with as much respect as one would treat a revered and close friend at the same time. Hermann Hesse
"Jacob von Gonten" involves a kind of parody of the traditional educational novel.
Christopher Middleton
