Zona de tránsito

by Julia Franck

Antes de la caída del Muro, en los precarios edificios del lager de Marienfelde, en Berlín occidental, donde se alojan los que han logrado huir de países comunistas, se cruzan los destinos de numerosos refugiados que aspiran a integrarse en la sociedad que les ha acogido. Entre ellos se encuentra la atractiva Nelly Senff, una joven viuda que abandona la República Democrática Alemana junto con sus dos hijos; Krystina Jablonovska, violonchelista polaca que ha conseguido salir de su país para procurarle a su hermano, enfermo de cáncer, un tratamiento mejor, y el tímido Hans Pischke, actor y antiguo presidario. Un cuarto personaje, John Bird, miembro del servicio secreto estadounidense, que con agentes de otros países toma declaración a los refugiados, está más interesado en el pasado de éstos, en averiguar si alguno trabajó -o sigue trabajando- para la Stasi, que en el incierto futuro que les espera.

Genres: German Literature, Germany, Fiction, Novels, Roman

285 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Billiegreen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es ist mir schon lange nicht mehr so schwer gefallen, ein Buch zu bewerten, wie jetzt Lagerfeuer.
Ende der 70er Jahre will Nelly Senff mit ihren beiden Kindern in den Westen ziehen. Bevor sie ins Notaufnahmelager Berlin-Marienfelde kommen, muss sie sich zunächst Verhören und Leibesvisitationen unterziehen, ihre Kinder werden vorübergehend von ihr getrennt. Nur um dann in einem winzigen Zimmer mit Stockbetten und ungewöhnlichen Nachbarn zu landen.

Was man von dem Buch erwarten kann? Interessante Charaktere, ungewöhnliche Geschehnisse und sprachliche Besonderheiten.
Was man nicht erwarten sollte?
Handlung.
Leider.
Es passiert wirklich nicht viel, nur hin und wieder wollte ich eine Szene unbedingt weiterlesen, größtenteils habe ich aber mehrmals zum Ende des Kapitels vorgeblättert, um zu gucken, wie lange ich noch durchhalten muss. Überspitzt gesagt.
Trotzdem kam ich den Umständen entsprechend erstaunlich schnell voran.
Dennoch fand ich es bis kurz vor Schluss leider gar nicht spannend. Auf den letzten Seiten hatte ich dann das Gefühl, es geht endlich los. Und dann war’s vorbei. Es sind nahezu alle Fragen offengeblieben.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in the late 1970s, we follow young mother Nelly Senff as she finally manages to get permission to leave East Germany to start a new life in West Berlin with her two young children. During the Cold War refugees from the GDR were often held in the Marienfelde transit camp, where they received food and housing while being subjected to interviews from the intelligence services. So once through the East German exit formalities, Nelly has to face the West German entry formalities and she soon discovers that leaving one life for another is not always that simple. Nelly’s story is interwoven with the stories of others in the camp, including that of her CIA interrogator. It’s a powerful and often moving novel, bleak and atmospheric. A sense of menace pervades the whole book, with a particularly excruciating scene near the beginning when the children are taken away for questioning. The conditions Nelly faces in the transit camp are as bleak and dehumanising as those she has left behind in the East, giving an added layer of nuance to the story. So a worthy and enlightening read, certainly, but not always an enjoyable one. Julia Franck’s style is flat and distancing, somewhat monotonous in delivery and Nelly herself seems quite passive and distant, so that it is quite difficult to really relate to her. However, for its historical context and for its relevance to how we treat refugees today, it’s definitely a book I can recommend, and it would be of particular interest to book groups. There’s a lot to think about here.

[Stan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subject matter interested me, and the conception of the book was clever. However, in execution, I felt it dragged somewhat. While it is ostensibly narrated by four characters, two of them just disappear with no real resolution.
The writing itself is generally clear and interesting, but perhaps the unremimttingly, relentlessly depressing plot also made it a bit tedious at times. Because nothing really gets resolved for any of the characters, it seems like the author's "point" is something beyond the characters, i.e. more or a statement the author wants to make than a narrative.
Anyway, it's not a terrible read at all.

