The Tin Drum
category: fiction / fantasy / "magic realism", author:book 1 of Danzig Trilogy
Gunter Grass
translated by Ralph Manheimpublished by Everyman's Library, original copyright 1959, read in May 2010
Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10
A couple of weeks ago I was discussing my PissWeakly rating system with a friend. "What do you do," he asked, "If public opinion is that the book is 'good' -- but you don't like it?" "No worries," I replied. "The rating is Agamedes' opinion. I rate it as I like it."Here is a good test of the system...
The Tin Drum is, I suspect, a classic. You know, a book that everyone has heard of but no-one has read. There is also an expectation that a classic has survived because -- in general literary opinion -- it is "a good book". Perhaps the inside cover blurb explains why this book is a classic:
THE TIN DRUM presents Hitler's rise and fall through the eyes of the dwarfish narrator whose magic powers become symbolic of the dark forces dominating the German nation in that period."
Oh, so that's what it's about!
And there I was, thinking that Drum was about a weird little kid who became a weird little adult, without going through the standard phase of "growing up". The book is written by Oskar -- the weird kid -- as an adult. He tells of his birth, growing older, deciding(!) to not grow any larger. He's anti-social, extremely self-centred and very bad with relationships. When he refers to his current life -- as an adult, living in a lunatic asylum -- he is still anti-social, extremely self-centred and very bad with relationships.
Oskar does claim to suffer from guilt, from two incidents. He suffers guilt for killing his mother, though as I understand it, he didn't. He feels guilt for allowing his (Oskar's) self-centred demands to cause his father to be killed; he did. Oskar could have saved his father from death; he didn't. Oskar is an all-round nasty person who causes grief to everyone around him.
If that is "symbolic of the dark forces..." then it does not make for an enjoyable book.
If Oskar is indeed "symbolic of the dark forces" -- then perhaps the symbolism needs to be explained more clearly.
The Tin Drum is a book for readers who like to relive the past. For people who like to read a new view of incidents with which they are already familiar. I did read about Danzig -- where the story is set -- in Wikipedia. Which did make some sense of what was happening as a backdrop to Oskar's own story. But so what?!
The book just goes on and on... and on... and on... with mean-spirited and petty actions by a nasty person. If you're interested in the characters of peasants and shop-keepers of pre-WWII Danzig -- read this book. Actually -- I did find that quite interesting. But it was spoilt by the pointless nastiness of the narrator. And -- I must admit -- I have no great interest in events in Danzig, during Hitler's rise and fall.
Back to "Agamedes' opinion"
I originally rated this at "6: read to pass the time". Then I remembered how hard it was to read this book! So, no, do not pick up The Tin Drum with the idea of a passing a few hours with a readable book. It was readable enough at first, then just clagged up my mind. Too much of the same, too little of interest.I managed to read as far as page 278 -- almost exactly half way -- before I gave up. "My wife said, "Are you just skipping to the end, to see what happens?" No... It's worse than that.
I read half the book, then stopped. And I have no interest whatsoever, in finding out how it ends... There is no character, no plot, no idea which is worth following. The book is a series of incidents leading forward -- but to no place that I am interested in reaching.
And finally: Did you notice that the narrator has "magic powers"? The blurb says so and it's true. Which makes it difficult for me to categorise.
Grass is, apparently, "an early advocate of 'magic realism'". Does that mean that this book is a really boring fantasy? I don't have a category for "historic fiction", just "fiction". This book is a bit more than just "fiction". So I categorise Drum as both fiction and fantasy. Just don't confuse this book with escapist fantasy...
This book is a classic. Read it, if you are interested in deep and dark symbolism. If you believe that you would rather enjoy reading an historic classic -- read any book by Dickens. If you would like to enjoy a book about a dwarf and translated from German -- try The Dwarves. Read Drum only if you are interested in a complex and long-winded...
Ah, forget it.
And for goodness sake, Stop humming Little Drummer Boy -- it has nothing at all to do with this book!
For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com. |
2 comments:
Hi Agamedes,
How did you come to decide this book was a classic? Being a classic is a function of other people's opinions and perceptions. May be you have to read what others say that lead to the book becoming a classic. Then you can either accept the classification, reject the criteria or reassess them. If you reject the need to inform your self of why other people see it as a classic, then it being a classic is irrelevant and you just assess it on your own criteria.
You stuck with the book till nearly the mid point and found that there were loose threads. Maybe they were all connected, even if badly, later in the book. I've read a couple of books like that.
It sounds as if it was quite a relief for you when you decided not to continue. From what you said, from your point of view, the book is not worth a 5 because it did not do enough to capture and then maintain your interest.
It strikes me that a rating system should allow you to reflect the degree to which a book satisfies the purpose that lead you read it. On that basis how would you rate the story?
Cheers
I've known of the book for perhaps 30 years... For a book to last that long, it must be -- in my opinion:-) -- a classic. The local library has a good-as-new copy of a book printed in 1993... confirmation that this is a classic.
Just to be certain, I checked Wikipedia, to find that, "it soon became recognized as a classic of post-World War II literature, both in Germany and around the world." To be sure, to be sure and to be sure... it's a classic.
The rating system is simply, What was my reading experience... With no reference to expectations (though expectations may be mentioned in my comments).
The Tin Drum was "5: readable" but not really "4: bad". I do distinguish between "bad" and "not my type of book".
I did forget to comment that, the translation was very good. I mentioned The Dwarves -- a translation from German into Germanic English. (You know, reminds you of one of the Germans from Hogan's Heroes.) The Drum translation was into good, easy-flowing English.
Thanks for the comments!
Post a Comment