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92 reviews for:
Burning Down the Haus: Punk Rock, Revolution, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall
Tim Mohr
3.98 AVERAGE
92 reviews for:
Burning Down the Haus: Punk Rock, Revolution, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall
Tim Mohr
3.98 AVERAGE
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.
This was a really interesting read about the power of punk to create spaces of resistance within even the most repressive environments and cause real-world, long lasting change through the power of DIY.
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
started off a bit slow, but really picked up! A really fascinating true story that almost reads like literary fiction (wasn't entirely a fan of the prose), but I want to know more about the historiography and methodology that I didn’t get from the bibliography or acknowledgments. I’m also curious about any potential differences if this was in German versus English. Noted connections to Polish punks for future research
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Interesting piece of history highlights real problems in East Germany and the failure of Anarchists to plan in the long term. Highly recommend.
In a fascinating use of STASI records, Mohr follows the discovery of punk in East Germany--first by a 14 year old girl in 1977, then as it spreads to other disgruntled youths. Sure, the secret police could intimidate and terrorize normal people, but what do you do with a group whose raison d'etre is clashes with authority, who wear their black eyes as a badge of honor, who reject all the material comforts used as leverage over other people? Mohr examines the attempts to force garage bands to have professional musician licenses, pressure from the USSR to encourage "youth culture," the odd disjuncture from UK punk screaming about the government *not* caring enough and intervening vs. East German resentment of oppressive planning and meddling (sort of like Cuban hip hop with no guns, drugs or gangs), and the sheltering of punks by Lutheran churches as part of their blanket agreement with the state. Powerfully, the decade of punk before the 1989 collapse of the wall and the Eastern Bloc demonstrate the power of people who sneer "no" to kick cracks in what appears to be a very stable and stolid society.
Great read. From the beginning of punk in East Berlin to fighting cops and Stasi to exist to egging on regular people to hit the streets protesting and eventually ending with the fall of the wall.
(3.5/5)
As a student of German language, history, and culture from high school through college, I thought this book would provide more insight into the cultural and political mood during the punk revolution. It does provide glimpses of the cultural and political but each chapter is more like a vignette of a particular person’s life or a group’s life. There’s nothing wrong with that but it wasn’t what I was expecting.
The writing can be enthralling at points and then a little lack luster and basic at others. I found it a little difficult to keep up with all of the story lines but you get the general sense of where you are in the progression of the overall story.
I think this book is very relevant to today’s world though, oddly enough. With the world becoming increasingly closed off to the “other,” this book is heartening. A group of people who speak up, engage the corrupt system, and keep pressing despite physical and emotional trauma should be inspiration to us all.
“Wenn Unrecht zu Recht wird, wird Widerstand zur Pflicht.”
-When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes a duty.-
As a student of German language, history, and culture from high school through college, I thought this book would provide more insight into the cultural and political mood during the punk revolution. It does provide glimpses of the cultural and political but each chapter is more like a vignette of a particular person’s life or a group’s life. There’s nothing wrong with that but it wasn’t what I was expecting.
The writing can be enthralling at points and then a little lack luster and basic at others. I found it a little difficult to keep up with all of the story lines but you get the general sense of where you are in the progression of the overall story.
I think this book is very relevant to today’s world though, oddly enough. With the world becoming increasingly closed off to the “other,” this book is heartening. A group of people who speak up, engage the corrupt system, and keep pressing despite physical and emotional trauma should be inspiration to us all.
“Wenn Unrecht zu Recht wird, wird Widerstand zur Pflicht.”
-When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes a duty.-
I was surprised at how little I knew about politics leading up to the wall coming down. You don't need any knowledge of punk to read this, which was a concern of mine.
informative
tense
slow-paced
I enjoyed Mohr's voice and writing style - it was informative but irreverent which suited the subject matter. The stories of East German punks came to life and the photos added context and character. My only critique is the pacing of the book - it spent a lot of time on the events of 1983-84 and a bit on the mid- to late-80s but breezed through 1989. The book felt like it was building up to the fall of the Berlin Wall, but skipped over the action, instead telling the story of a band who played in West Berlin on November 9th and noticed their East Berlin friends joining the crowd.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Stalking
Moderate: Cursing, Physical abuse
Minor: Animal death