Read it in Dutch but yeah, still, awesome book. ( )

Da dove cominciare? mah... È un libro tosto. Di quelli che ti aprono gli occhi e ti fanno capire certe cose. Io non sono mai stata attratta dalle droghe, non mi è mai passato per la mente. Per questo, questo libro mi ha aperto gli occhi. Mi ha fatto capire davvero come si può sentire un drogato, e quello che davvero le istituzioni fanno. Ovvero nulla. Forse ora è diverso, ma allora era così.
Mi piacerebbe sapere di più di come è finito Detlef. Le ultime notizie risalgono al 1995. Stella è morta nel 2004.
Mi è dispiaciuto anche il fatto che non abbiamo messo le foto e i disegno che credo di aver capito fossero nella versione originale. Avrebbero reso tutto ancora più reale.
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Sie ist heute sechzehn, kam mit zwölf in einem evangelischen Jugendheim zum Haschisch, mit dreizehn in einer Diskothek zum Heroin. Sie wurde süchtig, ging morgens zur Schule und nachmittags mit ihren ebenfalls heroinabhängigen Freunden auf den Kinderstrich am Bahnhof Zoo, um das Geld für die Droge zu beschaffen. Ihre Mutter bemerkte fast zwei Jahre Iang nichts vom Doppelleben ihrer Tochter. Christiane F. berichtet mit minuziösem Erinnerungsvermögen und rückhaltioser Offenheit über Schicksale von Kindern, die von der Öffentlichkeit erst als Drogentote zur Kenntnis genommen werden. Die Geschichte der Christiane F. wiederholt sich in Berlin, in Kleinstädten und Dörfern bereits zehntausendfach.

this is one of the books that have made a lifetime impression on me. I read it about 30 years ago and still remember it. ( )

this is one of the books that have made a lifetime impression on me. I read it about 30 years ago and still remember it. ( )

this is one of the books that have made a lifetime impression on me. I read it about 30 years ago and still remember it. ( )

This is the real story of Christane. A very crude description on the Berlin underground movement of that time, how and why she started using heroine, a mother never there for her, her love for David Bowie, her love story with her boyfriend that sells his body for drug money with his friends. And when the money he gets it's not enough for them to get heroine anymore, she become a young prostitute herself.
You will read about her multiple overdoses and the failed "recoveries", illness.
Very sad story. Not for everyone.
The movie is a MUST SEE if you liked the book. Obviously they didn't show a lot of parts of the book that should have been seen to properly understand the story but it does fills up on a lot of other things ( )

In some ways, German teen Christiane is like most other girls who live in industrialized nations--she loves her boyfriend, wants to fit in and have friends, and hopes to attend college some day. But in other ways, Christiane is different--she started using heroin when she was thirteen, and worked as a prostitute in Berlin to support her habit. Zoo Station is Christiane's own story, as told by ghostwriters, of her descent into Berlin's underworld of sex and drugs circa 1977.

Zoo Station is a compelling, yet frustrating read. No one seems to know how to help Christiane, least of all Christiane herself. She goes through full-blown heroin withdrawal several times, but then she finds herself shooting up again within hours or days. I read in a recent article in the German press that Christiane, who is now in her fifties, is still not clean, even after all these years. She is the first to admit that it is a miracle that she's still alive.

One odd feature of this new Zest Books edition (2013) is that it contains a photo insert of young German addicts, some of whom are not even mentioned in the text. One of these, a woman identified as Bärbel W., age 21, is quoted as saying, "If you want to quit, you need to have a reason. And right now, I just don't."

The sense of purposelessness Bärbel W. references seems to be at the root of Christiane's drug addiction as well. She said in a class discussion of Nazi Germany, "'In some ways I think I would've liked to be have been a teenager during the time of the Nazis. At least the young people back then had some ideals and could believe in something.' I wasn't really serious about that. But there was some truth to it" (p. 352). In Christiane's Berlin, permissiveness was the norm at both home and school, in sharp contrast to the regimentation of Nazi Germany. it is interesting that Christiane was first introduced to drugs at a church-run youth center. In the aftermath of the Third Reich, even institutions like churches and schools hesitated to exercise authority or assert a moral vision.

