About this title: Nobel Prize-winning German writer Gunter Grass continues his exploration of Germany's Nazi past in this novel about a man named Paul Pokriefke, who looks back on his life from the vantage point of middle age. Born on a lifeboat after the calamitous sinking of a German cruise ship, the Wilhelm Gustloff, when it was attacked by a Soviet submarine in 1945, Pokriefke finds his life has been formed by its first event, which comes to seem to him--and to his reactionary teenage son--a symbol of Germany's wartime troubles. A New York Times Notable Book for 2003.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 240 p. read more
Description: Acceptable. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Edition: American ed
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Date Published: 2003-04-01
ISBN-13:9780151007646ISBN:0151007640
Description: Very good. Very minimal damage to the cover (no holes or tears, only minimal scuff marks), in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, minimal to no highlighting/under. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Mariner Books
Date Published: 2004-04-05
ISBN-13:9780156029704ISBN:0156029707
Description: Very good. Very minimal damage to the cover (no holes or tears, only minimal scuff marks), in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, minimal to no highlighting/under. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Mariner Books
Date Published: 2004-04-05
ISBN-13:9780156029704ISBN:0156029707
Description: Like New. May be shiny, in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, no damage to binding, may have a remainder mark. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Mariner Books
Date Published: 4/5/2004
ISBN-13:9780156029704ISBN:0156029707
Description: Fine. 0156029707 May show signs of shelf wear. Choose EXPEDITED shipping, receive in 2-5 business days. Please email with questions. read more
"Even though I had a slow slog reading this book about obsession with an actual event...it has me thinking. On one level it is about two survivors of the sinking of a German refugee carrier, the Wilhelm Gustloff, in the Baltic Sea by a Russian submarine, during WWII. But its theme of how terrible history becomes appropriated by the generations that follow is important. Also here is contemporary Germany still dealing with its past."
"Een mooie benadering van de oorlog vanuit de persoonlijke levenservaring van de auteur en vanuit de visie van de veliezer zijn volk. Een wat luchtiger geschreven werk met een minder luchtige inhoud en vraagstelling van deze eminence grise van de Duitse literatuur. Mooi."
"Le 30 janvier 1945, un sous-marin russe coule non loin de Dantzig un ancien paquebot de croisière allemand, le « Wilhelm Gustloff », qui emporte vers l'ouest des milliers de réfugiés terrorisés par l'avancée de l'Armée rouge.
Plus de quatre mille enfants périssent, sans compter les femmes et les vieillards. Seules quelques centaines de fugitifs survivent. Le naufrage du « Titanic » était peu de chose à côté.
Ce fait historique, refoulé par les Allemands vaincus, est la matière, pour l'auteur, d'un « devoir de mémoire » à retardement.
Le 30 janvier,c'est aussi le jour où Hitler accède au pouvoir en 1933, et où naît Wilhelm Gustloff, le« martyr » qui a donné son nom à l'un des plus beaux fleurons de la flotte de loisir national socialiste.
Dans un magistral récit « en crabe » dont les zigzags relient générations passées,présentes et à venir,Günter Grass intègre une actualité dérangeante, effectivement brûlante,à la grande mythologie littéraire du Tambour, des Années de chien, du Chat et la Souris."
"I really enjoyed this. An intreaguing indightment of the fascistoid mindset that lurks behind the oh-so wonderful and politically correct facade of contemporary Germany. To all of those who construe this as an anti-German comment I would like to point out at this point that I myself am German."
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