The Wall Jumper, by Peter Schneider, tells the story of life in Berlin before the Berlin Wall was torn down. It tells the story through the eyes of people on both sides of the Wall, as well as the journalists telling their stories. The stories describe the experiences of people who jumped the wall and escaped to the West, and who, at least in theory, broke the barrier that sharply divided ideologies as well as territories. The story is not told in chronological order and does not follow a traditional plot structure. Rather, it unfolds as a series of anecdotes that are told to the narrator in bars as he moves back and forth between East Berlin and West Berlin and gathers his stories.

The four main characters in the book are all from East Germany, and when they move to the West, they struggle with the clash of ideals. The clash of ideals is emphasized in their personal experiences and relationships and through the stories they tell of others who move to the West for different reasons. The narrator learns from his friend Robert, an exiled writer from the East, the story of a man named Kabe who jumped the wall 15 times. He learns from Pommerer, a writer friend who is still living in the East, the story of three young people who jump the Wall to watch movies that have not been censored by the communist government. Pommerer himself has gotten in trouble with the writers’ union in East Berlin and is about to escape to the West himself; although, he appears to staunchly defend the same system he plans to abandon. Lena, the author’s ex-girlfriend, struggles with paranoia after she crosses the wall to the West, never able to find comfort in her new and very different environment. The book reveals the stories of people who outwit the system and escape to the West, but who, as products of their upbringing, are unable to fully embrace Western ideals.