[Ilyhana Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't say I liked this book but it deserves four stars.
It is a stark tale, its language having a terrible sterility of feeling. So much suppression, the paranoia of distrust, the strictures of survival in circumstances of loss of freedom, such secretiveness.
It's a story that has relevance today with refugees moving across borders, across oceans, to escape persecution, living in camps within the strictures of lost freedom.
The author's trump card is the secretiveness within the narrative. She confides little in the reader so that you are left to your own conclusions about the intent and alliances of any of the characters in the story.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5
Teška tema, sumorno okruženje... Prebjeg iz istočng bloka 1978. u "bolji život" prema Zapadu. Priča počinje dramatično, na graničnom prijelazu majka u automobilu sa dvoje djece... prije prelaska proživljava traumatična ispitivanja; psihički i fizički...da bi došla u prihvatni centar gdje je svatko svakom sumnjiv i špijun...

[Rianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was echt heel enthousiast over pagina 1 t/m 269 en bij pagina 270 begon de lichte teleurstelling. Ik heb namelijk nog nooit zo'n open einde gelezen in een boek🥲 Echt jammer want het is verder heel knap geschreven, zodanig dat je de plek waar het zich afspeelt helemaal kan voorstellen - of je nu wel of niet bekend bent met het verhaal over Mariënfelde.

[Jennifer Avila · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is bleak and the opening chapter very tense. Sadly, the rest of the book fell a little flat. Some things didn’t feel well translated and a few peripheral characters weren’t really introduced/didn’t feel entirely relevant to the story.

[Marina Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be writing a longer book review on my blog, but I found this a painfully truthful sounding account, although not all the characters were equally beguiling to follow.

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

2003 [orig. title 'Lagerfeuer', transl. Anthea Bell]

Bleak indeed. Not a pleasant read. I could not form conclusions about any of the characters in the book, except Nelly's two children who seemed normal. I mean it seemed impossible to know what was accurate information about any of them, and who was a spy and who wasn't, and whether anyone's intentions were good or bad. Those arriving/living in the dismal apartment buildings are in a tough situation if they have no friends or relatives in Berlin to help them find jobs [and housing and so on]. The employment counselor may be able to help you, if he is so inclined. Some do-gooders may approach you, offering help -- can you trust them? or are they spies of some kind? Probably any refugee camp [e.g. here in NL] resident could feel the doubt and uncertainty and menace described in this book, so it is very useful to read the book, but not fun.

'During the Cold War refugees from the GDR were often held in the Marienfelde transit camp, where they received food and housing while being subjected to interviews from the intelligence services. ' [goodreader]

'Franck's bleak novel excels in the portrayal of the camp's oppressive no-man's-land atmosphere' [TLS]

'I liked the way in which, rather than being told the year, the reader is left to deduce it from the fact that Boney M's hit song 'By the Rivers of Babylon' is constantly on the radio and Jimmy Carter is US President - I'm guessing that means 1978 or 1979.' [goodreader]

'So much suppression, the paranoia of distrust, the strictures of survival in circumstances of loss of freedom, such secretiveness....It's a story that has relevance today with refugees moving across borders, across oceans, to escape persecution, living in camps within the strictures of lost freedom....The author confides little in the reader so that you are left to your own conclusions about the intent and alliances of any of the characters in the story.' [goodreader]

