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glendareads39's review against another edition
5.0
This book takes a look at how The East Berlin punk rock movement led a revolution against the politics of Germany and how their social movement led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
kimscozyreads's review against another edition
5.0
Best nonfiction read this year.
I am biased as a punk fan myself- some of the most fun Ive ever had has been at ska shows with like, less than a hundred people there. But man, I can not imagine getting thrown in jail for my blue hair and band buttons.
This was such a compelling narrative threaded through with thorough explanations of how the East German government society and the Stazi functioned... which is very important for a Western reader like myself.
The author also made it very clear that these revolutionaries were against authoritarianism, not against socialism.
They wanted nothing to do with Western capitalism either.
I'm used to hearing an account much more in favor of a pro-capitalist viewpoint.
The pictures included were a nice touch, too.
If y'all are interested, I found a playlist on spotify called Too Much Future that features recording from many of the bands in the book.
So in short, everyone should read this. If you already appreciate punk, it's amazing, and if you don't, you will learn even more. Punk is political, and it's so much more than the songs themselves.
I am biased as a punk fan myself- some of the most fun Ive ever had has been at ska shows with like, less than a hundred people there. But man, I can not imagine getting thrown in jail for my blue hair and band buttons.
This was such a compelling narrative threaded through with thorough explanations of how the East German government society and the Stazi functioned... which is very important for a Western reader like myself.
The author also made it very clear that these revolutionaries were against authoritarianism, not against socialism.
They wanted nothing to do with Western capitalism either.
I'm used to hearing an account much more in favor of a pro-capitalist viewpoint.
The pictures included were a nice touch, too.
If y'all are interested, I found a playlist on spotify called Too Much Future that features recording from many of the bands in the book.
So in short, everyone should read this. If you already appreciate punk, it's amazing, and if you don't, you will learn even more. Punk is political, and it's so much more than the songs themselves.
randomscrabble's review against another edition
2.0
This book by Tim Mohr might serve as a tiny spark igniting the interest of some in the history of post-world war II Germany, it won't tell you much of the early years since it mostly focuses on some way of living and what motivated revolutionary thinking and actions, ones that eventually led to the fall of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), its dictatorship ways and some idealistic divisions.
The book focuses on, as the title suggests, the breaking of the norm by looking for ways to distinguish oneself from the rest of an indoctrinated society using one's means of expression: clothes, hair, art, music, etc. We are presented with several young people with very similar stories, which is to be expected when they were living the same reality, they all came to realize that their desire of having some say over their futures was an act of defiance in the eyes of their government. This was all necessary and important, how they all came to understand they were being oppressed but it could've been handled less repetitively in the book.
I understand this is not a history book, that we get some outliers but that the interest is devoted to these kids living those days and them transforming their desire for change into a movement that led the charge of revolution. This is truly admirable and brave.
I always felt proud of having been born in November 1989, because this huge thing had happened and I felt like part of history, let's say as a kid I just knew the Berlin Wall falling was an act of revolution and feisty spirits, I liked that. As an adult one goes a bit deeper and even if the feeling is still there, history contains so much and one comes to realize that we humans are such fools with our wars and never-ending divisions.
Anyway, I enjoyed the book, the narrator on Audible is Matthew Lloyd Davies and he did a marvelous job. A repetitive story, yes, but it conveyed its message loud and clear: Punks led this revolution, they opened their own doors into the lives they wanted to lead, they freed their paths to go into the things that made them passionate, they lived.
I particularly enjoyed this interview with the author: https://www.picturethispost.com/burning-down-the-haus-preview-interview-with-author-tim-mohr/ . It was interesting to read that he got to experience the aftermath of life in Berlin after the fall of the wall.
Let's say I will be reading more into this piece of history that threads long and complicated, but "that's Europe", says a Belgian friend.
The book focuses on, as the title suggests, the breaking of the norm by looking for ways to distinguish oneself from the rest of an indoctrinated society using one's means of expression: clothes, hair, art, music, etc. We are presented with several young people with very similar stories, which is to be expected when they were living the same reality, they all came to realize that their desire of having some say over their futures was an act of defiance in the eyes of their government. This was all necessary and important, how they all came to understand they were being oppressed but it could've been handled less repetitively in the book.
I understand this is not a history book, that we get some outliers but that the interest is devoted to these kids living those days and them transforming their desire for change into a movement that led the charge of revolution. This is truly admirable and brave.
I always felt proud of having been born in November 1989, because this huge thing had happened and I felt like part of history, let's say as a kid I just knew the Berlin Wall falling was an act of revolution and feisty spirits, I liked that. As an adult one goes a bit deeper and even if the feeling is still there, history contains so much and one comes to realize that we humans are such fools with our wars and never-ending divisions.
