The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass Inspiring at times

 The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass

Inspiring at times

 

This is my third encounter with The Tin Drum. I have read the book, saw the very good film by Volker Schlondorff (note: I am missing the German letters for the “covered” u and o).

This last meeting of Oskar and his drum was in the form of a play adapted for the radio. I am not quite sure what to make of it though. We are dealing with a very special, interesting and at times shocking novel, which I both like and somehow feel repelled by.

Gunter Grass, the Nobel Prize winner is a personage that has created some scandal. Rather noisy, since it reached my ears, which are at all attuned to what happens in Germany’s literary life.

In fact, I have not been so keen on anything German, except for their cars and the business our company does with a German firm. Nolens volens, I have a life- line and strong connection with a country of what I consider to be cold people. But I may be wrong. And I am not the warmest of creatures- I have a nephew staying over for a month and, instead of being pleasant and compassionate, I am irritated and displeased.

 My German experience has been rather mixed: impressed by their technical, mechanical accomplishments: trains, autobahns, clean streets, I was disappointed by the icy attitude, the number of junkies encountered in Berlin and some crooks we have met there, albeit some of the fraudsters had come from former Yugoslavia…I think.

The Germans are very efficient and because of the way they managed their economy we all benefit, throughout Europe. On the other hand, I cannot help thinking that the position my country is in has to do with World War II, the invasion of the Communists and the tyranny they brought along with them…and who has started that war?

I have both to thank the Germans for the trade which is keeping our privately owned company afloat and condemn them for about 25 miserable years of my life.

Speaking of the Great War, Gunter Grass has been in the German army, but did not say about it until very late. This was considered shameful, even if his role was insignificant, if I remember well.

In The Tin Drum, Oskar is a memorable character. I can’t say I like him. Noise is a sensitive issue for me, and to imagine someone drumming around me, even for short periods, makes my hair stand on end.

The moment when Oskar shouts and breaks every glass and window on a wide range is a good hyperbole, but somehow makes for a very unpleasant, disgusting feeling…at least for this reader

This is how The Tin Drum makes me feel. Acclaimed and recognized as one of the best books ever, it is not exactly among my favorites.

Yes, I get it. And even I can attest to its great value, but still…

It is not as cryptic as the poetry of Celan, of which I could make neither head nor tail, but it is not constantly exhilarating as Voyage au Bout De La Nuit by another great author, also tainted by his choosing the wrong side in World War II- Ferdinand Celine.

Voyage Au Bout De La Nuit is well established among my favorite masterpieces. As for The Tin Drum, I was hoping that a new reading, from a different angle, albeit in an abridged form, would make me discover new attractions, moments to love in the book.

As I try to think back at essential moments, the emotions I feel are not positive. One thing that I am sure of is that this is the last time I try and read the Tin Drum, in any form or shape.

If I were to use a word to describe the way I see the characters and events in the book that would be:

WEIRD.

Another book comes to mind: The Painted Bird, by Jerzy Kosinski. I have read it only once and it made a tremendous impact upon me. If I am reading it again, it may lose some, maybe most of the charm, poignancy of the first meeting. Some books gain when I read them again, with others I lose interest.

But at this stage, The Painted Bird seems a much better book than The Tin Drum, in my evaluation…for what is worth.