[Jos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Verhaal over de uitreis van een DDR-burger naar het westen. Verschillende personages komen aan het woord. De vertrekker, de visumambtenaar aan de oostzijde, de politieman aan de westzijde, de geheimagent van de CIA, ander vertrekkers of "umsiedler". Speelt zich af einde jaren 70-tig, kortom de hoogdagen van de koude oorlog. Het verhaal geeft een omschrijving van de procedures en ondervragingen die ze moet doorlopen alvorens de grens over te steken en een plaats te krijgen in het noodkamp. De beschrijving van haar leefomstandigheden, waarin de alleenstaande moeder met haar 2 jonge kinderen in het noodverblijf Berlijn Marienfelde verblijft zijn bij momenten beklemmend.. Nieuwkomers leven daar dag en nacht op mekaars lippen in afwachting van een job en aldus de mogelijkheid om een nieuw bestaan op te bouwen in het gastland. Afwisselend word heet verhaal verteld door een pools duitse die er verblijft met haar vader, vervolgens door een alleenstaande oudere man die weigert de dumpingjobs te aanvaarden die de werkbemiddelaar en vervolgens de hoofdfiguur zelf, dit alles mooi in elkaar verweven. Dit is een eerder werk van de Duitse boekenprijs winnares Julia Franck maar zeker het lezen waard.

[Peter Chleboun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gritty. I read this in translation, but despite that it certainly evoked a clear message of dark helpless humanity. Written about a period that was over thirty years after WW2 in a walled transit camp within a walled city (west Berlin) the irony of the lives of people living in near prison conditions having escaped from the oppressive East to the "free" West was clearly painted.

Reading this in 2022 after a long (and by no means finished) pandemic together with a current ongoing war in the middle of Europe it is a reminder that significant events that take only a few years for resolution leave very long shadows over many decades and subsequent generations.

[T. Lan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anstatt das Lese-Erlebnis schrittweise an die Leser überbringen, strahlt es storytellingsgemäß dass die Autorin die Geschichte nur an sich selbst am Erzählen ist, deren Methode macht die Geschehnisse zu einer netflixartigen Klischee. In diesem Fall meine ich, die Schriftstellerin bleibt aufdrängen, dass der Dementsprechende etwas Bestimmtes fühlen muss, sich bestimmte Fragen stellen muss. Es wird dem Leser keinen Raum freigegeben, um sein eigenes Gefühl zu entdecken;

Dazu auch zu viel umständliche Beschreibungen, die sogar die Autorin selbst zeitraubend und daher unwürdig findet, um in Audible aufzunehmen.

[Heidy]

Gestern habe ich mit dem Buch angefangen und habe mich auch wieder besser an den tollen Film ("Westen") erinnert und habe sogar richtig Lust, den Film nochmal zu sehen, aber das Buch… Das Buch ist irgendwie nicht nach meinem Geschmack, das ist „richtige Literatur“ und ich mag keine "Literatur", lol. Ich lese gern Bücher, wo was passiert, nicht lange Beschreibungen, wo das, was passiert, „Nebensache“ ist, wo alles „durch die Blume“ gesagt wird, und insofern muss ich sagen, dass ich nach 40 Seiten „das Handtuch werfe“. Schade, aber so ist es!

[Sofia_cc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mooi geschreven, af en toe gaat de verhaallijn niet zo snel en voelt het wat langdradig. Geeft ontzettend goed de ruwe randjes van het leven weer. Makkelijk om je met (een van) de personages te identificeren.

[Mies]

Kampvuur in NL

[Penny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Depressing

[Kathrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kann man dies bereits als historischen Roman bezeichnen? Auf jeden Fall ein gut geschriebenes Buch mit interessanter Handlung.

[GONZA · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ich habe "Mittagsfrau" gelesen und es hat mir sehr gefallen, dann habe ich "Rucken and Rucken" gelesen und ich habe es schrecklich gefunden. Dieses Buch ist inzwischen.

[Sofie Cox · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bid voor mij en mijn Referat

[Sanja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steta sto cijela knjiga nije kao prvi odlomak.Snazan i napet uvod u knjigu, likovi o kojima odmah pocmes razmisljati i onda se sve nekako rasplini i na svemu tome i ostane, pomalo blah dojmu, ostatak likova koji nas samo docekaju s druge strane i za koje me ustvari nije briga

[Célia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honnêtement assez déçue, je m'attendais à mieux il y a beaucoup trop de flous qui restent, on ne comprend pas le rôle de tous les personnages ni les enjeux

[Mic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un campo di accoglienza ed emergenza dove la disperazione dei suoi abitanti non conta, ma solo il finto bene che viene fatto dall’Ovest.