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Tunnel 29: The True Story of an Extraordinary Escape Beneath the Berlin Wall by Helena Merriman
babyskillet's review against another edition
Good it just wasn’t grabbing my attention like my other books right now. I’d like to read it later at some point.
worldwidewebb's review
5.0
If I could give this more stars I would.
Incredibly researched, deeply informative but reads like a thriller. I genuinely couldn't put it down - I was reading it at the computer, thanking my lucky stars I still work from home.
I knew things would end relatively well for at least some of the principal subjects of the book (given that the author interviewed them decades later) but I was still petrified as I read about the extreme risks these students - who were practically still teenagers! - took to help loved ones and strangers escape East Berlin. The book presented an absolutely fascinating insight to the different perspectives in Berlin during the '60s, and I found the Stasi communications that were sprinkled through the later chapters both interesting and deeply eerie.
I'll be very annoying over the next few months as I recommend this book to anyone who sits still for long enough.
Incredibly researched, deeply informative but reads like a thriller. I genuinely couldn't put it down - I was reading it at the computer, thanking my lucky stars I still work from home.
I knew things would end relatively well for at least some of the principal subjects of the book (given that the author interviewed them decades later) but I was still petrified as I read about the extreme risks these students - who were practically still teenagers! - took to help loved ones and strangers escape East Berlin. The book presented an absolutely fascinating insight to the different perspectives in Berlin during the '60s, and I found the Stasi communications that were sprinkled through the later chapters both interesting and deeply eerie.
I'll be very annoying over the next few months as I recommend this book to anyone who sits still for long enough.
margaret21's review against another edition
5.0
This is the story, much of it seen through the eyes of one young ex-East Berliner, of what it was like to live in East Berlin, particularly during the period of The Berlin Wall. It describes the privations, limitations, securities and insecurities of this society which made itself responsible for you from cradle to grave. It describes the reach of the Stasi, which recruited its informers even in West Berlin, and then goes on to describe the story of one group who strive to build an escape tunnel. This is a story full of suspense, anxiety and heartache. Despite our knowing that the wall is no more, and that many of the characters described survive to tell the tale, this book is a real page turner. And in among, we learn about the Stasi and its methods and their prisons. A real must-read.
joaotjesus's review
5.0
Amazing book, it reads like a novel. All praise to the author for its conception, research, frameworking and execution. I'm giving it five stars and I'll probably reread it sometime.
Although I was already a bit familiar with the circumstances surrounding the building of the Berlin Wall and its political backdrop, this book filled a lot of gaps in my understanding of those events.
I will just talk about a couple of minor quibbles, or rather reflections / thoughts-out-loud, that don't detract from its worthiness.
In the context of the Cold War, no doubt life in the West was better than life in the East, after all, the whole point of building the wall was to prevent people from escaping from the East to the West, so the East wouldn't run out of people. Also, it's understandable that people who lived in the East, once they got into their minds that they wanted to leave, they should become desperate to do so. They started to see the grass greener on the other side. Even if material life wouldn't have been much better, the thought of having freedom in a general way had to be a mighty attraction. There shoudn't be any doubt that the communist authorities did a lot of bad things in East Germany, as they also made a lot of bad policy decisions, as the one to not let people leave the East. But East Germany wasn't made by the communist authorities alone, there was also millions of people who lived there and who, just by living their lives, helped to shape what East Germany was. And I don't believe it was all bad. Even in today's Germany there is a rift between Wessies and Ossies, where the latter seem to feel a little put down by their former neighbors. Anyway, it's a sensitive topic and should be regarded as such.
Another thing that is usually almost a cliche in stories set in the Cold War is how the state employees are always unbelieavably fastidious in doing their duty. They don't complain about their jobs, they don't take shortcuts to get their job done, they are always doing their utmost to make a perfect job. This applies to high-ranking officials, which are a little more believable, but also to low-ranking ones, like prison guards, border patrols, etc.
Apparently, one of the things that the repugnant Stasi did to disorient prisoners was, while moving them from one prison to another, even if they were only minutes apart, they drove them around for hours in windowless trucks, so the prisoner wouldn't have the faintest idea where he was, further intimidating him. Although this was terrible for the poor prisoner, I can't help feeling a little pity for the driver, just imagining him spending his day driving around without a definite place to get to for several hours. I honestly can't think of a worse job than this to have. Also the Stasi interrogators had a hell of a job. Even if they probably were sadistic sons-of-bitches (so no pity for them), they spent their days on windowless bunkers psychologically torturing other people. Even if they took breaks, while the prisoners obviously did not, that's a hell of a shitty job to be doing every day.
Although I was already a bit familiar with the circumstances surrounding the building of the Berlin Wall and its political backdrop, this book filled a lot of gaps in my understanding of those events.
I will just talk about a couple of minor quibbles, or rather reflections / thoughts-out-loud, that don't detract from its worthiness.
In the context of the Cold War, no doubt life in the West was better than life in the East, after all, the whole point of building the wall was to prevent people from escaping from the East to the West, so the East wouldn't run out of people. Also, it's understandable that people who lived in the East, once they got into their minds that they wanted to leave, they should become desperate to do so. They started to see the grass greener on the other side. Even if material life wouldn't have been much better, the thought of having freedom in a general way had to be a mighty attraction. There shoudn't be any doubt that the communist authorities did a lot of bad things in East Germany, as they also made a lot of bad policy decisions, as the one to not let people leave the East. But East Germany wasn't made by the communist authorities alone, there was also millions of people who lived there and who, just by living their lives, helped to shape what East Germany was. And I don't believe it was all bad. Even in today's Germany there is a rift between Wessies and Ossies, where the latter seem to feel a little put down by their former neighbors. Anyway, it's a sensitive topic and should be regarded as such.
Another thing that is usually almost a cliche in stories set in the Cold War is how the state employees are always unbelieavably fastidious in doing their duty. They don't complain about their jobs, they don't take shortcuts to get their job done, they are always doing their utmost to make a perfect job. This applies to high-ranking officials, which are a little more believable, but also to low-ranking ones, like prison guards, border patrols, etc.
Apparently, one of the things that the repugnant Stasi did to disorient prisoners was, while moving them from one prison to another, even if they were only minutes apart, they drove them around for hours in windowless trucks, so the prisoner wouldn't have the faintest idea where he was, further intimidating him. Although this was terrible for the poor prisoner, I can't help feeling a little pity for the driver, just imagining him spending his day driving around without a definite place to get to for several hours. I honestly can't think of a worse job than this to have. Also the Stasi interrogators had a hell of a job. Even if they probably were sadistic sons-of-bitches (so no pity for them), they spent their days on windowless bunkers psychologically torturing other people. Even if they took breaks, while the prisoners obviously did not, that's a hell of a shitty job to be doing every day.
donb's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
heatherbrae_bock's review
4.0
Overall an excellent book! It's a shame that the snippets of German weren't properly edited; instead, some of the German includes sloppy mistakes, such as writing nouns in lowercase (all nouns in German are capitalized). Still, well worth a read!!
lenaklinke's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.75