The Undercurrents: A Story of Berlin

by Kirsty Bell

Humane, thought provoking, and moving, this hybrid literary portrait of a place makes the case for radical close readings: of ourselves, our cities, and our histories.

The Undercurrents is a dazzling work of biography, memoir, and cultural criticism told from a precise vantage point: a stately nineteenth-century house on Berlin's Landwehr Canal, a site at the center of great historical changes, but also smaller domestic ones. The view from this house offers a ringside seat onto the city's theater of action. The building has stood on the banks of the canal since 1869, its feet in the West but looking East, right into the heart of a metropolis in the making, on a terrain inscribed indelibly with trauma.

When her marriage breaks down, Kirsty Bell--a British-American art critic, adrift in her mid-forties--becomes fixated on the history of her building and of her adoptive city. Taking the view from her apartment window as her starting point, she turns to the lives of the house's various inhabitants, to accounts penned by Walter Benjamin, Rosa Luxembourg, and Gabriele Tergit, and to the female protagonists in the works of Theodor Fontane, Irmgard Keun, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. A new cultural topography of Berlin emerges, one which taps into energetic undercurrents to recover untold or forgotten stories beneath the city's familiar narratives.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Memoir, Germany, Cities, Biography, Architecture

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[Adina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I decided to review a book just finished for a change. Fitzcarraldo Editions does it again. This book is one of the reasons I re-subscribed to this wonderful small press.

I’ve had a fascination for Berlin for many years. So much so that the city holds its own Goodreads shelf. It is no wonder then that I jumped with joy when Fitzcarraldo published this book. For various reasons, it took me a while to get to it but I am so happy I finally managed to read it.
This book is probably better suited for readers who have at least a moderate interest in Berlin and visited the city at least once. I do not say it cannot be enjoyed be everyone but, there are many chapters about the urbanism and the layout of the city which would make a lot more sense if the reader knows the city. I’ve been to Berlin many times, twice only this year so I could picture many of the places the author discusses.

How The Undercurrents came to be? The American author moved together with her husband and their two sons to a large apartment in a nineteenth-century house on the Landwehr Canal, a watercourse that travels most of the city. Unfortunately, the new house was not too welcoming. There were a few domestic incidents, mostly leakages, which manage to also sip through the cracks of the family’s marriage. The failed marriage and the strange apartment prompt Kirsty Bell to research the buildings past and from there of the surroundings and the city.
The Undercurrents: A Story of Berlin is an impressive biography of a complex city, who witnessed drama and change as few other places did. Berlin is not a beautiful city, but it has a unique personality due to its layout, history and inhabitants. The book cleared a lot of the mystery surrounding the German capital. It explains how the city was constructed, what decisions /mistakes were made and why, how the city changed over the years and what it all meant for Berlin’s population. It is a story about Berlin’s citizen, from the ones who constructed the building the author inhabits to famous authors, politicians and artists. I found it serendipitous that she extensively writes about Fassbinder and his films when the newest Fitzcarraldo non-fiction is exactly about this personality. It does also include chapters about Fengh Shui and Family Constellations, which was odd but interesting.

As you can see, I loved this book. For me it held some of the keys to help me understand the city better and I hope it will mesmerize more readers.

[Left Coast Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Bumped to 4 stars after a re-read)

A few months ago, I read a fascinating novel that addressed the history of Berlin by focusing on a single house and its occupants, starting in the mid-1800's and continuing through the present. How cool to find a nonfictional version of the same idea, in this case told by a Londoner who has lived most of her adult life in Kreuzburg, one of the more upscale parts of the city. She's a resourceful sort, and was tireless in her efforts to dig out whatever information she could about the home's previous inhabitants.

Berlin is her home, her two children were born there, but she doesn't particularly like it, and has a hard time grasping a way to describe it. It seems to her to be formless and slippery, three and a half million independent republics of one rather than a city of three and a half million people. For decades, it was famous for its freakish political system, an island of Westerness afloat behind the Iron Curtain. Some found this atmosphere exciting and stimulating, but one could also argue that it was a gigantic, futile exercise in human stupidity:

When the city was still divided, as I find out later, five children drowned in the river Spree between 1966 and 1975, in separate incidents near the Oberbaumbruecke. The East German border patrol guard on the bridge did not respond to help the West Berlin children that fell into the water. Adults on the banks in Kreuzburg were afraid to jump in and help them in case they would be shot.

I probably highlighted more sections of this book than any I've read recently, but reading through the highlights now doesn't add up to anything coherent. The problem lies not with the author but with Berlin itself, which has always struck me (sorry, Berlin friends of mine on this site) as a mistake. Or maybe it's just unfinished. I'm struggling to review this in the same way the author struggled to explain the history of her home and neighborhood. It's kind of a theme-resistant mess.

The book was generally interesting and I recommend it to anyone with an interest in 'personal' as opposed to political history. An unhealthy respect for Feng Shui, astrology and other silliness nearly kept it off my four-star list, but those are minor asides.

I was about to start talking about the U2 album Zooropa, but no. I'm done. I'm glad I read this.

