BERLIN SHUFFLE

An ensemble portrait of Berlin through the eyes of its marginalized members, first published in 1937 and now translated into English for the first time.

There’s much to admire in this recently rediscovered portrait of prewar Berlin by the author of the critically acclaimed novel The Passenger. Boschwitz (1915-1942) begins with an ensemble cast of characters drawn from what would have been considered the very dregs of his society: not only the unemployed, but those who rely on sex work or small cons, door-to-door begging, or whatever form of government assistance might still be available to them. The book’s greatest strength is showing, in day-to-day terms, the very real effect of Germany’s economic collapse on regular, working-class people after the First World War—and how the untenable situation they faced created an atmosphere in which a fascist government could arise. In that sense, many of the novel’s concerns overlap with those of the present day. But Boschwitz, who was apparently in his early 20s when he wrote the book, can at times assume a somewhat didactic tone, especially in the book’s second half, that becomes more anthropological than literary. Of the patrons of the Jolly Huntsman, for example—the pub where all the novel’s characters wind up converging—Boschwitz writes, “Their uncertain existence…made it impossible for them to develop a firm worldview or solid spiritual foundation…they did not present a cohesive, organized, coordinated whole, but rather an enormous sum of individuals who were mentally as well as economically adrift.” Taken altogether, this feels like the early but immature work of a promising writer. It’s a wonderful opportunity to see Boschwitz starting to work out themes he’ll address with greater finesse later in his career, but as a complete work in and of itself, it isn’t perfect.

The novel is a welcome addition to Boschwitz’s oeuvre, but doesn’t quite stand on its own.