My Century

Do not take up this book while flopping into your favourite easy chair thinking you'll pass a pleasant afternoon with a prize-winning author. Gunter Grass has given us a prime example of why awarding him the Nobel Prize was so appropriate. Germany was the focal point of Western history throughout the last ten decades. This collection of observations might act as a text book for the period [although a supplemental reading list is recommended]. Grass' superb presentation of the people living in each era is an ideal starting point for numerous study topics. An outstanding collection of how people felt and reacted to events, woven tightly with their normal daily lives.With narrators ranging from Kaiser Wilhelm II through working class ladies suffering the effects of runaway inflation to miners striving for better conditions, Grass presents a spectrum of Central European life. His ability in capturing the attitudes of the narrators, whether male, female, young, old, politically left, centre or right is elegant. There are no flaws in any of the portrayals. He's unrestrained in having each character speak honestly, fluently and fully. And those characters catch the flavour of each era in a faultless economy of words. With such a mob as this, meeting and hearing them a few at a time is best. You want to get to know them well, and reflect on their words and views.Central to any account of 20th Century Germany are two global conflicts. Relating both world wars through the eyes of novelists and journalists is a master stroke. Only a writer of Grass' ability could convey the outlooks of literary giants Remarque and Junger, and do it through the mind of a modern woman. A war correspondent attends a gathering of journalists where in archetypal fashion, the old battles are re-fought, the old defeats analyzed, the old friends lightly mourned. History, however, is not made of wars. It's ultimately the result of individuals making decisions about their lives. Grass' multi-faced account provides readers with deep insight into why Germany is so important in the world scene. He takes us into the minds of those who struggled for workers' rights. He shows us middle class men and women not quite attuned to the loss of feudal tradition with the exile of the Kaiser, facing a collapsed economy. American society, still trembling at the spectre of The Great Depression of the 1930s, never experienced spending $2 500 for an apron, or using paper money to close cracks in wallpaper. Nor was there a Western leader exhibiting the aura of redemption He exuded on becoming Chancellor. Even His opponents accepted the promised restoration of stability as a desired end. They couldn't forecast how it would be achieved. Grass takes us through the minds of those who clung to the promise until it was too late.Grass' portrayal of modern times loses nothing in comparison to the more distant historical view given earlier. He's fully co

Maybe it is because the boork requires you to be more than passingly familiar with names, dates and events in German History prior to the Nazi era, this book may be unsettling if not even close to unreadable to some. However, it is precisely for that reason that it causes those who do know the dates and times mentioned throughout the book to reflect on how they recall them.Grass was not writing for the person who has only read about those times, but for those who lived those times. And, unlike some of his polemic writings of the past, he is not into pontificating as he is in charge of beginning the debates.As one who recalls weeping at the collapse of the wall, I found the old officials watching the TV with the volume down a fascinating turn of expected emotion, For them, all of their lives was destroyed; instead of joy, fear...instead of belief, dismissal.It takes some getting used to the switching of narration; a little disengaging the first chapter or two. Actually, it forced me to read the book more slowly, savoring the nuance as age, gender and even time frame shift about like sands on a riverbottom.I have always admired the craft, style and intelligence of Gunthar Grass. This slim gem of a book only reconfirms by opinion.

I have had the opportunity to read this book in its original language, German. I have also lived in Germany most of my life, have my whole family there (yes, i am a FOB), and go back for at least three months every year. Well, you might ask yourself, why is he telling me this? I have a very good reason to do so. Grass has achieved something that I have yet seen to be done by any author. He has perfectly portrayed the mood among Germans during the 20th century. Ask any German of any age. He will tell you the same. If you know nothing about Germany: Read this book! If you think that you know a lot about Germany: Read this book! If you are from Germany or have lived there: Read this book! If you like to read: Read this book! To sum it up: Read this book, because it will broaden your horizon of knowledge.

I bought this book for all that seemed to be missing. This book won The Nobel Prize in 1999 for Literature, so what was missing? The book jacket had 3 quotes, all were about the author, and nothing was said about the book. I did not find this work anywhere on any bestseller list. I checked on the "Professional Reviews" and again they were odd. They seem to be of two types; explain nearly the entire book, or like the back of the jacket, they were confined to cryptic remarks about the Author, and on occasion the book itself. There is a huge distinction to be made between 100 "Chapters" and 100 "Stories". The inside jacket designates the enclosed as stories, and I would venture that anyone who reads the book would agree. Some stories share characters, but the brief tale told with shared characters is hardly sequential, this is also the exception to the stories rather than the rule. Historical knowledge of Germany or of the 20th Century is helpful but not required. The story about the USA landing on the moon while told from the perspective of a German, and within that narrator's time, does not require a degree in History. This book is tremendous. The 100 stories almost do read like chapters in spite of the fact they are not necessarily in chronological order. Short stories are notoriously difficult to write. The Author has created 100 of them, placed them within the confines of 100 years, and does so in a manner so clever and subtle, that by book's end, I felt that is what I read, a book, not a collection of short stories. This book is wonderful; it can be enjoyed as a historical narrative, or as brilliant piece of writing. The book is for anyone who likes to read. I just don't understand the lack of interest. It was noted that only 25,000 books were initially printed, that's virtually identical to Angela's Ashes, but a comparison of numbers of readers certainly seems to stop there, and that is truly a shame.