I have wanted to read Alfred Döblin’s ‘Berlin Alexanderplatz‘ for a long time, and when I discovered that there will be a readalong hosted by Caroline from ‘Beauty is a Sleeping Cat’ and Lizzy from ‘Lizzy’s Literary Life’, as part of German Literature Month, I was excited! This is the first of the readalong posts in question-and-answer and covers the first two chapters of the book.
Welcome to the #germanlitmonth readalong of Alfred Döblin’s Berlin Alexanderplatz. What enticed you to readalong with us?
I have always wanted to read ‘Berlin Alexanderplatz’. When I discovered that there was going to be a readalong during GLM, I couldn’t resist joining.
Summarise your initial expectations. Are they being met?
I didn’t really have many expectations. I was thinking it might be a bit heavy and hard to read. On actual reading, it seems to be not as heavy as I expected, but there seems to be a kind of ‘stream-of-consciousness’ style thing in it. I am not able to articulate better, but this style makes the reading more challenging.
Which edition/translation are you using and how is it reading? If you’re reading the original German, is there anything noteworthy about Döblin’s language?
I am reading the Michael Hoffman translation. I found it very interesting, because I was expecting long sentences and deep thoughts, but the sentences were short with descriptions and they moved the plot. In some ways, very un-German 😁
What are your first impressions of Berlin and Franz Biberkopf?
Very interesting. From the kind of themes covered in the initial two chapters, the book must have been ahead of its times and probably controversial too. Franz Biberkopf seems to be an interesting character, sometimes happy-go-lucky, sometimes complex.
Döblin’s original title was “Berlin Alexanderplatz” He added “The Story of Franz Biberkopf” at the publisher’s insistence. Why do you think the publisher intervened in this way? How does this duality of focus manifest itself in the structure of chapter 2?
I didn’t know this. Very interesting! Maybe it is the story of both Berlin and Alexanderplatz and Franz Biberkopf, and how they all evolved and changed during this period.
Do you any have any further observations or questions you’ll be looking to answer at a later stage?
Looking forward to finding out what Franz is upto.
Are you participating in the ‘Berlin Alexanderplatz‘ readalong?
It was interesting to read your thoughts. You mention short sentences. I didn’t pay attention and will have to check but I noticed that translators sometimes cut up the German sentences and make it more readable that way. I find parts captivating but others not so easy. It picks up speed after chapter 6.
Very interesting to know that, Caroline! Sad that the translators break up the sentences though. It changes the prose style in a big way and we respond to the book differently.
I’m not saying that’s what they did here but they did in Sebald’s case. And in others.
Oh, sad to know that! The breaking up of long sentences into short ones takes away the feel of the original. It is sad that the translators opted to do that.
They do to make it more readable, more English. There’s always a debate whether it’s better to turn a text into beautiful English or stick as close to the original as possible. Sebald’s success in English largely surpasses his success in German and I’m pretty sure that’s because he’s so much more readable in translation.
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