[Eylül Görmüş · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ay bayıldım, ne müthiş bir kitap bu ya? Kirsty Bell'in Dip Akıntıları'na dair basın bülteni geldiğinde çok benlik bir şey olduğunu sezmiş ve heyecanlanmıştım açıkçası, ama böylesini de beklemiyordum. "Dip Akıntıları tarihsel bir döküm, mekân ruhuna bir saygı duruşu ve çarpıcı bir psikocoğrafya çalışması olduğu kadar kişisel ve toplumsal travmaları odağına alan, diptekileri yüzeye çağıran bir anlatı" yazıyordu bültende. "Psikocoğrafya çalışması ne ola ki" diye düşünmüştüm ama bir yandan da her ne ise çok seveceğim bir şey olduğuna dair bir sezgi de belirmişti içimde.

Haklıymışım. Psikocoğrafyanın ne olduğunu hâlâ tarif edemem ama anlamak için alın bu kitabı okuyun derim - okuyun sahiden. Berlin’de, eşi ve çocuklarıyla yeni taşındıkları evde aniden bir su sızıntısıyla karşılaşıyor Bell, bu kırılma anından sonra evliliği parçalanırken sadece evindeki değil, şehirdeki sızıntıları da kovalamaya başlıyor ve ortaya şehrin tarihine çok özgün biçimde bakan bu kitap çıkıyor. Şu kısım aydınlatıcı olabilir: "Daha ilerilere bakmaya ve geçmişin penceredeki manzaranın gösterdiği kısımlarını irdelemeye başladığımda buradaki mesajın ayn zamanda evle, mekânla, toprakla ve şehrin ruhuyla ilgili bir mesaj olduğunu kavrıyorum. (...) Binaların taşına sinmiş felaketler. Şehrin sokaklarının altından dip akıntıları halinde akan bastırılmış duygular. Yüksek su tablasının zeminine sızmaya devam eden tüketilmemiş keder."

Yaşadığı binanın tarihini araştırmakla işe koyulup koca bir şehrin fısıltılarını kağıda döküyor yazar. Aynı pencerede durup 150 sene evvel şehre bakan kadınları keşfediyor, şehrin nasıl dönüştüğünü ve dönüştürüldüğünü kovalıyor. Berlin tabii ki makus tarihi itibariyle böyle bir iş için çok uygun bir şehir ama insan okurken keşke her şehir için böyle bir psiko-kazı çalışması yapılsa da okusak diye düşünüyor, çok lezzetli zira. Sadece yazarın feng-shui ve aile dizilimi meselelerine daldığı yerlerde metinden biraz koptum, gerek var mıydı oralara bilemiyorum. Neyse, sonuçta şahane bir anlatı bu, yöntemi çok özgün, dili su gibi akışkan. Yasemin Çongar'ın çevirisi de ayrıca müthiş. Fena halde tavsiye ediyorum.

[Seher Andaç · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Bir şehrin portresi ile bir kadının içsel yolculuğu aynı pencerenin manzarasından nasıl kesişir? Yaşadığımız yerler, yaşamlarımızın akışını nasıl belirleyebilir?”
Kitabın arka kapağı, içeriğini çok iyi anlatan bu iki soru ile başlıyor.
Bir mutfak penceresinden baktığımızda, kendi hikayemizle şehir, merakla ve anlama isteği ile kesişir. Kitabın son sayfasını biraz önce kapatmış okuru olarak ben böyle cevaplıyorum. Çünkü Kirsty Bell bunu yapıyor.
İkinci sorunun cevabı fark etsekte, etmesekte yaşadığımız yerle ayrılmaz bir bütünüz. Yazar, anlama gayretiyle yaptığı bütün araştırmalar sonucunda şehre karşı şefkat geliştiriyor.
…
Bambaşka bir kitap okuduğumu hissediyorum. Hangi doğru kelime bunu açıklar bilmiyorum. Etkilendim; hem de çok…

[Buchdoktor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Die britische Kunstkritikerin Kirsty Bell kommt mit circa 30 Jahren aus New York nach Berlin und kauft mit ihrem Mann eine Eigentumswohnung mit Blick auf den Landwehrkanal. Als die Beziehung scheitert, sieht sich Kirsty Bell einer ungewöhnlich geschnittenen Wohnung gegenüber, die ihren Bewohnern durch zahlreiche Wasserschäden den Krieg erklärt zu haben scheint. Ein undichtes Dach, eine überlaufende Waschmaschine in der darüber liegenden Wohnung – irgendetwas war immer. Mit sehr persönlicher Sichtwiese begibt die Autorin sich auf die Spur eines im 19. Jahrhundert bebauten ehemaligen Gewerbe-Grundstücks mit Wohnhaus und Nebengebäuden, das in einem Dreieck zwischen Bahngleisen und Kanal lag. 1888 war das Haus mit „4 Badezimmern und 9 Klosetts“ durchaus modern, wenn auch ein Bewohner des Seitenflügels seine feuchte Wohnung bei der Polizei anzeigte. Die Geschichte des im Zweiten Weltkrieg nur geringfügig beschädigten Hauses verfolgt Bell akribisch anhand der Grundbucheintragungen.“Ihr Haus“ war 1945 eines von nur drei unzerstörten Häusern im gesamten Karree (Häuserblock). Die Familie Sala betrieb zuvor bis in die 30er Jahre auf dem Grundstück eine Druckerei für Spielkarten und andere Spiele; ihre Adoptivtochter lebte bis in die Gegenwart in einem Seitenflügel des Hauses.

