Berlin

A "Siamese City," joined by culture but artificially separated by politics, culture and physically by the Wall, erected by the East German authorities in 1961, Berlin is the scene of virtually the entire book. Seen from the air, the city appears whole, but the shadow of airplanes is all that can pass freely over the fortified border. The only thing distinctive about East Berlin is its smell. Objects of everyday life look the same on the two sides, but life on the two sides is utterly different.

Those who live in Berlin take the Wall for granted and hardly notice it, while Germans living further away are obsessed by it. On Western maps the wall is a fine, pink line, whereas on Eastern ones it demarcates the end of civilization; no streets or sites are shown in West Berlin. West Berliners view the Wall as a metaphor for...