Century to the present a subject of selection from our literary experts and a very personal view. What do you mean for filling the soul and it was a totally idiotic expression where you try to save his life for a glass or a bottle a barrel maybe order six. Hundred saying born in cuffs bondage blindfolds a few years ago a trilogy of novels with those ingredients caused a scandal it was belittled as horn for moms might know by sitting on. A cot in hempstead is at the Frankfurt Book Fair talking with subpoena. And David Leavitts who both compiled the list our celebrity guest is author jenny aplin back. In part one we talked about german history as reflected in literature and the seven Nobel Laureates on the list. Today were discussing the image of berlin in books and films. And revisit bestselling germ. A funk in the us. This and more on arts twenty one one hundred german must reads from the Frankfurt Book Fair even oath many of the books on our list of one hundred german must reads have been made into films and of course because of this many people abroad know and have an image of the german capital berlin im thinking for instance of the t. V. Series babylon berlin based on the novel by fuckwit who berlin is the setting for many of the books on the list sabina can you explain to us the endless fascination with the city has always done them i dont know. Lynn developed into a metropolis in the early Twentieth Century in the one nine hundred twenty s. It was the place people moved to in germany that that something was going on with and i dont know what to call it it was the arts the outsiders and of course politics thats one berlins legendary aura developed into what an incredible number of novels in the twentys and thirtys were set in berlin the fetal monny thats months ago and many writers lived there and wrote about their city and it continues to this day. After the wall fell lots of writers again moved to berlin as if you know all too enough so berlin is the setting of many novels on our list of one hundred must reads. From the news today when i couldnt be sure. No other place is the setting for as many novels on our list as berlin. Where else do hope and failure collide so often that a city state in history inspires storytellers. Right now everyones talking about the Popular Series babylon berlin. Its based on folk or culture is crime novel of the same type and it plunges into the deck. That world of drugs sex and violence. Champagne coquet sex jazz murder if youre looking for a romp through berlin in the roaring twentys this book is for you. The lavish t. V. Version of the book directed by among others tom tikva is enjoying worldwide success flamboyant ecstatic and very true to germanys political history. Where the computer business records. The same city in the same era berlin are examined up lots the iconic expressionist novel by alfred to blame sublimely film for television by hina they are now and its the story of france bieber called freshly released from prison now he wants to do everything better but he stumbles again. Is a sin of a dimension cant soak a sound of the rest of us should. We just make sure its subtle to tell us who would seek out its a consolation. A tragic downward spiral into the cesspools of berlin this story has lost nothing of its fascination and is now being filmed yet again. And then berlin had this wall. A divided city with a wall around its western half plenty of dramatic material the east german writer crystal balls described the tragedy of the city and the entire country. Divided heaven film by convolvulus tells the story of a couple in communist east germany he flees to west berlin and freedom she stays in the east of her own free. Will. Be for they were separated lovers used to look for a star where their eyes would meet what should we look for. The city and. Intimidations when she was there. They need. Two different systems of government and warded love the novel was a success on both sides of the wall. Two decades later in west berlin and then reagan are captured the wild life style in the citys quite spare district a cult but even as muses most of us are just. Giving it up. That. He might name and stumbles from bed to the cabin back to life from quite spare to quite spare via quite spare still the idea that it could continue forever is oppressive this before told at the bar in the bubble of west berlin which then bursts. Up just when you get to the most awful. Suddenly everything is different nothing in berlin remains the same reunification is on the horizon but who are these relatives on the other side of the wall in the east she commits unlovely but im. Sure you can still have the bars and try to live off Student Loans until you die but nothing is as wild as this neighborhood courts back was in the eightys. The literature of germany and its capital berlin lost divided rediscovered both loved and hated. That. It is not to be for lindsay also known internationally as the city with the wildest heaviest parties of time for the past not really not in frankfurt no way of the underlings been the Party Capital for a long time and it was also should be at the center of the Twentieth Century of european history. If you go to its place where many authors live and many choose to stay there even though they could write for many words like genuine back for example you were born in berlin you live and work here and havent felt the need to leave just berlin have the right climate for writers. Managers of you think they know well its certainly not an interesting city at any rate. I did take a five year side trip to austria but i came back. And i think more than any other german city the marlin completely reinvented itself after the wall fell i had some believe the appeal of berlin is all about its fractures and flaws there simply arent the smooth surfaces like there are in other cities i also think its actually the east that gives berlin its vitality. And. Journey back was born to be a writer her father and grandfather were famous authors but at university she study theatre and directing before publishing your first novel in one thousand nine hundred nine. The old child describes a young girls a scrape from the world of adult responsibility an allegory of life east germany. And back blends politics into the lives of our characters her latest novel nominated for the german book prize tells a story of migration and everyday life in germany. And im dynastic and on a thursday at the end of august a group of ten black men gathered outside the Berlin City Hall building. I thought this very day decided to stage a Hunger Strike three days later they stopped taking liquids. Up and back fills her work with contemporary history and searches for personal solutions to the Major Political issues over time. The writer explores similar themes of contemporary German Society in a twenty turned novel visitation which is on her list journey first journey almost all of your books are translated into english how do readers abroad react to your novels are there differences to the reactions from your german readers for example dorchin leads them. Releases this