Kirsty Bell nähert sich ihrem Thema als Bewohnerin, als Architekturkritikerin und als Einwanderin. Mit feministischem Ansatz hinterfragt sie u. a., wo eigentlich die Geschichte der Frauen jener Epoche geschrieben wird. Sie nennt Gabriele Reuter, Gabriele Tergit, Irmgard Keun und Vicky Baum, über deren Werke sich Leserinnen von heute Frauenschicksalen jener Zeit annähern können.

Die reine Geschichte des Hauses liest sich hochinteressant, auch wenn Kirsty Bells Blick mangels Dokumenten über die Firma Sala mir etwas zu ichzentriert scheint und zu wenig auf den Zweck des Gewerbegrundstücks gerichtet. Es gelingt der Autorin sogar, eine langjährige Mieterin aufzutreiben, die die Etage vor Bell bewohnt hat. In die Gegenwart des Grundstücks und der Stadt bewegt Bell sich mittels Themen, die bei deutschen Berlin-Interessierten zur Allgemeinbildung gehören: Sabine Bodes Kriegskinder, Mitscherlichs Die Unfähigkeit zu trauern, Christiane F., und Christa Wolfs Kindheitsmuster. Ihrem Ansatz, sich ihrem Haus durch Geomantik und Familienaufstellung zu nähern, werden nicht alle LeserInnen folgen können.

Der Landwehrkanal und die Spree waren für mich bisher abstrakte Begriffe, weil meine Vorfahren in der geschilderten Epoche stärker auf ihren Kiez zentriert waren und von Dingen erzählten, die unmittelbar vor ihrer Haustür geschahen. Kirsty Bell hat mit ihrem architektonisch geprägten Memoir meinen Blick erweitert – und ich empfehle es Berlin-Interessierten gern.

[Gautam Bhatia · Rating 4 out of 5]

City-writing is always a challenge, and writing about one of the most over-determined cities of the world is particularly challenging. For example, what is left to write about Paris that can still unsettle a reader’s sedimented expectations, after all the novels, memoirs, and films? How is one to write about Paris so that the account will not seem one or more of trite, repetitive, intentionally contrarian, or just trying-too-hard-to-be-fresh (for an answer, see Eric Hazan’s A Walk Through Paris!)?

In Undercurrents: A Story of Berlin, Kirsty Bell take another approach towards documenting the political geography of one of those heavily over-determined cities: Berlin. When you say “Berlin”, the mind already conjures up a host of images: the Wall, of course, occupies disproportionate mental real estate, but there’s also Rosa Luxemburg’s revolutionary Berlin, Berlin of the poets and artists in the Weimar era (the Berlin of Berlin Alexanderplatz), Nazi Berlin (Berlin of the bunkers), 1960s hipster (West) Berlin, and finally, the Berlin of contemporary imagination: a palimpsest with each era written over the previous one, but a palimpsest that comes before you – as in the case of Paris – more or less fully-formed.

In this context, however, Bell weaves together a personal memoir of loss and a broken marriage, the history of her own century-and-a-half old house on the banks of the Landwehr Canal, and the modern history of Berlin itself (indeed, the name Undercurrents is both literal and metaphorical: literal for the number of canals and rivers that flow through and underneath Berlin, and metaphorical for all things beneath the surface, whether it is the history of one human life, or the history of a city). The book thus moves through three frames: Bell’s life in Berlin, the story of a house and those who lived in it, and the story of a city, with each intersecting with, and informing, the other two. There is, of course, a risk in this approach, a conflation in which individual events may get imbued with a significance that they do not seem to merit, or world-historical events uneasily forced into the frame of an individual life, and this risk is especially great when thinking about a city like Berlin, where memory – and its suppression – plays such a crucial role. But for the most part, Bell succeeds in avoiding these traps, holding the frames in tension – albeit generative tension – with each other.

[Full review on blog: https://anenduringromantic.wordpress....].

[Yaprak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kirsty Bell, eşiyle birlikte taşındıkları evde yaşanan su sızıntısından hareketle kötü giden evliliğini, Berlin'deki yaşadıkları mahallenin tarihini sorgulamaya ve araştırmaya başlıyor. Fiziksel bir arıza olarak başlayan su sızıntısı Bell'in hayatında bir metafora dönüşüyor. Yazar yaşadığı binanın tarihini araştırmaya başlarken, Berlin'in tarihini, İkinci Dünya Savaşı'nı, Nazi kamplarını, ölen ve Berlin'den kaçmak zorunda kalan insanların hikayelerini de bizlere aktarıyor.

