A Guide to Berlin (2015) novel review

"The power of connections"-

A review of Gail Jones' A Guide to Berlin (2015)

Photo taken by Erica Little

Set within the wintery European city of Berlin, A guide to Berlin (2015) is a powerful narrative driven by the emotional connections between a group of foreigners and their personal stories. As a veteran Australian writer, Gail Jones brilliantly captures the individualism of each person’s life and culture in her novel, as they are simply outsiders who stick together in foreign country. Despite their commonality however, a single ripple effect through the group divides them and eventually forces them to collide.

This novel centres around the main character Cass, an Australian who journeys to Berlin and joins a group of travellers from all around the world for a ‘speak memory’, in which they disclose the intimate stories of their lives and how they came to be the person they are today. As the reader follows Cass throughout her journey in getting to know each of the characters through their ‘speak memories’, we are teased with the unknown history of this character through little snippets here and there about her past, before eventually learning who she is instantly in one single chapter towards the end. Even though it felt as if the story was leading up to a something more intense, it appeared as though Jones wanted to humanise her with a humbler back story, which seemed to show how her experience in Berlin would be very thrilling. It is amazing how we are able to go on a narrative journey with this character yet know absolutely nothing about her until the very end, making certain we do not have the ability to scrutinize her moral decisions throughout the book based on her past. Jones allows us to treat Cass as if we had met her for the first time, just like how we would treat a stranger.

What is fascinating about the novel is the inspiration behind the premise of the story, which is based on Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov’s work and his short story A Guide to Berlin (1925). Nabokov’s work is referred to a number of times throughout the novel, with Jones both literary and fugitively creating similarities between his original short story and her characters in a modern setting. Her execution of this is done beautifully, as we are educated and entertained by the history of an old text.

The unexpected twist her readers are promised does not fail to deliver, as the entire story changes in the blink of an eye after one of the members of the group is killed. The consequence of this event causes the group to unravel, with another member overdosing shortly after. Even though I was personally caught completely off guard by the twist, I was slightly disappointed that the story had to go in the direction of homicide and murder to further the plot, as the entire novel up until that point had been about exploring the connections between each person in the group and with the city of Berlin, before it completely switched genres. I do appreciate however the way in which Jones describes the relationship; or lack thereof; between the group after the event, as they disband yet we must deal with the trauma alongside Cass. Though the novel was powerful in its ability to bond together the reader and Cass, it was hard to finish the story as she seemed to be still stuck in a place she didn’t want to be in. However I suspect Jones appreciates a novel that leaves the reader to contemplate the emotions behind her characters after the final chapter, and if they will even be able to move on from such a heartbreaking climax. 

A Guide to Berlin (2015) highlights the relationships that can be found with fellow outsiders in an unfamiliar place, showing how a foreign setting allows people to think more clearly and freely. For me, this novel executes this idea of forming intimate connections wonderfully, while Jones has also displayed the convergence of their cultures together in a very beautiful manner.