Jason Lutes
Berlin: City of Stones (2000)
Author: Jason Lutes
Genre: Graphic Novel (Historical fiction)
Plot Summary:
Taking place from September 1928-May 1929, this book tells the stories of two pairs of lovers in Berlin. Marthe Muller arrives in the city to begin studies as an art student. She meets Kurt Severing, a journalist with writer's block. Although the two are both members of the intelligentsia, they possess contrasting attitudes towards the city: Marthe that of delight in the city's freedom of artistic expression and the cosmopolitan nature of its inhabitants, and Severing a growing foreboding given rise by the political and economic developments he is witnessing. Meanwhile, Otto and Gudrun, working-class parents of three children, are torn apart by conflicting political ideologies. Gudrun leaves her husband to join the Communist Party, while Otto joins the National Socialists. As the approaching storm of war gathers on the city and threatens to end the vibrant interlude of the Weimar Republic, various other inhabitants (a Jewish family, a group of art students, the rich upper-cla ss) interact with the two couples and complete the picture of a city being pulled in a hundred directions. SPOILER: Marthe's disillusionment with the art academy and Severing's writer's block are both forgotten as they embark on a love affair. Otto and Gudrun step up their activities in the advancement of their causes, growing farther apart. The book ends with the death of Gudrun in a battle between the Communists and National Socialists on May Day, as Marthe and Kurt look on, their brief escape from the growing unease of the city ended.
Geographical Setting: Berlin, Germany
Time Period: 1928-1929 with flashbacks to 1918
Series: Yes, 1st volume of a projected trilogy (collection of issues 1 through 8)
Appeal Characteristics:
Characterization and plot are key appeal elements in this book. Lutes does a wonderful job of depicting Marthe's reactions to the city in her facial expressions as she moves from timid new-comer to excited, self-confident resident. Likewise, Severing's world-weary and fatalistic attitude comes through in the worry lines on his face, only to soften into an expression of wonder and hope as his relationship with Marthe blossoms. The numerous secondary characters, even when appearing for just a few panels, are never one-dimensional in their portrayal. Perhaps the most suprising character in the book is the city itself, which comes to life in occasional bird's-eye-view panels. The reader sees the hustle and shifting political currents of the place as if it were alive, watching it transform its shape as the book moves from season to season. The plot is fully informed by historical detail, but never at the expense of the characters' stories, played out in daily activities, from labor gangs, to art classes, racy caberet performances, fancy dinner parties, and laundry washing. The multitude of people and their activities lend the book a chaotic pace that gives way to extended scenes in which time seems suspended as Lutes focuses on the plotlines of the main characters. With a drawing style marked by clean lines and moderate use of heavy inking, Lutes avoids letting the city scenes become a muddled jumble of objects, and portrays the characters and their lives in simple, realistic detail that makes his occasional use of surreal dream passages to depict their inner struggles strikingly effective.
Read-alikes: Readers wishing to continue Lutes' Berlin will have to wait some time for the next collection, as the series is published at a notoriously slow rate (issue 12 came out in December 2005). However, another Lutes-penned choice is Jars of Fools (2003). It tells the story of a tortured, alcoholic magician and the people in his life as they help each other through difficult situations. Trenches (2002) by Scott Mills is another title that focus on historical fiction. This work deals with three men who are fighting on the French front of the World War I. For the reader who loves history but rather read nonfiction, Fax from Sarajevo (1998) by Joe Kubert is another choice. It is the story of a man caught in the conflict with a fax machine as the only way he can communicate with the outside world. For the readers who want to read more novels that deal with Nazi Germany, a choice is Maus (1996) by Art Spiegelman. A Pulitzer Prize winner, the two-volume set tells the story of his father’s survival as a Jewish man in occupied Poland. Age of Bronze: A Thousand Ships (2001) by Eric Shanower is another title that offers black and white images plus tells the story of the Trojan War. It deals with the history of the war but also tells the story of the people affected by the oncoming tide of war. Those who were interested in the lives of the Jewish family should read Will Eisner's To the Heart of the Storm (1991), which details the struggles of a Jewish family with anti-Semitism over several generations in America and Europe, including Weimar-era Germany. Readers interested in the historical development of a city as told through the lives of its inhabitants might try Chester Brown's Louis Riel (2004), a "comic-strip biography" of a half-French, half-native Canadian revolutionary's battle against the English government to bring equality to his people. Readers who liked Lutes'drawing style and were interested in the examination of the different economic classes of his Berlin might to try Carla Lightspeed McNeil's Finder: The Rescuers (2005), a science fiction graphic novel take on the Lindbergh kidnapping whose protagonist mirrors Severing's frustrated love for Berlin, finding himself blocked in solving the case by the rigid class and racial divisions of his adopted city. For those readers who loved the setting, frame, and budding romantic relationship between Martha and Kurt will love the eight-time Academy Award winning film, Cabaret. Cabaret features Sally Bowles, an American night club performer in Berlin, during the Weimar Republic. In the film, Sally begins a romantic relationship with Brain Roberts, an English student, and their relationship brings many entanglements and troubles for the couple. Readers will be able to better visualize Berlin during the Weimer republic.
For readers who enjoyed the darker tone and anti-Semitic theme present in Berlin: City of Stones will love Palestine, by Joe Sacco, and Yossel: April 19, 1943. Palestine was awarded the 17th annual American Book Award, by the Before Columbus Foundation, which chronicles Joe’s trip to Palestine to document stories from the Gaza Strip from the early nineties. The result of this research is an excellent graphic novel that depicts life in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Yossel: April 19, 1943, features a young Jewish boy named Yossel who imagines ‘what if’ his family stayed in Poland during Nazi occupation? This dark novel features those who struggled and rebelled in the Warsaw Ghetto. This compelling novel features a highly detailed main character supported by a series of eccentric secondary characters. Those who want to learn more about the Weimar Republic of Germany should read Paul Bookbinder's Weimar Germany: The Republic of the Reasonable (1997), which examines not only the political and economic situations of Germany from 1919-1933, but also the unique cultural experience that made Berlin the "Paris of Germany" during the years between the World Wars.
Red Flags: swearing, nudity, sexual content, violence
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