Dünya tarihinde çok önemli anların çoğuna tanıklık etmiş Berlin gibi bir şehrin izini sürmek haliyle dopdolu bir metni doğurmuş. Bell, Rebecca Solnit'in Yürümenin Tarihi eserinden de Hannah Arendt'in Kötülüğün Sıradanlığı eserinden de bahsediyor. Çok kapsamlı, çok geniş bir inceleme metni bu o nedenle. Bir yandan da tarihi 19.yy'a kadar uzanan binasının izlerini, orada yaşamış ailelerinin tarihini öğrenmeye çalışıyor. Kişisel tarihlerle toplumların tarihi birbirine karışıyor.

Bazı anlardaki detaylarda sıkıldığımı itiraf etmem gerekiyor özellikle yazarın feng shui ve aile dizimine sardığı kısımlarda hafif bir göz devirmesi yaşadım ne yalan söyleyeyim. Ciddi ciddi şeylerden bahsettikten sonra ezoterik şeylerin araya girmesi benim dikkatimi dağıttı. Ama buna rağmen kitabın çok kafa açan bir yönü var. İstanbul gibi bir yerde tarihi bir apartmanda oturan birinden de harika bir eser çıkar aslında diye düşünürken aklıma birden Orhan Pamuk'un İstanbul: Hatıralar ve Şehir eseri geldi. :)

Özetlemem gerekirse kitabı sevdim. Kolay okunan bir eser olsa da biraz özenli bir okuma gerektirdiğini düşünüyorum. Özellikle mimariye, tarihe, şehir planlamasına ve sosyolojiye ilgi duyan okurlar çok sever bence.

[Pilar · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kirsty Bell, de profesión crítica de arte, intenta psicogeografiar una vasta ciudad como Berlín —bueno, más bien solo una parte, alrededor de donde ella vive actualmente— con ayuda de una bicicleta, mapas impresos y lecturas de historia cultural. De vez en cuando convoca su historia personal de un matrimonio fallido haciendo paralelismos entre su trauma personal y el trauma colectivo de esta pantanosa ciudad. Todo traído por los pelos. Si a eso le añadimos una pelín de feminismo, cuatro citas de Walter Benjamin y una pizca de misticismo New Age, lista la receta.

Definitivamente no soporto los libros que resultan ser un entretejido de entradas de Wikipedia y unas cuantas referencias online. Aquí la literatura está ausente, no hay más aporte, no hay razonamiento, no hay juicio. Por no hablar de los gazapos de traducción, siempre confundiendo el "modernismo" con lo "moderno" y/o lo "contemporáneo". Le concedo una estrella porque al menos la edición se acompaña de unos cuantos viejos mapas de Berlín, pero abandono a un tercio de que se acabe.

[Navya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is sort of my testament to bookstores. It's a book that I would never have found if I hadn't just stumbled across it while browsing.

[Luka · Rating 3 out of 5]

NetGalley Rezension, yup

In Gezeiten der Stadt begleiten wir Kirsty Bell auf einer emotional geladenen Entdeckungsreise durch die Geschichte Berlins, aber auch ihr eigenes Leben. Dieses Buch ist eine Kombination aus Memoire, Stadtgeschichte und Kulturgeschichte. Der Fokuspunkt, zu dem wir immer wieder zurückkehren ist die eigene Wohnung Bells, das Gebäude, in dem sie lebt und der Blick aus dem Fenster.

Bell erzählt aus einer sehr persönlichen Perspektive. Ihre Recherche führt sie nicht nur geschichtlich, sondern auch im Hier und Heute durch Berlin. Sie beschreibt Fahrradwege zu Ämtern, Archiven, Museen, Spaziergänge an der ehemaligen Grenze entlang, Aufenthalte in Cafés und im Tiergarten. Um über Orte erzählen und schreiben zu können, muss man sie selbst erleben, insbesondere wenn so viel Augenmerk auf der Seele der Stadt liegt. Bells alte eigene Tagebuchaufzeichnungen mit ihren ersten Eindrücken von Berlin und ihr bewusstes Erleben der Stadt inspirieren, selbst einmal einen langen Spaziergang zu unternehmen und wirklich alles genau zu betrachten, Fragen zu stellen und nach Erinnerungen zu graben.

Der Teil der von Berlin erzählt ist wirklich gut. Leider, und ich meine das mit dem allergrößten Respekt an die Autorin, interessierte mich die Scheidungsgeschichte überhaupt nicht. Ich weiß nicht, woran es lag, denn ich verstehe komplett, was Bell versucht hat. Das Wassermotiv mit dem Schaden in der Wohnung und das Sinnbild für die zerbrochene Ehe, und Verdrängung und der Kanal vor der Tür und das angestaute Grundwasser, etc. alles logisch und verständlich. Es hat für mich nur einfach nicht funktioniert. Vielleicht lag es am Schreibstil, der Form wie Bell alles miteinander in Verbindung gesetzt hat. Vielleicht lag es daran, dass in dem Buch vielleicht nicht genug Platz war für Stadtgeschichte und Memoire. Vielleicht hat das Verhältnis von Memoire und Stadtgeschichte nicht gestimmt. Was es auch war, es hat dazu geführt, dass ich häufiger im Buch das Interesse verloren und mich sehr gelangweilt habe.