leave them as you well recently they wrote that id win the nobel prize at some point maybe it was the new yorker what can i say the. Like my work sometimes i get the feeling my books are viewed more impartially theyre take my latest book about refugees i wrote up before the refugee crisis in germany they sometimes say thats just like a documentary or thats too current cant be proper literature and this is so are the ages come back and a little of the English Speaking world doesnt come up with ideas like that i can recognize that theres still plenty of literature beneath the topical surface these in no more open and isnt often. We visited translator Katie Darbyshire in berlin shes a real connoisseur of german literature and is completely involved in the works of her authors. Maybe darbyshire can certainly help you out if youre looking for a good book at her favorite bookshop or a translation what drives her. By law books that make you feel very deeply me i love when literature can make you. Angry sometimes i was translating it short story. Made me cry while i was translating it which is kind of manipulative but. I like literature that you can hear the sound of it when you when youre reading it you can hear the more you can hear the. The press all the where where the writers are really using the language to do something to us. For more than two decades now katy darbyshire only translates books that really move her. Such as an opera stole off a novel by the bill of which i hope its on our list of one hundred german must read and doubly sure has translated is often puzzling dark works plus shes rendered in english the books of clamens meyer who caused a stir with his stories about just after german reunification the translator really went the extra mile for myras latest novel. The hardest book to play so i managed to place with probably. More time because its very very long and its about six whack and we still have an american publisher. Weirdly because its amazing. She said until youre looking for an english publisher which needed another year to get the money together and then she started translating which presented some challenges. Jam and weve got zero nine. And its not a language taught and then in english we get oh no gerrys red hot and good to trot so that kind of thing and i think i had to get permission she got the go ahead over dinner with the author the effort was worth it bricks and mortar was listed for the Man Booker International prize its his baby and its mine she says. She loves interacting with the authors which sometimes goes beyond the professional. Someone actually friends with some it feels very one way so i feel like i go very deep inside of their work and im. Kind of inside their brain and rethinking their thoughts in my language. But of course they didnt do their thing to me. Or experiences intensely the book she translates her blog love german books is completely dedicated to german literature and several of her translation works are on our list of one hundred german must reads among them is of course bricks and mortar by claimants. Women selling their bodies to make quick cash gross old men taking advantage of young girls claimants myers novel bricks and mortar is about a nameless town in eastern germany no sooner has the regime fallen then drugs crime and prostitution come flooding in the many voices in the book are mostly womens some of them have chosen prostitution others have been forced into it and theyre all just trying to get through it i have a kind of scale dirty nails and bad breath right at the top but theres no difference in the and not much and theres another scale just for breath and then when they panted here you have to turn away carefully your head i mean so it doesnt look rude. Bricks and mortar will take you want to journey through a dark and brutal world but with shimmers of deep humanity hope and humor. Lets talk about humor now weve talked about so many heavy topics. That can german writers also do night and funny. Or do readers expect more of this kind of dark brooding. Horse theres this global stereotype of germans as having no sense of humor but our list shows thats not true. Theres some very sweet humor for instance and why we took the car by. Even when it comes to heavy topics of german history theres such a Broad Spectrum of approaches its incredible even when it comes to writing about war or genocide im thinking of the nazi and the barber but ive got his a book thats hilarious and satirical but the book was published in the us first because at the time in the one nine hundred seventy s. No german publisher would risk putting out a satire of the nazi period and another book on jacob the liar by you went back on features some very tragic humor. And scans there are many many authors with a very subtle sense of humor including jimmy up and back or is that just my interpretation and interprets he has a nice enough to know i agree that i have a sense of humor in germany they tend to overlook it maybe its a special type of humor. Maybe its simply easier to understand outside germany he said you know what about you did you find enough to laugh about in the list. Fifteen crackly then and. Start my thing i like books with understated humor that you their characters lovingly and tell good stories. As it is funny that i cant say much about this question because i think germans do have a sense of humor. But thats no measure of whether a novel is good. Mr. David as im david as an american what would you say to English Speaking leaders all over the world why should they take the time to explore german literature which. Is from the us and but in general i think whats missing in our world is more understanding of one another or german history is constantly the topic of an english language movies or t. V. Although its often presented quite two dimensional by the themes its in so many people are interested in german history shouldnt they try to see it from the inside. To my from inside the literature in translation provides a great opportunity for people to look at history not just from the outside but from the inside now apart from history there are also just some fantastic and imaginative stories here by authors such as yoko to watch a japanese woman who writes in german. A german who writes in california. Malibu home to some of the worlds biggest stars and germanys childrens author. Lets go visit. Has sold tens of millions of books across fifty countries. Twelve years ago she left germany for california. America opened its arms and said we love your stories fantastical stories about the power of books and the imagination of young people including her International Breakthrough novel in cart these days from could travels the globe to meet her readers. I was in hamburg the night the socalled president of this country was elected. And you could call him he who shall not be named like in harry potter. On it was that night that it became clear to me that i wanted to come back to america because this is my home now and i felt i had to fight for it its more stuff of kempe. Because home is here now with her dogs ducks and donkeys