Rating: 
Summary: Anything but a dumb Century
Review: The lives of men and women always intersect with history; it seems a simple truism. Few people understand this as deeply and profoundly as German, and only a few among them understand it with the level of sophistication that Gunther Grass does. Through the narratives of eighty some odd characters each having at least one year to give a bit of their life story in relation to the history of the year that heads the chapter, both real and imagined people try to make sense of how their own lives intersected with history. To be a German in the twentieth century was to be constantly aware of forces beyond personal control and to be caught up events, tragic or joyous, that had historical implications that were far reaching. The narrators are writers of note; academics; refugees from and in Germany, spies; children; academics; veterans of both World Wars in both of the post World War II states that comprised Germany; even the ghost of Grass's mother. Taken as a whole it is a group portrait of a country that has an infinitely complex and tragic relationship with the century that they were such horrifying, but also nuanced, part of shaping. There was not a single year/chapter of this book that I did not find useful in its ability to shed light on how Germany and the Germans became what and who they are. Grass is an old man from a city that no longer exists-his native Danzig is now the thoroughly Polish city of Gdansk. His life was shaped by the colossal events of the Second World War and its partition after the war. For Grass, like all thoughtful Germans of his generation, there is no escaping questions about the meaning of being a German; most of the world had united to make sure that the Nazi regime that claimed to speak for them would wiped off the face of the Earth. This is no longer the case. The events that animated the experiences of Grass and his generation are slowly but surely, and permanently, leaving the memories of men and women and going to permanently reside in history. The realm of experience is dwelt upon here to make a record for the generations that were spared the experiences of the most deliberately violent century in human history. This very large story is about the complexities and the sometimes idiocies of national identity. Grass's Germany is at once noble and savage, gracious and vicious, pensive and thoughtless, charitable and materialist, good and evil. Mostly they are all somewhere in between diametric opposites. It shall be as much at the extremes of human behavior that and attitudes that the Germans and Germany will be judged by future generations, and Grass knows it-the novels that made his career dealt with this fact dealt with it very, very, bluntly. The burden of nationality and history has grown lighter with each successive decade of Grass's career and he seems to consciously be doing now what he unconsciously did in his early work; writing for the ages. This is why his work bogs down. "My Century" is the easiest of Grass's novels to read, but specifically because of the scope of its subject matter it is bigger than any that Grass has ever before tackled it seems to be a bit superficial. The overarching question that is posed to the reader-where are we going and where have we been-German or otherwise, is neither answered fully or left open enough to let the reader answer the question himself. In this respect, the portrait is something of a failure. But it would be wrong to cast it aside as irrelevant because of this. The failure to answer this question shows that Grass sees his people as suffering from a dose of multifaceted humanity that they are usually not acknowledged for having; at least on this side of the Atlantic. This humanity will serve the Germans who will only know the twentieth century from the history books well. Unlike Grass, they will be able to escape history. So may we all.
Rating:
Summary: Anything but a dumb Century
Review: The lives of men and women always intersect with history; it seems a simple truism. Few people understand this as deeply and profoundly as German, and only a few among them understand it with the level of sophistication that Gunther Grass does. Through the narratives of eighty some odd characters each having at least one year to give a bit of their life story in relation to the history of the year that heads the chapter, both real and imagined people try to make sense of how their own lives intersected with history. To be a German in the twentieth century was to be constantly aware of forces beyond personal control and to be caught up events, tragic or joyous, that had historical implications that were far reaching. The narrators are writers of note; academics; refugees from and in Germany, spies; children; academics; veterans of both World Wars in both of the post World War II states that comprised Germany; even the ghost of Grass's mother. Taken as a whole it is a group portrait of a country that has an infinitely complex and tragic relationship with the century that they were such horrifying, but also nuanced, part of shaping. There was not a single year/chapter of this book that I did not find useful in its ability to shed light on how Germany and the Germans became what and who they are. Grass is an old man from a city that no longer exists-his native Danzig is now the thoroughly Polish city of Gdansk. His life was shaped by the colossal events of the Second World War and its partition after the war. For Grass, like all thoughtful Germans of his generation, there is no escaping questions about the meaning of being a German; most of the world had united to make sure that the Nazi regime that claimed to speak for them would wiped off the face of the Earth. This is no longer the case. The events that animated the experiences of Grass and his generation are slowly but surely, and permanently, leaving the memories of men and women and going to permanently reside in history. The realm of experience is dwelt upon here to make a record for the generations that were spared the experiences of the most deliberately violent century in human history. This very large story is about the complexities and the sometimes idiocies of national identity. Grass's Germany is at once noble and savage, gracious and vicious, pensive and thoughtless, charitable and materialist, good and evil. Mostly they are all somewhere in between diametric opposites. It shall be as much at the extremes of human behavior that and attitudes that the Germans and Germany will be judged by future generations, and Grass knows it-the novels that made his career dealt with this fact dealt with it very, very, bluntly. The burden of nationality and history has grown lighter with each successive decade of Grass's career and he seems to consciously be doing now what he unconsciously did in his early work; writing for the ages. This is why his work bogs down. "My Century" is the easiest of Grass's novels to read, but specifically because of the scope of its subject matter it is bigger than any that Grass has ever before tackled it seems to be a bit superficial. The overarching question that is posed to the reader-where are we going and where have we been-German or otherwise, is neither answered fully or left open enough to let the reader answer the question himself. In this respect, the portrait is something of a failure. But it would be wrong to cast it aside as irrelevant because of this. The failure to answer this question shows that Grass sees his people as suffering from a dose of multifaceted humanity that they are usually not acknowledged for having; at least on this side of the Atlantic. This humanity will serve the Germans who will only know the twentieth century from the history books well. Unlike Grass, they will be able to escape history. So may we all.
Rating:
Summary: Gunter's Century
Review: This was a unique concept for a book. One hundred vignettes each taking place in a succesive year of the 20th Century and all told by a German Nobelist's perspective. Germany is the locale for most of these stories but not for all. I read this book on vacation and usually no more than one or two "years" at a sitting. I kept myself busy the rest of the time with a larger work of non-fiction. I think that approach helped because I'm not sure this is a book to be read from cover to cover in one or two sittings. It probably can be but it would be like getting drunk on fine wine. It's better to savor each sip. There is a collective theme to the World War I years that involves discussions among Grass, Remarque and another author whose name escapes me. The rest of the time the stories are relevant to their respective year but the characters, topics, and themes are all unique. Some years are informative to life at that time through a German's eye, some are interesting, a few are rather forgettable, while some are in themselves worth the price of the book. I enjoyed Grass's "Tin Drum" but struggled through "The Rat". This book would be a great introduction to anyone wanting to find out why Gunter Grass won the Nobel Prize for Literature recently. It will answer the question and leave the reader wanting to read more.
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