Der Blick aus ihrem eigenen Haus raus, aber auch nach innen, auf die ehemaligen Bewohner*innen sind wiederum faszinierend zu lesen. Jedenfalls empfinde ich so, aber ich bin auch unfassbar neugierig. Während des Geschichtsstudium war Archivarbeit eines meiner liebsten Bereiche, also waren die Nachforschungen u. a. zu den Salas spannend zu verfolgen.

Als wir uns der heutigen Zeit nähern, war die Auseinandersetzung der Autorin mit dem Konzept von Schuld und Scham sehr interessant und ich hätte gern eine tiefere Exploration dieser Themen gesehen. Wie die Autorin damit umgeht, dass sie quasi selbst Teil des Gentrifizierungsprozesses der Stadt ist, beispielsweise. (Für die Rezensionsleser*innen: Das ist keine Anschuldigung, sie hat das selbst so angeschnitten.) Auch die Anmerkung zum Ende hin, dass sie zwar nicht in Deutschland geboren ist, aber ihre Söhne Deutsche sind und sie somit nun auch einen Teil am kulturellen Erbe Deutschlands trägt, hätte meiner Meinung nach mehr ausgebaut und v. a. mehr in Verbindung mit ihren Nachforschungen zur Nazizeit gebracht werden können. Idk, vielleicht war Memoire und Berliner Geschichte in eins zu packen wirklich zu viel. Oder aber ich erwarte zu viel, was hier eigentlich nicht hingehört, das kann auch sein.

Letzten Endes definitiv ein empfehlenswertes Buch und werde es wahrscheinlich in Zukunft als Referenz nutzen für ein paar Projektideen, die hierdurch inspiriert wurden. Dass ich im Memoire-Bereich nicht 100% gefesselt war, lag wahrscheinlich eher an mir. Also, 4/5 hier, weil ich's wirklich empfehlen kann. Die Aspekte, die nicht mit der Beziehungskrise der Autorin zu tun haben, sind imo sehr sehr gut gelungen. Auf Goodreads gebe ich wahrscheinlich eher 3/5, weil ich im Endeffekt manchmal wenig Lust hatte, weiterzulesen. Kündige es hier an zwecks Transparenz.

[Anastasiia Mozghova · Rating 4 out of 5]

what an exciting combination of personal and historical narratives!

[Rosamund · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hats off to Kirsty Bell for writing such a thoughtful, well-researched, haunting book! I am obsessed with maps and street planning, especially in Berlin, where I live, so I was keen to get a copy of this as soon as it was published (and I did).

I'm giving 3 stars instead of 4 for the following reasons:

The framing was a bit too bougie for my tastes. Owning property in Prenzlauer Berg and Kreuzberg (and then complaining about "bad vibes" in your property)? Can't relate. This perspective doesn't really do justice to the working classes who have historically lived around the stinky canal, nor to the context that the overwhelming majority of people in Germany rent their home (in Berlin I believe it's around 80%).
Bell does poke fun at herself later in the book. But if this privilege had been acknowledged earlier on, along with more critical analysis in terms of the present-day Berlin housing crisis (real estate speculation & people, especially migrant families, no longer being able to afford their homes they've had for generations, which also overlook the Landwehr Canal!), maybe it wouldn't have been hanging over the book and annoying me.

It should have been better edited: quite a few typos in both English and German, a German surname that should not have been translated into English, sentences repeated, and at one point suggesting Ukrainians are Russians (I think Soviet was meant). I expect better from Fitzcarraldo.

[Jane Routley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this might be what is referred to a psyco-geography. With the theme of undercurrents of water Kirsty Bell explores the history of the 19th century house on Berlins Landswehr canal where she lives - a site that has witnessed great historical changes and also smaller domestic ones. I bought this in Berlin at the She Said feminist book shop and I'm glad I did. It was a rich dense read rather like a fruit cake full of juicy bits of information and flavorsome historical information. I learnt so much about Berlin and its nice to read a book about that city that's not all about WW2. And Bell an arts journalist writes beautifully, clearly and compellingly.
It was great to read about a place I'd just seen and I completely agree with her criticism of the unwelcoming Potsdamer Platz and the mystifying mound in the centre of Gabriele-Tergit-Promenade which I struggled to get off.

[Caroline]

This was recommended to me, so I undertook it as a tribute to a city I enjoyed visiting very much a few years ago. Unfortunately I find self-exploration combined with non-fiction very annoying, so it was a tough go. I knew enough about German history to already know the general shape of the story as she investigates the history of Berlin via the history of the building she lives in. Luckily the last fifth of the book got quite interesting. She writes a lot about the architecture of the two Berlins after World WAr II, and the politics and outcomes of architecture and city planning after unification. This was quite good and useful. I found that her experience of Potsdamer Platz as a vast, intimidating and deadly space mirrored my impression of it exactly.

