Thursday, June 28, 2007

Grass won’t let us forget about his memoir about forgetting

Forgetful German author Günter Grass has now traveled off to the United States to remind good Americans everywhere not to forget about buying his new (not) book “Peeling something” or something, lest we forget.  

Grass's memoir about forgetting is a thoroughly forgettable story about a long-forgotten 17-year-old Waffen SS recruit who apparently forgot about having been just that before suddenly remembering it doch (after all) sixty years later. Grass, the ever moaning, loud and outspoken antagonist of Nazi denial, denies that he ever denied his affiliation with Germany’s most brutal killing apparatus, preferring sometimes to deny this by using the word forget instead.

Having been a famous European intellectual writer guy for almost half a century, Grass has trouble remembering what it was like before being in the comfortable position to hypocritically pass judgement upon his inadequate Landsleute (countrymen) so in denial like that way down there below him in the Dreck (dirt). That’s why he keeps doing it, I guess.

And interestingly enough (not), his first big mega success back in 1959, the satirical-autobiographical “The Tin Drum”, was also about a little Nazi-era boy who decides not to grow any bigger until he decides to do so doch in the end. Or does he just forget how to grow up? I forget.

Vergessen kann ich alles, verzeihen kann ich nichts.

Kommentare auf Deutsch? Her damit!

Posted by clarsonimus at 08:57:48 | Permanent Link | Comments (1) |
Comments
1 - Tin Drum (the movie) had some cool scenes - but for my money the entire circle of post war Gruppe 47 German writers was a pretentious waste of time - someone must agree with me because except for Grass & Böll most names have been forgotten. The only writers of substance of postwar Germany were the few who were excluded from the Gruppe 47 circles. Ernst Kreuder (whom they hated), Paul Celan (whom they threw out) and Wolfgang Borchert (who was dead). Pre Hitler German literature is also pretty cool.

Just my modest opinion. (Comment this)

Written by: Indeterminacy at 2007/06/29 - 21:52:39
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