The Wall in My Head: Words and Images from the Fall of the Iron Curtain

"A year or so after the Wall came down, I paid a brief visit to Moscow. The first thing I noticed was that the taxi cab drivers in Moscow, always masters of small talk, were repeating themselves."—Dubravka Ugresic, from "The Souvenirs Of Communism"

On the night of November 9, 1989, after months of unrest in Europe and East Germany, the checkpoints between East and West Berlin were suddenly, almost accidentally, opened, reuniting the two sides of the divided city, and bringing together a divided Europe and two worlds that had been apart for nearly thirty years. However, the fall of the Berlin Wall was just one of many signs of change that came with 1989; before long a spate of revolutions, the "Autumn of Nations," had spread across Europe and by December, it appeared that the Cold War was over.

To mark the twentieth anniversary of this momentous collapse, and to shed some light on how it came to pass, Words without Borders presents The Wall in My Head , an exciting anthology that features fiction, essays, images, and original documents to pick up where most popular accounts of the Cold War end, and trace the path of the revolutionary spirit of 1989 from its origins to the present day.

The Wall in My Head combines work from the generation of writers and artists who witnessed the fall of the Iron Curtain firsthand with the impressions and reflections of those who grew up in its wake and whose work, childhoods, and memories are all colored by the long shadow that it cast. The Wall in My Head provides a unique view into the change, optimism, and confusion that came with 1989 and examines how each of these has weathered the twenty years since that fateful year.

Highlights within include seminal excerpts from the work of Milan Kundera, Peter Schneider, Ryszard Kapuściński, Vladimir Sorokin and Victor Pelevin and new work from Péter Esterházy, Andrzej Stasiuk, Muharem Bazdulj, Maxim Trudolubov, Dorota Maslowska, Uwe Tellkamp, Dan Sociu, David Zábranský, Christhard Läpple, and a host of others.

Words Without Borders is a nonprofit entity dedicated to publishing and promoting international literature in translation. Responsible for a number of anthologies, including Literature from the "Axis of Evil" , Table & Pen , and The Ecco Anthology of International Poetry.

Keith Gessen was born in Russia and educated at Harvard and Syracuse. He is the founding editor of the magazine n+1 and author of the novel All the Sad Young Literary Men.

1119734993
The Wall in My Head: Words and Images from the Fall of the Iron Curtain

"A year or so after the Wall came down, I paid a brief visit to Moscow. The first thing I noticed was that the taxi cab drivers in Moscow, always masters of small talk, were repeating themselves."—Dubravka Ugresic, from "The Souvenirs Of Communism"

On the night of November 9, 1989, after months of unrest in Europe and East Germany, the checkpoints between East and West Berlin were suddenly, almost accidentally, opened, reuniting the two sides of the divided city, and bringing together a divided Europe and two worlds that had been apart for nearly thirty years. However, the fall of the Berlin Wall was just one of many signs of change that came with 1989; before long a spate of revolutions, the "Autumn of Nations," had spread across Europe and by December, it appeared that the Cold War was over.

To mark the twentieth anniversary of this momentous collapse, and to shed some light on how it came to pass, Words without Borders presents The Wall in My Head , an exciting anthology that features fiction, essays, images, and original documents to pick up where most popular accounts of the Cold War end, and trace the path of the revolutionary spirit of 1989 from its origins to the present day.

The Wall in My Head combines work from the generation of writers and artists who witnessed the fall of the Iron Curtain firsthand with the impressions and reflections of those who grew up in its wake and whose work, childhoods, and memories are all colored by the long shadow that it cast. The Wall in My Head provides a unique view into the change, optimism, and confusion that came with 1989 and examines how each of these has weathered the twenty years since that fateful year.

Highlights within include seminal excerpts from the work of Milan Kundera, Peter Schneider, Ryszard Kapuściński, Vladimir Sorokin and Victor Pelevin and new work from Péter Esterházy, Andrzej Stasiuk, Muharem Bazdulj, Maxim Trudolubov, Dorota Maslowska, Uwe Tellkamp, Dan Sociu, David Zábranský, Christhard Läpple, and a host of others.

Words Without Borders is a nonprofit entity dedicated to publishing and promoting international literature in translation. Responsible for a number of anthologies, including Literature from the "Axis of Evil" , Table & Pen , and The Ecco Anthology of International Poetry.

Keith Gessen was born in Russia and educated at Harvard and Syracuse. He is the founding editor of the magazine n+1 and author of the novel All the Sad Young Literary Men.

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The Wall in My Head: Words and Images from the Fall of the Iron Curtain

The Wall in My Head: Words and Images from the Fall of the Iron Curtain

The Wall in My Head: Words and Images from the Fall of the Iron Curtain

The Wall in My Head: Words and Images from the Fall of the Iron Curtain

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Overview

"A year or so after the Wall came down, I paid a brief visit to Moscow. The first thing I noticed was that the taxi cab drivers in Moscow, always masters of small talk, were repeating themselves."—Dubravka Ugresic, from "The Souvenirs Of Communism"

On the night of November 9, 1989, after months of unrest in Europe and East Germany, the checkpoints between East and West Berlin were suddenly, almost accidentally, opened, reuniting the two sides of the divided city, and bringing together a divided Europe and two worlds that had been apart for nearly thirty years. However, the fall of the Berlin Wall was just one of many signs of change that came with 1989; before long a spate of revolutions, the "Autumn of Nations," had spread across Europe and by December, it appeared that the Cold War was over.