Bell writes well, and if you enjoy personal sharing intertwined with the story of a place,you should enjoy this.

[küb · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Geçmiş ölü değildir; geçmiş bile değildir hatta. Kendimizi ondan ayırırız; ona yabancıymışız gibi davranırız." Christa Wolf

🌳

"Hafızanı , işlevini tümden yitirmeksizin, içinde kaç tane kapısı mühürlü kasa dairesi barındırabileceğini kendinize sormalısınız," diye yazıyor Wolf. "Duvarları zamanla çürüyüp dökülebilen o kasa dairelerini mühürlemek ve yeniden mühürlemek için sürekli olarak ne kadar enerji ve ne türde enerji harcıyor hafızanız?"

🌳

“Lethbridge aşırı miktarda enerji salınımına yol açan olayların taşa toprağa nüfuz ettiğine inanıyordu. Ona göre ölüm, ihanet, kalp kırıklığı, intihar ya da savaş gibi travmatik deneyimlerden kesitler, bu deneyimlerin bıraktıkları izlerin musallat olması yoluyla ya da bir ortamdaki belli belirsiz yankılanmalar şeklinde zamanla tekrar tekrar yinelenebilir. … Bizler bu sesleri işitebilir miyiz, okuyabilir miyiz, şifrelerini çözebilir miyiz?”

🌳

“Utanç garip bir konu. Kendi derinlerinizdeki bataklığın içinde neler barındırdığını düşünmeksizin bir başkasının utancına suçlayıcı bir edayla parmak sallayamazsınız. Ne var ki utanç açıklıktan çekiniyor, kendini ortaya koymak, hele hele irdelenip tartışılmak istemiyor. Bütün bir toplumu etkisi altına aldığında bile nadiren ortak bir sınanma olarak kabul görüyor. Daha ziyade, kimse görmeden iltihaplanıyor ve inatla bireyselmiş gibi algılanan bir yaraya dönüşüyor.”

[Gabe Steller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the bicycle book I read this was a very satisfying dip in and out of different parts of the history and culture of Berlin and also had like Weirdly good font?? Especially enjoyed her writings on various women, Rosa Luxembourg christa wolff, the whole neue fraue phenomenon and Berlins drug culture (waaaaaaay more heroin than New York.) Would totally recommend to anyone interested in the city.
The only hang up is there’s weirdly some new age-y business sprinkled in. Not tooo much and The feng shui stuff I was even kinda into cuz I feel a built environment definetly has a psychological effect but she kinda goes off the deep end in the end and there’s like a seance type thing. I mean that could in theory be fun but did not fit with the tone at all. bummer of a conclusion but honestly I liked everything else and the cover and the hand-feel (does anyone else really respond to hand feel??) lol I might buy it after returning to the library

[diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

overall great material, but questionable spirituality stuff. i loved the way she presented the history of this city but didn’t vibe with the whole “my house is crying” thing - it was probably just a leaky pipe like

[Kamila Kunda · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is sometimes tiresome to live in a city as burdened by the past as Berlin. Kirsty Bell moved to Berlin for love in 2001 and about ten years later she, her husband and their two sons moved to the apartment on the third floor of the building on Landwehr Canal. Soon afterwards her marriage fell apart and she stayed with her sons in the apartment - too big, occupied by the energy of former residents, and mourning (there were a lot of unexplained leakages). “‘Sometimes when water is flowing it means the house is mourning,’ (…) ‘There is an excess of emotion that needs to be expelled.’” This was for Bell the beginning of the exploration of the psyche of the house and of Berlin. The result is “The Undercurrents”, a one of a kind memoir of the house.

Bell delves deep into personal histories of people who owned and lived in the building and the wider context of the history of Berlin from the construction of this muddy coloured townhouse. Masterfully, she explores the psychogeography of Berlin, which made me look at the city from a completely novel angle. My relationship with Berlin began in 1988 when I travelled here for the first time, and has been continuing through 2003/2004, spent completing my Master’s degree, and my annual visits to my parents who live in the north of the city. There is no city I know better. And yet, Bell pointed out things about Berlin I had never given thought to. “‘For decades,’ writes Janos Frescot (…) ‘the Gleisdreieck was regarded by artists, urban flâneurs, freaks and bums as a synonym for a specific West Berlin state of mind consisting of melancholy, depression and the will to be different.’”

For me, it was especially fascinating to read about the WWII times and trauma’s impact on the city and Germans. I got a lot of pleasure from reading about the divided city, how differently West and East Berlin developed, and how reunification affected Berlin’s notion of identity. I find Bell’s psychological approach towards her research most exciting and enlightening. It definitely shed new light on the way I perceive Berlin and myself in the city. Beautiful, moving and incredibly gripping book.

[Graham Sillars · Rating 5 out of 5]

Firstly I wish to thank the lovely people at Fitzcacarraldo Editions for sending me an ARC of this incredible book with a request for an open and honest review.

