Berlin Alexanderplatz

Life! That’s what Franz Biberkopf wants. Disoriented, he staggers through a big city that is devouring him. He crashes into sexual adventures, petty crime, and a toxic dependence on the gangster Reinhold. Violence, power struggles, and overconfidence cost him his arm and the life of his beloved Mieze. Using expressive language and collages of everything from advertising slogans to biblical verses, Alfred Döblin creates a literary counterpart to an increasingly complex world in his classic big-city novel. The overwhelming demands placed on people in times of radical change and sensory overload become palpable. What worldviews can emerge when the tools to meaningfully arrange the puzzle pieces of perception are missing?