Why a Booktrail?
1930s: Before Sex and the City there was Bridget Jones. And before Bridget Jones was The Artificial Silk Girl.
The Artificial Silk Girl
What you need to know before your trail
A young woman living in Germany was inspired by Anita Loos’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes to describe pre-war Berlin and the age of cinematic glamour through the eyes of a woman.
Keun reveals the dark underside of Berlin’s “golden twenties” and was even banned by a Nazi censorship board in 1933 when all existing copies of The Artificial Silk Girl were destroyed. Only one English translation was published, in Great Britain, before the book disappeared in the chaos of the ensuing war.
This is that story
Travel Guide
Berlin – 1930s
In Berlin Doris attempts to move beyond bit parts as an actress and to fashion herself a as a screen idol. Berlin has a wonderful cinematic culture and there is a possibility in the air that she can reach out and almost touch the star quality that the Hollywood actresses enjoy.
Doris becomes a camera, recording the sights and sounds of city life. She wanders the street and takes Brenner, a blind veteran, on a tour of the city and paints a true and full picture of the city at that time
The city has heady distractions and cheerless glamour – Doris wants to show him the city she sees
But the blind man sees another side to Berlin – his city is not one he likes – he, like Doris in on the edges of society.
The book has been compared to Alfred Doblin’s Alexanderplatz for its way of turning the spotlight on the prostitutes and homeless of the city The Nazis opposed it for many reasons namely for the fact that it gave a strong message about common humanity – something they were trying to effectively destroy.
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: The Artificial Silk Girl
Author/Guide Irmgard Keun Destination: Berlin Departure Time: 1930s
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