Off the rails! Stories from Germany’s rail network.
Defunded almost to breaking point by politicians, and simultaneously lauded as an important tool in the fight against climate change – perhaps we all feel the same strange mixture of disenchantment and affection when it comes to that good old means of public transport: the railways. Which of us hasn’t cursed the trains when they’re running “West Side Story” style (somehow, someday, somewhere) or when they leave us stranded overnight in the back of beyond? And which of us, conversely, hasn’t felt a deep fondness for them, whether for reasons of convenience (nothing compares to a flight from Berlin Brandenburg Airport) or nostalgia (school trips on the night train)? More than anything, trains are one of the few remaining places where all milieus, classes, styles and world views come together directly and powerfully. Where else, these days, do we have so many unexpected encounters with people we never wanted to meet? Where else are we subjected to the most intimate details of strangers’ lives? And where else do we experience moments of pure magic with unusual, even charming characters?
All these experiences make for wonderful stories, told here in fantastically comic fashion. A book of stories so surprising you just couldn’t make them up.
