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jrowe93's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
weltenkreuzer's review against another edition
5.0
Faszinierendes Panorama einer Stadt und einer Zeit. Einfühlsam und eindrucksvoll.
ppetropoulakis's review against another edition
5.0
Jason Lutes captures the spirit of the time between world wars in Germany in this extraordinary work. The characters are rich, deep, complex and tragic.
nilsjesper's review against another edition
5.0
Genuinely one of the most amazing books I've ever read. I've been following this in pieces since the first volume but just went back and read the whole thing through. There's just so much humanity seeping out of every panel and yet it also captures the spirit of the times and the interwar moment that seems so telescoped from our present day vantage point. All with beautiful ligne claire art. Can't describe how much I love this.
lunchlander's review against another edition
3.0
An undeniably beautiful, well-researched and fascinating read that I had trouble plugging into. There are a lot of characters, and they all look somewhat similar, and I had trouble following every story in every detail, especially with cursive font choices such as the one used for Marthe’s thoughts, which is a pet peeve of mine.
That said, I’m glad I read it and I understand why it’s held in such high regard. It seems that my interest in historical fiction, like my interest in biographies, may not be as strong as most.
That said, I’m glad I read it and I understand why it’s held in such high regard. It seems that my interest in historical fiction, like my interest in biographies, may not be as strong as most.
adriancurcher's review against another edition
5.0
I can't think of anything to fault this book. It fits in that cannon of classic graphic novels right next to Maus and Jimmy Corrigan. Beautiful art and a captivating story exploring the time between wars in Berlin, that feels scarily relevent today.
scarletohhara's review against another edition
4.0
Not really about the rise of the Nazis as I expected, but this book is a good portrait of now liberal and fun the post-WW-I Berlin was, and a snapshot of how all that was demolished after the Nazis were elected. The book covers everything relevant - the struggles of the artist, LGBTQ, communists, orphans, Jews and is very well told.
Must read if you are interested in pre-war-Berlin.
Must read if you are interested in pre-war-Berlin.
daniel_ov's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A long, full read, spanning four years and multiple characters. I appreciated the breadth of this graphic novel, for even though there were repeating characters, we also got snippets of a variety of different people. The genuine care taken for non-straight representation was also a nice touch. However, I definitely got confused at multiple points about who was who and this isn't the most accessible work if you don't know much about Berlin history (which I do not).
obnorthrup's review against another edition
4.0
Weaves together a few main story threads into a dynamic tapestry of interwar Berlin. The art is appealing, although the stand out panels are the architectural ones.