Book Review of Berlin Atomized by Julia Kornberg ( trans Jack Rockwell and Julia Kornberg)

 Name of Book:

Author:

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Type of book: 2000s-2060s, travel, siblings, Buenos Aires, music, art, Paris, speed of light, Europe, Asia, South America, talent, destruction, survival 

Year it was published:

Summary:

Characters:

The main characters characters would be Nina and Jeremias Goldstein. Both are best described as creative and adrenaline type junkies, Nina when it comes to romance, and Jeremias towards music. Nina often loves to show the figurative middle finger to the world. Jeremias is lost to the world and seems to be more of follower than leader. There are a few secondary characters like the "editor" Angelica Oshiro as well as Matthias who has decided to travel to gaza and the siblings extremely uncaring and absentminded mother.  

Theme:

Be ready for the future 

Plot:

The story is in first person narrative from Ninas and Jeremias points of view, although most of the story is of Nina. The tale begins in Buenos Aires in early 2000s as we get introduced to clean obsessed Nina, and music obsessed Jeremias who are coming of age in a wealthy gated community. What I wasn't sure is how long the beginning sections are, a season,a day, years? The passage of time in sections isn't told, and quite often I got the impression that they are selective postcards to the siblings lives. The story itself spans from 2000s until 2060s. 

Author Information:

Opinion:

I read it from cover to cover and am struggling to understand what the book is about as well as my feelings towards it. First of all its not a complete story but are scraps that create a type of story. Second of all reading this book is like jumping on a flying rocket with very little knowledge or instruction on what to do. Third of all, some parts of the book are strangely prescient, in particular the numerous battles between the government and it's citizens. I also should mention of a strange nostalgia that permeates the book, of Buenos Aires in early 00s, of carefree and carelessness created by characters. In some way it's very similar to DOGS OF SUMMER by Andrea Abreu 

This was given for review 

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)