Some readers claim that Zoo Station glamorizes heroin addiction and prostitution, but I didn't find that to be the case. This may be because I'm not young and impressionable. To me, the memoir is an effective, if depressing, depiction of the helplessness and hopelessness of an addict. ( )

I received this as an advanced reading. Reading it was a shocking and it was depressing. I enjoyed the uncensored feel of the book nothing was sugar coated- it was told as how it was. This book was a little rough with the material for someone who wouldn't normally read a book like this (I fit into this category) but a good look into what can happen to someone in a situation like that. I had to put it down a couple of times just to get myself through it. I think my jaw was dropped most of the time reading it. Worth the read if you want something out of your “norm” reading material.

What I learned from this book: How to shoot dope. Also: that 1) seeing David Bowie live; 2) in Berlin in the late 1970's; 3) while high on dope; is the ultimate trifecta and would have been my *really, really awesome dream come true.* In contrast, by the time I saw David Bowie live (and more than middle-aged), it was: 1) in the Midwestern United States; 2) while in college; 3) sober. So, so wrong. I read *Christiane F.* when I was 11- or 12-years old, I wanted to grow up and be like her. I thought it sounded very self-destructive, very ugly, very much a true and dirty (therefore genuine, therefore romantic) sort of existence for someone as unnecessary to the world as I. I tried, I failed, I lived. At least 20 punk-rock kids I ran around and grew up with as a teenager tried, too. They succeeded. They died. ( )

I read this as a teenager, and I loved it: the crude, deeply troubling story of a group of teenagers through the eyes of one of them. Christiane F. is like any teenage reader, falls in love and frets over it like any teenager, but unlike most teenagers she has an expensive, devastating addiciton to deal with: life on the street is very tough and prostitution ensues, while she tries desperately to protect at least some corners of her life from teh ravages that the lifestyle of a homeless drug addict carries with it. It de-glamourises drug use and shows its tragic consequences. You can get out, but there is no illusion about the havoc it wrecks.

Highly recommended for young adults (unless too impressionable). ( )

Well-written, but I'm not sure if that is because of the author or the translator. The story was not my type of story, but I can see how it would appeal to someone else. Personally, I just found it depressing. ( )

It's a great book about drug abuse, I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it yet. I would also recommend this book to anyone who's thinking about trying heroine - it's power to control your life is described so good, that after you're finished reading the book you'll never think again about using it.

What I learned from this book is that there are three major compulsive behaviors exhibited by meth addicts: tweaking, rooting and sketching. I also learned that, pathos aside, meth can be as funny as crack.

I found this book really interesting. It's a first person account of addiction and the author doesn't hold back. She puts it all in there, the shocking, the embarrassing, the inspirational, all of it.
I was given this book from Zest Books. ( )

Mi sono sempre ritenuto furbo a non aver mai pensato che la droga avrebbe potuto darmi una mano! Ora, dopo aver letto questo libro, ci tengo a farlo sapere a tutti: sono una volpe!E se tu che stai leggendo questo commento (un po' strambo, ma in fondo non c'è molto da commentare) hai mai pensato di provare qualcosina per sballare, prova a dare una letta a 'sto libro. Poi mi dici cosa hai deciso. Che poi, preciso: io non sono contro la droga! Se uno vuole sballare e decide di drogarsi è liberissimo di farlo! Semplicemente il mio consiglio è: meglio di no (poi cazzi tuoi)! Tralaltro anche la società fuori dalla droga che C descrive alla fine non è che sia messa molto meglio... ( )

When I was about 14, i found this book under my older brother's bed. As it seemd totally wrong for me to read it, I could not resist. I found the book to be both harrowing and heart-breaking. It had a lasting affect on me. Growing up in Dublin in the 80's, when heroin was rife, I never for a moment was tempted to experiment. This story is far more powerful than any anti-drugs campaign. ( )

4.25/5 ( )