Anyway, I enjoyed the book, the narrator on Audible is Matthew Lloyd Davies and he did a marvelous job. A repetitive story, yes, but it conveyed its message loud and clear: Punks led this revolution, they opened their own doors into the lives they wanted to lead, they freed their paths to go into the things that made them passionate, they lived.
I particularly enjoyed this interview with the author: https://www.picturethispost.com/burning-down-the-haus-preview-interview-with-author-tim-mohr/ . It was interesting to read that he got to experience the aftermath of life in Berlin after the fall of the wall.
Let's say I will be reading more into this piece of history that threads long and complicated, but "that's Europe", says a Belgian friend.
rita_reads_cda's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Audiobook - I found the first half (late 1970s to early 1980s) the most interesting. Then the books slowed and I lost some interest
jeffreycrow's review against another edition
2.0
Very interesting subject but just wasn't that well written and didn't feel well researched. Lack of depth, too many people we don't learn enough about.
fierkej's review against another edition
5.0
I wouldn’t say that this book is particularly well-written— the narrative is choppy and awkward for most of the book, but the material is fascinating and you can tell that the author is passionate about his subject, which makes it an engaging page-turner.
This book speaks to my soul as a German-American whose family was separated by the DDR. I grew up with stories of the brutality of the Stasi and the powerlessness and paranoia many East German residents felt. I was not aware that there was such a diverse and openly subversive community rallying for change in the DDR before reading this book, and I am retroactively grateful to the punks for helping to bring about the circumstances that reunited my family at great cost to their safety.
Even though the punk vision of the end of the DDR has been largely erased by development and the larger narrative of a “finally unified” Germany, I realized after reading Burning down the Haus that the remnants of this eastern punk are what I love about Berlin and other cities in the former DDR. I went to school down the street from Tacheles in its last few years and though I was too shy to make an appearance there, I loved walking by on nights when the Kino was showing a movie and observing the communal spirit. Even Frankfurt Oder, the small city where Antitrott got its start, retains a punk spirit through its public art and church-based political groups. I can only hope that the popularity of Burning Down the Haus promotes wider discussion of East German counter culture and the nuances of reunification, 30 years later.
This book speaks to my soul as a German-American whose family was separated by the DDR. I grew up with stories of the brutality of the Stasi and the powerlessness and paranoia many East German residents felt. I was not aware that there was such a diverse and openly subversive community rallying for change in the DDR before reading this book, and I am retroactively grateful to the punks for helping to bring about the circumstances that reunited my family at great cost to their safety.
Even though the punk vision of the end of the DDR has been largely erased by development and the larger narrative of a “finally unified” Germany, I realized after reading Burning down the Haus that the remnants of this eastern punk are what I love about Berlin and other cities in the former DDR. I went to school down the street from Tacheles in its last few years and though I was too shy to make an appearance there, I loved walking by on nights when the Kino was showing a movie and observing the communal spirit. Even Frankfurt Oder, the small city where Antitrott got its start, retains a punk spirit through its public art and church-based political groups. I can only hope that the popularity of Burning Down the Haus promotes wider discussion of East German counter culture and the nuances of reunification, 30 years later.
readingrobin's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
An interesting snapshot in history of the punk movement during the time of the Berlin Wall. The author makes the bold claim that the punk presence was a cause for the fall of the wall when he doesn't really say anything to back that information up. The book mainly talks about specific people within the punk community and the challenge of trying to live a subversive lifestyle when going against the status quo could get you arrested. The journeys of some of the people were very engaging, though some did seem more fleshed out than others and many didn't get much of a resolution. I would have loved to have read some retrospectives from some of the people in the community, as it seemed that the author was in contact with them, just to get a wider scope of their stories.
marginaliant's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting premise that is really let down by its narrow scope. Mohr doesn't really discuss any factors outside of the punk scene for the fall of the Berlin wall, which could give uninitiated readers the mistaken impression that the fall of the DDR was entirely due to the punks. He goes as far as to suggest that all people dissatisfied with the Berlin wall in 1989 were influenced by punk ideology.
His view inside the punk scene is also really narrow, he says at one point that punk is about more than hair and music, but that's all he really discusses. He doesn't flesh out the scene with enough information about the music itself (he just keeps repeating that it was loud and fast) or about the discussion groups, political debates, writings, feminist activism, etc.
Basically it was fine but not great.
His view inside the punk scene is also really narrow, he says at one point that punk is about more than hair and music, but that's all he really discusses. He doesn't flesh out the scene with enough information about the music itself (he just keeps repeating that it was loud and fast) or about the discussion groups, political debates, writings, feminist activism, etc.
Basically it was fine but not great.