Communissy Kissy

It may be a coincidence, but then again, it may be a matter of fate that I was reading a novella, McGrave, by one of my favorite authors – Lee Goldberg, screenwriter for a number of Monk episodes and books about the pathetic, compulsive-disordered phobia-ridden detective.

Just about that time, a friend of mine changed the cover on her Facebook page and posted a picture of the Berlin Wall that she took when she and her husband visited Germany.

In his book, Goldberg wrote about the main character also visiting Germany and being driven to the last remaining half-mile segment at the Mühlenstrasse of the famous wall that represented the great divide between democracy and communism. Goldberg wrote that the segment is famous because of a mural there showing a pretty demonstrative kiss between two people.

So, I asked my friend if she took a picture of that famous mural. She did, and sent it to me.

Here it is:

Just a little disturbing and unsettling, if you ask me. It’s a painting by Russian artist Dmitri Vladimirovich Vrubel based on a 1979 photograph of then-Soviet Union Premier Leonid Brezhnev (left) and German Democratic Republic (East Germany) President Erich Honecker on the occasion of the GDR’s 30^th anniversary.

The title of his painting? “Mein Gott, hilf mir diese tödliche Liebe zu überleben“ (“My God, help me to survive this deadly love”).

My sentiments exactly.