A collection of newly translated stories “filled with astonishing dialogue and imaginative prose” from the acclaimed author of Jacob the Liar (Jewish Book Council).
One of the giants of postwar German literature, Jurek Becker was author of the acclaimed novel Jacob the Liar, which was awarded the Heinrich-Mann and Charles Veillon Prizes, made into two movies, and hailed as “a novel about the martyrdom of Europe’s Jews that has never been surpassed” (The Times Literary Supplement).
The Wall is a brief collection of Becker’s stories that have only recently been translated into English. The title story recounts two boys’ risky adventure when they scale the wall of a transit camp to visit the ghetto their families have recently vacated. In “The Most Popular Family Story,” a favorite anecdote recounted year after year at the gatherings of an extended Jewish family subtly marks the absences left by the Holocaust. Also included are two stories of Communist East Germany and the wall that divided Berlin, “The Suspect” and “Romeo,” as well as a short essay on the Lodz ghetto, “The Invisible City.”
With an Introduction by Christine Becker, this volume of short works stands as a prime example of Jurek Becker’s enduring literary legacy.