and her avocado grows she says here in the u. S. Childrens literature is valued much more than in germany Time Magazine even listed as one of the worlds one hundred most influential people for inspiring Young Readers around the world children are a huge source of her inspiration. Because they dont use equipment like they can hide their feelings the way grown ups can most of them dont have any masks on yet its tough theyre very serious about life they still ask the Big Questions about life and death. Whereas we grownups keep learning to filter things out so that we can just keep living the way we want to live so by then i like to see myself as the kids spy in this strange grown up world and reveal a few secrets to them from time to time its a hot. Focus as its her love for her readers thats the secret to her global success. To you write differently now that youre writing for such an International Audience its been your team and. Im a different person now that ive been to so many countries and travelled so much and expose myself to so many cultures in my horizons are a lot brighter than a duck when i only knew hamburg. In your experience what do americans think about german literature and authors. That kind of presentation i can only speak from my own experience but id say that its practically a blank slate as possible between this practice are a lot of americans surprised german yeah. A lot of americans think that i am american or at least that i write in english thats enough english hide so theyre quite surprised and also fascinated to learn that i write in german and you hear on and when i visit schools the kids always ask me cornelius Say Something in german for kids and us can i ask you something in germany. Well you know when i do theyre completely fascinated that they really dont understand it and that i can speak it when that stuff come up canadia phone has made working wayne which is still german as she knows the title what the neighbors one hundred via tottenham and they call. Us in the market often but most of her readers dont care what language she writes in for them its the story the counts. But scotland was fall away and so was the realm of heaven the valley that the last dragons in this world have called the home for two years now. Is of course the bestselling author of fantasy novels for young people that also strike a chord with adults and when you look over this list and do a head count it looks like about a third of the authors are women and why so few buy place. Homes. This interest im full of it simply reflects the number of published female authors. Then its still that way but of course its especially pronounced in the first half of the Twentieth Century or even the first seventy or eighty years of that century and its there were far fewer women whose works were published. And to get onto our list they had to be translated into english that was the second hurdle as it was its thats what and its why it is but i think progress is being made there are many more female authors who are winning prizes and the ultimate prize in the. Giving is in having that then as we just saw with the german book prize and miss appen back do you agree is that a fair description of your reality and are things changing or is there still a long way to go for female authors mayoress this kind of comment that could be more help for Young Mothers who write for writers there are technical problems involved in their work and this is for instance if they get a fellowship they can really take their children with them. Are no kindergartens where they have their fellowships. I. Suppose to me in life. But i have a husband whos worked in other cities and i was often left alone with our child. And i either had to take our child with me or stay at home. Things like that are a problem and men can actively help it may be hard for some men to stand back when women personal career thank goodness thats not the case with my husband. Of us back to our experts what were your biggest discoveries when compiling this list. I just got. There were all sorts of discoveries there were books id always wanted to read one example is a book i found excitingly different o. Material by your. Sit in the one nine hundred sixty s. And seventys in istanbul berlin and frankfurt. In it a man in a Leather Jacket introduces himself. And hes constantly on drugs and drunk and desperately wants to write i found it such an intense experience that i can absolutely recommend it because. Youre going to watch as memoirs of a polar bear its a Twentieth Century history told by polar bears. Another very quirky and wonderful book there are some great reading tips here today from sabina kids about David Leavitts also from our special guest jenny app and back id like to thank you all for being here and for giving us a glimpse into this compelling list of books thanks also to our audience we wish you happy reading and be sure to take a look at your dot com slash one hundred must read. That was our arts twenty one talk with jenny happened back cutting him stead and our Literary Team who compiled one hundred german must read the first canon of one hundred german novels that have been translated into english. If you want to delve deeper. Into the subject go to our multimedia special at d w dot com forward slash one hundred books and of course check out our one hundred videos all in german and english see you soon. Sometimes books more exciting than real life. But what if theres no escape. Lowering the range and. Distance hiking trail. Its going to be exhausting it may be my shoes it will look like this. In style a leather hundred and seventy kilometer trail im spoiled. The first year of school in the. First clinton. Gore is a grand moment to run and join the arena taking on her journey through you know an interesting turn to toronto entering into returns home. They make a commitment. They feel. And solution. They inspire. Africa on the moon. Stories for both people in a different space shaping their nation place and their continent africa on the move the stories about motivational change makers taking their destinies into their own hands. T w multimedia series food for. D. W. B. Dot com. Do you want to show me the terms of. The first global disaster of the Twentieth Century. War to end all wars cost millions of lives. The world war one. Hundred marks the hundredth anniversary of its. What has humankind learned from the great more. Absurd as it learned anything at all. Just real impossibilities. Nineteen a cheap knock for god to w. s november focus. This ended up being years long from barely and bulldoze in the german state of hess inflict more punishment on chance that im going to kills Shaky Coalition government its a bad day for the two main parties and that kills kristen democrats and the social democrats both to see the shop drop invest the point to make windows of the greens already in coalition with intense over the christian democrats on for the first time the far right if to get enough votes to enter the Regional Parliament will bring you the latest also with full analysis from all political correspondents here in the