by Michael Califra
BOOK DESCRIPTION
It was a beautiful dream; as compelling and just as any in history – yet unattainable. Realizing it meant overcoming entrenched ideological and political divisions that had split a city and the world for half a century. Then it happened; overnight and without warning. And nothing would ever be as it was before. Set in the divided city of Berlin just before the revolutions of 1989, continuing through the unexpected fall of the Wall and German reunification, No Man’s Land chronicles events as experienced by Richard, an expatriate American working a job marketing software for a small US firm. His companions in West Berlin include Katerina Weber, the only child of a funeral director who is hell-bent of living every moment to the fullest; Knut Heino, a theology student working toward priesthood in an effort to avoid a real job, (according to Knut, work is the consequence of original sin; therefore he wanted nothing to do with it); and Klaus, an East German boarder guard who went over the Wall and could never adjust to life in the West. Stranded in West Berlin without the means to leave, Klaus asks Richard for a favor that requires an excursion to the eastern city. There he meets Traudi Franzke, an idealistic young nurse. The relationship that ensues, separated from reality by the notorious concrete border, exposes hopes long since betrayed but clung to nevertheless. It is a relationship that outlasts the Wall, political tumult and German reunification until Traudi’s life is destroyed by a secret past, completing a journey from an age of idealism to The End of History.
The author lived and worked in Germany from 1986 to 1998
AUTHOR BIO
Michael Califra lived and worked in Germany, mostly in Berlin, from 1986 to 1998 where he wrote the novel, No Man's Land.
When he first considered writing about the city it was still divided. The challenge then was to render in fiction a situation more absurdly fictional than any he could imagine. Only after the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification did it become clear that the division was only part of a story in which imaginable joy could turn to unbearable pain on a journey from the Age of Ideology to the End of History.
Michael Califra has executive produced feature films starring such Hollywood talent as Rosario Dawson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Paul Rudd and Winona Ryder. He is a graduate of New York University.
REVIEWS
5.0 out of 5 stars `A change of means of transport is permitted only with the official authorization of the responsible organs of the GDR' May 26, 2014
Format:Kindle Edition
Author Michael Califra's identity is as much a mystery as the story he writes. An attempt to find information about him is a fruitless search, unless he happens to be a producer of films. But while knowing some background of an author serves the inquiring mind, it in no way diminishes the impact of reading this excellent book that further explores the schism between the East and the West Germany divided for so long by a near impenetrable wall - and the mystery of life on both sides of that Berlin Wall.
Califra opens his book in that transitional period of time when the Berlin Wall divided not only the East form the West Berlin but also altered the manner in which people thought and worked and lived in a city divided by a hostile zone. In a very virtual experience setting we meet US expatriate Richard who works in the computer industry marketing computer software for a small American firm and his friends Katerina who despite her family's preoccupation in the death industry of funeral direction is a lively hedonistic girl, Kurt a somewhat reluctant theology student (studying for the priesthood is at least better than working a real job), and Klaus - a border guard from East Germany who continues to have problems with the West German way of life and philosophy and longs to return to East Germany - a desire thwarted by the current friction of transitioning between the East and the West. But Richard, our main narrator, is the key to resolve Klaus' dilemma: Richard choreographs Klaus' re-entry into East Germany, a favor that leads to Richard's encounter with a young nurse, Traudi, and a relationship begins to build, separated by the presence of the divisional Wall. But the year is 1989 and the Berlin Wall falls, the world rejoices, Germany is reunified, but what appeared to be a closure to the bonding of Traudi and Richard falls victim to circumstances beyond expectations.
Califra opens his book in that transitional period of time when the Berlin Wall divided not only the East form the West Berlin but also altered the manner in which people thought and worked and lived in a city divided by a hostile zone. In a very virtual experience setting we meet US expatriate Richard who works in the computer industry marketing computer software for a small American firm and his friends Katerina who despite her family's preoccupation in the death industry of funeral direction is a lively hedonistic girl, Kurt a somewhat reluctant theology student (studying for the priesthood is at least better than working a real job), and Klaus - a border guard from East Germany who continues to have problems with the West German way of life and philosophy and longs to return to East Germany - a desire thwarted by the current friction of transitioning between the East and the West. But Richard, our main narrator, is the key to resolve Klaus' dilemma: Richard choreographs Klaus' re-entry into East Germany, a favor that leads to Richard's encounter with a young nurse, Traudi, and a relationship begins to build, separated by the presence of the divisional Wall. But the year is 1989 and the Berlin Wall falls, the world rejoices, Germany is reunified, but what appeared to be a closure to the bonding of Traudi and Richard falls victim to circumstances beyond expectations.
Rarely has an author been able to bring such a sense of immediacy to that critical period in history as Michael Califra accomplishes in this book. It is about fact but fact embroidered by the impact of human lives and loves so long in the shadow of that cruel Wall. This is a story that pleads to become a film. Come out of hiding, Michael Califra! Grady Harp, May 14
5.0 out of 5 stars History and Hijinks July 26, 2014
Format:Kindle Edition|Verified PurchaseCalifra captures a time and place of really not so long ago that today may seem hard to believe existed -- a divided Berlin in which East Berliners were for the most part trapped. Friends of Richard, the narrator, are brought to life as they somewhat aimlessly live their lives in the generous West German welfare state, oddly disinterested in what the lives of their countrymen in the East were like. Richard, an American ex-pat living in West Berlin, shares their disinterest until doing a favor for an acquaintance led Richard to East Berlin where he met an East Berliner with whom he became friends. In reading the book, I felt the characters come alive and that for better or for worse they were my companions as I experienced an important, thrilling -- and for some tragic -- moment in the history of the 20th century as the established world order dissolved. Califra movingly tells the story of the effect of that climatic political change on the lives of Richard's lovers and friends in both the former East and West. It was a fun read, informative, touching when the Berlin Wall falls, and even comically funny at times. I thoroughy enjoyed the book and heartily recommend it to anyone who is interested in that time and place.
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