Narrative
The Wall Jumper
Der Mauerspringer
Peter Schneider · 1982
Synopsis
A narrator from West Berlin goes back and forth between the two halves of the city and gathers stories of the border. Mr Kabe has jumped the Wall some fifteen times, for no political reason, and neither of the two states knows what to do with him. Three boys from East Berlin cross it every Friday to see westerns in a cinema on the Kurfürstendamm, then go back home. His friend Robert, who has gone over to the West, and Pommerer, a writer who stayed in the East, tell him of other crossings.
Context
The narrative was published in 1982 in Darmstadt. It is made of reported stories rather than a continuous plot, in a manner reminiscent of One Thousand and One Nights. It gave German the image of the wall in the head, which the narrator says takes longer to pull down than the one made of concrete, and which was widely taken up after 1989. It brought its author international renown; Leigh Hafrey's English translation appeared as early as 1983, Nicole Casanova's French one at Grasset the same year. Reinhard Hauff made a film from it, Der Mann auf der Mauer.
Who it is for
A short narrative, without a continuous plot, told in the first person by the one who collects the stories.
Prizes and reception
The book that made its author known outside Germany, and the origin of an image that became proverbial after reunification.
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