With little knowledge of German history and the Berlin Wall, I dove into "The Ghosts of Berlin" by Brian Liadd not knowing what to expect. I assumed it was going to talk about the history of the Berlin Wall, which it did. Except, that was not the only thing the first few chapters talked about. I was surprised and amused by the author's choice of topic. Liadd talks about the social perspectives and the metaphorical representation of the wall. Instead of giving hard facts, his focus was on how the community reacted and how this physical wall created a mental wall between two societies.

Again, not know much about German history, I enjoyed the first chapter as it dove into the history of the Berlin Wall. Reading the chapters, I have some of my own opinions on the Berlin Wall. As the book discusses, people disliked the wall because it reminded them of the turmoil and the bad reputation it has put on Berlin and Germany. Instead, they chose to cover up their mistakes and hide it from the public - to slowly phase out and repress bad history. Although I can reason with this, I also have to take the stance that it is better to preserve history to the best of our ability. Change is good, but we must also keep history in order to remember our past and our identity. People may deny it, but everything apart of our environment makes up our identity. As time passes, these "eye sores" become monuments and relics - the only connection to the past. It keeps the history alive in order for people to study this situation and apply it to others. For example, many Parisians thought that the Eiffiel Tower was an "eye sore" and wanted it to be torn down. After years have gone by, it is accepted as a monument, a world icon to Paris - it has assimilated into the citizen's lives.

Now, for practical reasons, sometimes we must destroy buildings to make better and safer ones. But, I think the reason Berliners give for tearing down the wall is not sufficient. I think that the Berlin Wall represents more than just turmoil and pain. It represents the culture and people that live in Berlin and has much more metaphorical meaning than credited.

Continuing on the reading, my favorite part was the first chapter and introduction. And reading this book has sparked more interest in my travels to Berlin. Although I do not agree with some of the ways Liadd focused his work, I still found it quite interesting and unique.