Berliners, by Vesper Stamper, is essentially the story of twin brothers Rudi and Peter Moser-Fleischmann. Rudi, a photographer, and Peter, an aspiring actor, are living in post-WWII Berlin. Not only is this a coming-of-age story, it is an exploration of a period of time often overshadowed and forgotten. It asks questions that we ourselves may be too afraid to ask, and confronts the reader with messages and lessons through lyrical prose that can be just as relevant today as it was in the 1960s.
All in all, Berliners is a beautiful story. The writing is eloquent, and Stamper’s careful research shows. The characters are complex and beautifully flawed, the sort that you want to root for. Unfortunately, despite being beautifully written and filled with vibrant characters, Berliners has one impossible-to-ignore flaw. The pacing. In some parts, it felt much too slow, and the ending had the feeling of being rushed. Despite my general love of character development, it felt as if the plot suffered due to it. I am not complaining about the length of the book. In fact, I feel as if this book would have benefited from a few more chapters. It felt as if too much time was spent reaching the point of climax (the building of the Berlin Wall). Still, despite that flaw, this book was a masterpiece. The prose was beautiful and heart wrenching at times, and the characters were well developed. It managed to both shed light on the reality of post-WWII, as well as offer important lessons still relevant to our modern world.