Strange Berlin

Author's name: Yasser Ahmed Publisher: Tanmeya Library for Publishing and Distribution Year of publication: 2025 Literary classification: Novel Book summary: "In a world that is not entirely realistic, nor entirely imaginary, Hassan tells his stories about the things he approached without touching. The events of the novel revolve around a blend between his life in Berlin and his childhood memories in Cairo, in a journey where his fears intersect with the paths he escapes to. Hassan, who never met his mother, went to the same city where she lives. He never opened the letters that arrived in his mail, and he did not trust the sides of the roads he walked away from. He only healed when he wrote the last line of the story. But it was not the only story the stranger knew. He lived between worlds, discovering Berlin while burdened with his Eastern questions, moving among realistic characters and others fantastical who chased him from another world. The stranger crosses between his narrative and the narrator's narrative, seeking an escape from his dense loneliness, to meet those who change the course of his life at every station. He leaves Cairo to meet Berlin bears, Hans Zimmer, Daniela, while a Kurdish cellist plays in the neighboring yard. He escapes his memories when an old man appears at the crossroads, and buries everything in a deep decision. Until he opens the box, and a picture comes out… telling him everything he wanted to know."