Berlin by Jason Lutes | Graphic Novel

Note event starting time changed to 5PM EST from 4pm EST.

Host: Denise W.
Pages to read: 555
ISBN: 9781770463264 (Originally listed edition)
ISBN: 9781770464063 (Edition Eugene is using)

Goodreads Summary:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37941619-berlin

"If there was ever any doubt of a graphic novel’s ability to achieve a high level of storytelling, this book blows it away."—Newsday

"Astonishing in its scope, breadth and execution."—The Independent

Twenty years in the making, this sweeping masterpiece charts Berlin through the rise of Nazism

During the past two decades, Jason Lutes has quietly created one of the masterworks of the graphic novel golden age*. Berlin* is one of the high-water marks of the medium: rich in its well-researched historical detail, compassionate in its character studies, and as timely as ever in its depiction of a society slowly awakening to the stranglehold of fascism.

Berlin is an intricate look at the fall of the Weimar Republic through the eyes of its citizens—Marthe Müller, a young woman escaping the memory of a brother killed in World War I, Kurt Severing, an idealistic journalist losing faith in the printed word as fascism and extremism take hold; the Brauns, a family torn apart by poverty and politics. Lutes weaves these characters’ lives into the larger fabric of a city slowly ripping apart.

The city itself is the central protagonist in this historical fiction. Lavish salons, crumbling sidewalks, dusty attics, and train stations: all these places come alive in Lutes’ masterful hand. Weimar Berlin was the world’s metropolis, where intellectualism, creativity, and sensuous liberal values thrived, and Lutes maps its tragic, inevitable decline. Devastatingly relevant and beautifully told, Berlin is one of the great epics of the comics medium.

Community Guidelines:
https://www.inquiryreviews.com/p/discussion-expectations.html

Eugene's review of the book:
https://www.inquiryreviews.com/2023/09/review-of-berlin-by-jason-lutes.html

Upcoming event:
https://www.meetup.com/Inquiry-Non-Fiction-Book-Club-for-Inquiring-Minds/events/

Forthcoming Similar Events:
1 - Group Dynamics - 12/09/2023 = The Wolf Age: The Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons by Tore Skeie (https://www.meetup.com/inquiry-book-club-for-inquiring-minds/events/292157903/)
2 - American Version Of Claims Made - 03/23/2024 = Class Struggle Unionism by Joe Burns (https://www.meetup.com/inquiry-book-club-for-inquiring-minds/events/294893348/)

Contribute:
The club has costs. If you appreciate the event, support the club. Contribute via:

1. Zelle, PayPal, or Venmo. Contribute to eugenefrominquiry@gmail.com.
2. GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/adabd41c

While reading the book, consider the below questions:
•What is the raison d’etre of the book? For what purpose did the author write the book? Why do people read this book?
•What are some limitations of the book?
•To whom would you suggest this book?
•How does Berlin change?
•How do the Berlin people change?
•How do the people change Berlin?
•What social circumstances are Berlin people living through?
•What are the different social groups and how do they attract people?
•What were the claims and efforts of the National Socialist party (Nazi)?
•What were the claims and efforts of the Soviets?
•Why does violence escalate?
•What cultures and communities are represented in the book?
•What impact did Karl Marx have on Germany?
•What impact did Rosa Luxemburg referenced?
•Why is Marthe Müller going to Berlin? Why does Marthe stay in Berlin? Why does Marthe leave Berlin?
•What does Kurt Severing do?
•What are Severing’s political views?
•What does Carl von Ossietzky do?
•Who is Anna Lencke?
•How does Berthold Schwartz treat others?
•What does Margarethe von Falkensee want?
•Why does Gudrun Braun join a movement?
•How does Silvia Bruan survive after the death of Silvia’s mother?
•What do the Cocoa Kids do in Berlin?
•How historically representative is the book?

Your questions are important and will take priority. If you have questions about the book's content or related ideas, either let me know what your questions are or raise them during the discussion.