The Undercurrents A Story of Berlin is a beautifully written amalgamation of biography, memoir and critical piece.

It paints a picture of the history of a place with such incredible ease and dexterity.

Kirsty Bell’s marriage has broken down and she becomes engrossed in the place she now lives, Berlin. She uncovers forgotten stories of the lesser known and understood history of the city.

A beautifully evocative and thought provoking journey into the history of a place and the stories hidden in plain sight.

Very enjoyable and highly recommended!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some compelling snippets on Berlin’s history but overall quite hard work - required some perseverance to finish.

[Carolina Silva Rodé · Rating 2 out of 5]

me da la impresión de que Bell pensó que tenía que sí o sí forzar como esa pretensión "literaria" para justificar el libro, que de otro modo era un competente, interesante y disfrutable libro... de datos. y la pretensión literaria es desafortunada al principio, pesada en el medio, ridícula al final. me fue inevitable pensar "ughhhhhhh" cada vez que se ponía insoportablemente YANQUI. no sé si alguna otra ciudad fuera de estados unidos inspira tanta yanquidad insufrible como berlín. yo no he visto. en algún momento en el cuarto cuarto del libro la autora se acerca a reconocer lo ridículo del asunto, o al menos la disonancia necesaria para escribir el asunto, y habría estado bueno que 1) llegara a concluir ese pensamiento y 2) lo hiciera mucho antes. sí, sos una anglófona cheta haciendo historiografía intuitiva. reconocelo. aceptalo. no está mal. hacé la investigación amateur y divertite y divertime a mí, porque los datos están buenos. no todo lo que se pone en papel impreso tiene que tener una justificación toda mística de los sentimientos y la sensibilidad. sobra.

de ese tono místico-sentimental, tan común en estos tiempos, quiero constatar un vicio estilístico, así queda acá para cuando haga mi gran tipología del cornudismo: "there is a certain sadness", "there is a blankness", etc. qué es esa cobardía? cómo que una "certain sadness"? hay sadness o no hay sadness? no seas cagona. este es un vicio claramente emparentado (si no es el mismo) al ubicuo plural cobarde del que hablo muy a menudo.

y después, sobre la edición:
1) el editor se durmió más o menos en la página 170, y de ahí en adelante hay una cantidad inmoral de comas parentéticas sueltas, sin sus hermanitas. a mí, particularmente, eso me rompe soberanamente las pelotas. casi tanto como, también aquí presentes, las comas al pedo entre sujeto y predicado.
2) a quién se le ocurrió imprimir así esos mapas? no hubo ni una impresión de prueba? mapas no solo partidos al medio sino absolutamente enterrados en el doblez, que encima dobla exactamente arriba del triangulito del que hablamos todo el libro. o sea: me ponés un mapa lo más grande que podés, y para ponerlo así de grande hacés que no pueda ver la parte que tengo que ver. en vez de, no sé, ponerlo en una página sola donde pueda verse, o como minimísimo alinearlo de otra forma para que se vea lo que se tiene que ver. bizarras decisiones.
si no se puede esperar decisiones coherentes de fitzcarraldo, de quién sí podemos?

en fin. la cosa fáctica la disfruté. más cosa fáctica. saludos

[Evren Arslan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Berlin'e dair, kent tarihine dair güzel bir anlatı, derleme. Berlin'de bulunmadiysaniz takip etmek zor ve zorlama olabilir ama bu şehre biraz sızdıysanız, katman katman tarihini kokladiysaniz, ki benim için öyleydi, okumasi keyifli olacaktır. Yazarın kişisel tarihinin şehrin anlatısına paralel kurulmasını keyifle takip ettim, yazarla empati kurdum. Diğer taraftan anlatiya konu evde yaşayan kadınların hayata bakışını yakalamaya çalıştığına dair yorumlar okudum ama ben o damarı bulamadım açıkçası. Yasemin Congar'in çevirisi takdire şayandı...duru, akıcı, metni baştan sona kavramış.
Jenny Erpenpeck'in Kairos'undan sonra duble Berlin kitabı oldu, memnunum...

[Briana · Rating 4 out of 5]

sinking, fractured, window

[Wayne Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kirsty Bell sinks so deeply into the history and culture of the particular spot in Berlin that she inhabits with her newly and sadly reconfigured family. The pleasure of this narrative is the richness and dimensionality—truly a vast and far-reaching kaleidoscope containing centuries of archival data—she achieves as she plumbs “the undercurrent” stream of history and experience that shaped the city.(Of course the memoir-loving part of me longed for more of her personal circumstances and how those feelings drove this exploration.)

The result is obsessional, rich, essayistic in the grandest sense, the meandering of a mind that sees deeply.

[Ezgi Korkmaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tek kelimeyle muazzam. Kirsty Bell evindeki bir su akıntısıyla bizi alıp Berlin’in ta en derinliklerine götürüyor. Hem tarih anlatısı hem de adeta bir otobiyografi diyebiliriz.

[Till Raether · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great introduction to Berlin history, especially regarding city planning and architecture. I felt right at home with Bell's unease about many of Berlin's topographical and historical features; she's a great chronicler of atmospheres and aesthetics.

