Inspired by the Berliner Luft ....

In this new National Post article, author Philip Kerr discusses his return to the stories of Bernie Gunther, the Berlin detective who came to prominence in Berlin Noir. The article themes in part the recurring attraction of Berlin as a source of fictional inspiration for British writers:

“So you have Christopher Isherwood, W.H. Auden, John Le Carre and Len Deighton,” he says. “There’s a great tradition among the English of writing about Berlin. It’s kind of a state of mind, almost. That even translates in terms of music. A lot of people go to Berlin with the idea that it’s a state of mind.”

Berlin has always been for me a main character of the Game, Set & Match series of novels, important for understanding the dynamics of the Great Game played out on its streets and essential to understanding Bernard Samson's character. There's definitely something about the city that inspires a certain type of fiction - the Berliner Luft must definitely do something a writer.