To mark the twentieth anniversary of this momentous collapse, and to shed some light on how it came to pass, Words without Borders presents The Wall in My Head , an exciting anthology that features fiction, essays, images, and original documents to pick up where most popular accounts of the Cold War end, and trace the path of the revolutionary spirit of 1989 from its origins to the present day.

The Wall in My Head combines work from the generation of writers and artists who witnessed the fall of the Iron Curtain firsthand with the impressions and reflections of those who grew up in its wake and whose work, childhoods, and memories are all colored by the long shadow that it cast. The Wall in My Head provides a unique view into the change, optimism, and confusion that came with 1989 and examines how each of these has weathered the twenty years since that fateful year.

Highlights within include seminal excerpts from the work of Milan Kundera, Peter Schneider, Ryszard Kapuściński, Vladimir Sorokin and Victor Pelevin and new work from Péter Esterházy, Andrzej Stasiuk, Muharem Bazdulj, Maxim Trudolubov, Dorota Maslowska, Uwe Tellkamp, Dan Sociu, David Zábranský, Christhard Läpple, and a host of others.

Words Without Borders is a nonprofit entity dedicated to publishing and promoting international literature in translation. Responsible for a number of anthologies, including Literature from the "Axis of Evil" , Table & Pen , and The Ecco Anthology of International Poetry.

Keith Gessen was born in Russia and educated at Harvard and Syracuse. He is the founding editor of the magazine n+1 and author of the novel All the Sad Young Literary Men.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781934824238
Publisher: Open Letter
Publication date: 11/09/2009
Pages: 241
Sales rank: 141,303
Product dimensions: 7.00(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Words Without Borders is a nonprofit entity dedicated to publishing and promoting international literature in translation. Responsible for a number of anthologies, including Literature from the "Axis of Evil" , Table & Pen , and The Ecco Anthology of International Poetry.

Keith Gessen was born in Russia and educated at Harvard and Syracuse. He is the founding editor of the magazine n+1 and author of the novel All the Sad Young Literary Men.

Here is a complete list of contributors to this volume:

Keith Gessen
Milan Kundera
Wladimir Kaminer
Victor Pelevin
Mihaly Kornis
Pawel Huelle
Mircea Cartarescu
Dmitri Savitski
Zbigniew Herbert
Matthew Zapruder
Eugen Jebeleanu
Ryszard Kapuscinski
Uwe Tellkamp
Masha Gessen
Peter Schneider
Vladimir Sorokin
Paul Wilson
Annett Groschner
Dubravka Ugresic
Durs Grunbein
Judith Sollosy
Peter Esterhazy
Stanislav Komarek
Christhard Lapple
Dorota Maslowska
Dan Sociu
Andrzej Stasiuk
Stefan Heym
Irakli Josebashvili
Maxim Trudolubov
David Zabransky
Muharem Bazdulj

Table of Contents

KEITH GESSEN
Introduction

MILAN KUNDERA
From The Art of the Novel

WLADIMIR KAMINER
Paris Lost

VICTOR PELEVIN
From Omon Ra

MIHÁLY KORNIS
Petition

PAWEL HUELLE
From Moving House

MIRCEA CARTARESCU
Nabokov in Brasov

DMITRI SAVITSKI
From Waltz for K

ZBIGNIEW HERBERT
Report from a Besieged City

MATTHEW ZAPRUDER
On Eugen Jebeleanu

EUGEN JEBELEANU
Poems from Secret Weapon

RYSZARD KAPUSCINSKI
From Imperium

UWE TELLKAMP
From The Tower

MASHA GESSEN
My Grandmother the Censor

PETER SCHNEIDER
From The Wall Jumper

VLADIMIR SOROKIN
Farewell to the Queue

PAUL WILSON
Tower of Song: How the Plastic People of the Universe Helped Shape the Velvet Revolution

IN PICTURES

ANNETT GRÖSCHNER
The Revenge

DUBRAVKA UGRESIC
The Souvenirs of Communism

DURS GRÜNBEIN
The Road to Bornholm

JUDITH SOLLOSY
Regardless of the Cost: Reflections on Péter Esterházy’s Revised Edition

PÉTER ESTERHÁZY
Preface to Revised Edition

STANISLAV KOMÁREK
From Mandarins

CHRISTHARD LÄPPLE
Brother and Sister

DOROTA MASLOWSKA
Faraway, So Gross

DAN SOCIU
From Urbancholia

ANDRZEJ STASIUK
That Fear

STEFAN HEYM
Speech at the Opening Session of the 13th German Bundestag

IRAKLI IOSEBASHVILI
The Life and Times of a Soviet Capitalist

MAXIM TRUDOLUBOV
The War Within

DAVID ZÁBRANSKY
Any Beach But This

MUHAREM BAZDULJ
The Noble School

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