In the end I didn't enjoy the chronological order of the book much; I would have enjoyed an even more thematic approach. But that may be just me, having read too many histories of (West) Berlin in recent years.

And you know, I would've loved more memoir and less Bowie and Fontane.

As always with Fitzcarraldo Editions, the typesetting is ugly, erratic, and utterly ahistorical, puzzling stuff.

[Nika · Rating 5 out of 5]

A slice of Berlin’s history and also impeccably written personal account of settling into a city.

[cloudybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book validated my dislike of Berlin and I found a name for my strange seasonal affliction: Frühjahrsmüdigkeit. Trust the Germans to have a word for any and all feelings of discomfort.

[Nil Gurun Noyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kirsty Bell’in Dip Akıntıları, hem bir şehrin hem de bir insanın geçmişine doğru katman katman ilerleyen bir kitap.
Sanat eleştirmeni Kirsty Bell, kocası ve iki oğluyla beraber Berlin’in çoğunu dolaşan Landwehr Kanalı üzerindeki on dokuzuncu yüzyıldan kalma bir apartmanda büyük bir daireye taşınır. Ne var ki, yeni ev pek de misafirperver değildir. Çoğunlukla sızdıran bu eski yapı, Bell’in hayatındaki çatlakları da görünür kılar. Evliliğin dağılmasıyla evdeki ve şehirdeki sızıntılar birbirine karışır. Bu kırılmalar, Bell’i binanın geçmişini araştırmaya, oradan da çevreye ve Berlin’in katmanlı tarihine inmeye teşvik eder.

Berlin kadar geçmişin yükünü taşıyan bir şehirde yaşamak, bazen yorucu olabilir. Bell, bu ağırlığı açıkça hissettiriyor.
Özellikle İkinci Dünya Savaşı zamanlarını, travmanın şehir ve insanlar üzerindeki etkisini okuduğum bölümler çok etkileyiciydi. Ayrıca Bell, geçmişi araştırırken yalnızca şehrin mimarisine ve tarihine değil, aynı zamanda kadına yönelik bakış açısına da odaklanıyor.
19. ve 20. yüzyıl Berlin’in de kadınların nasıl konumlandırıldığı, hangi beklentiler altında ezildikleri ve kendi hayatlarının nasıl şekillendirildiği üzerine önemli çıkarımlarda bulunuyor.
Bu toplumsal bakış, Bell’in kişisel hikayesiyle de paralel ilerleyerek anlatıya ayrı bir derinlik katıyor.

Kitap boyunca Rebecca Solnit’in Yürümenin Tarihi, Christopher Isherwood’un Hoşça Kal Berlin, Hannah Arendt’in Kötülüğün Sıradanlığı, Peter Gay’in Weimar Kültürü, Theodor Fontane’ın Effi Briest gibi eserlerden ve daha pek çok kaynaktan söz ederek anlatımını derinleştiriyor. Bu göndermeler hem şehre hem insan doğasına dair daha geniş bir bakış sunuyor.

Öte yandan, kitabı okurken sık sık şunu düşündüm; şehircilik ve şehrin düzeni hakkında anlatılan bazı bölümler, Berlin’i bilen bir okuyucu için çok daha anlamlı olurdu. Landwehr Kanalı’ndan sokak isimlerine, belli binaların tarihinden toplumsal hafızaya kadar pek çok detay, o coğrafyayı tanıyanlar için bambaşka bir derinlik taşıyor çünkü.
Yine de şehirle aramızda böyle bir mesafe olsa bile, Bell’in yazımındaki derin bakış ve kişisel hikayesini şehre dokuyuş biçimi ilham vericiydi.

Bu kitap, derinden gören bir zihnin, tarih, şehir planlaması ve kişisel dramaları etkileyici bir şekilde harmanladığı zengin bir karışım.

[Ingel-Kristen Veevo · Rating 4 out of 5]

megahuvitav jälgida kedagi kellega sama kodulinna jagame ja kuidas kogemus saab olla nii erinev ja nii sarnane samal ajal - lähedasi vordlusi sain expatiks olemisest ja südamevaluga uues linnas tegelemisest, samas kui erinevad linnaosad ja huvitaval kombel juhuslikult ka vastavalt erineval pool müüri asetsemine peegeldad jälle hoopis vastandlikke kogemusi. igaljuhul täiega tähelepanu juhtiv raamat, panin eesti suve jaoks kohe pausile sest tänavaid ja landmarke lugemise taustale märgata oli nagu pool sellest lugemiselamusest ja plaanin lähiajal minna tema ends korteri lähedusse uitama. ei teagi kas oleks nii korda läind kui ei elaks siin ise aga siuke mingi elude poimumine mingite väikeste detailide kaudu nagu jah moeldagi kes koik siin minu üürikaski enne mind on elanud ja oma elu samade seinte vahel kogenud? igaljuhul läks korda ja pani kohe enda ümbrust teise pilguga jälgima. 4.5 utleks isegi