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Too Far Afield
 
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Too Far Afield (Paperback)

by Gunter Grass (Author), Krishna Winston (Translator)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
Price: £12.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Paperback: 784 pages
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber; New edition edition (17 Sep 2001)
  • ISBN-10: 0571206646
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571206643
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.6 x 3.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 430,707 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #22 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > G > Grass, Gunter

Product Description

Review
'Grass's novel is a perfect instrument for tracing echoes and parallels across German writing and history. No other German novelist could have pulled off such a feat.' The Economist

Through The Tin Drum, My Century and other works, Grass has chronicled the vicissitudes of German history in his distinctive style that combines humour, pathos and fantasy, always in an intelligent and highly readable brew. Now he brings the story close to the present day: this novel opens after the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and through the experiences of two men who have lived through and seen much of the German 20th century, charts the course of unification and its implications at home and abroad. Ambitious and entertaining. (Kirkus UK)

Product Description
Two old men roam through Berlin stopping to eat hamburgers at McDonald's, observing life in the former German Democratic Republic after the fall of the wall in 1989: Theo Wuttke, former East German cultural functionary; and Ludwig Hoftaller - Wuttke's shadow - a mid-level spy who can serve the Gestapo or the Stasi with equal dedication. Grass writes with the wit, fantasy, literary erudition and political acerbity for which he is celebrated. This novel will stand as perhaps the most complex and challenging exploration of what Germany's reunification will eventually come to mean.

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Too Far Afield
37% buy the item featured on this page:
Too Far Afield 5.0 out of 5 stars (7)
£12.99
Peeling the Onion
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Peeling the Onion 5.0 out of 5 stars (5)
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Crabwalk
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Crabwalk 5.0 out of 5 stars (10)
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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Grass shows us an unweeded garden!, 26 Jun 2002
By Billy J. Hobbs "billhobbs" (Tyler, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
It takes the form of a gripping nostalgia trip. Gunter Grass' "Too Far Afield" features two elderly German men, Theo Wuttke and Ludwig Hoftaller, and has been called his most complexly written novel of all, and this Nobel Prize-winner has more than his share of complex works.

Grass is not an easy man to read; however, that said, Grass and his works speak for themselves quite clearly. Ever ready with the surreal in his works ("The Tin Drum," "Cat and Mouse," to name two), Grass' grasp of the intensity, the confusion, the excitement, the euphoria, the intense dislike between the two Germanys is in top form in his latest work. Wuttke and Hoftaller, who are in their seventies, work for an agency set up to privatize the former East Germany in Berlin in the fall of 1989. Their thoughts are the vehicle for this book's story line and Grass has poignantly captured the moments.

Having lived in Germany before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the ensuing reunification, I find "Too Far Afield" even more relevant. And the book is not meant to put you to sleep with all its poignancy and nostalgia, and Grass once again explores the relationship of Germany with its often-troubled past to the present. There are surprising turns, clever humor, and excellent characterization that make the book a worthwhile undertaking. (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)

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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same, 5 Jun 2004
By Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)      
This review is from: Too Far Afield (Hardcover)
Having been recently impressed by Mr. Grass's new book, Crabwalk, I also found myself happy to have finally read The Tin Drum since then. Encouraged by those experiences, I decided it was time to read Too Far Afield, which was roundly criticized when it came out. I wondered how the book had stood the test of time in its views about German reunification. I came away feeling that I had read a masterpiece.

Mr. Grass's point is simply that human nature and our histories play a powerful role in shaping our present and future lives. In Too Far Afield, he magnificently captures the enormous influences that culture, nation, religion and family practices play in reinforcing our human nature and histories. Of the three books, I felt like Too Far Afield was the only one that captured the human condition in its broadest sense, rather than just the German human condition.

Although I majored in European history in college, I don't think I ever quite got the point about how 19th century influences came together to have such a large impact on people who lived in East Germany prior to the reunification. Too Far Afield put the mosaic of those influences together for me for the first time.

The story is an unbelievably intricate one. After finishing the book, I couldn't see how the points could have been made as powerfully without all of the material. You will feel like the book dawdles in many places. Please realize that Mr. Grass is trying to set you up to draw the wrong conclusions as you react to the surface reality, so that his story can serve as a counterpunch to your gut reactions. In that subtle way, he strengthens his message that life is vastly different than what you believed when you started the book.

The book has many interesting characters, but all exist to tell the story of Theo Wuttke. Wuttke is every person in the story. He has been drawn to the rich cultural tradition of Germany's great writer, Fontane (referred to as "The Immortal"), and is inspired to want to experience the freedom and variety of the West. Historical accidents impinge on those yearnings. The East German bureaucracy keeps him in line, acting very much as its predecessor, the Nazi bureaucracy, and its predecessor, the Prussian bureaucracy did. The governmental constraints work because Wuttke has sinned, and does not want those sins exposed . . . or his children harmed. So he turns out to be a captive of his past and his nonexistent former nation, even as the dawn of freedom arrives with the reunification. Wuttke ultimately finds redemption as the indirect result of his attempts to do good in the past.

The story is told through extensive use of internal monologues and indirect references to the past. Be patient. Those indirect references are eventually brought together in an astonishingly cogent way.

Although the tone of much of the book is quite grey and seemingly hopeless, Mr. Grass does a marvelous job of employing satire and irony to comment upon seemingly unpromising situations. I found myself laughing aloud in many places in the book. I'm sure that anyone who knows Germany better than I do will find the book even funnier. No one can miss or fail to appreciate the humor involved in the marriage of Wuttke's daughter to a prosperous West German business man . . . an obvious metaphor for the reunification itself. Although the book is ostensibly about the reunification, please be sure to see the reunification as a metaphor for our need to reconnect with our true selves and the rest of humanity.

Please do be aware that this book is a challenging read. Be sure to read and refer to the brief chronology at the beginning of the book. It's a wonderful introduction into the historical elements that Mr. Grass chooses to weave together. I found it helpful to go through the book in 40-50 page chunks. Whenever I began to find my mind wandering away from the story, I would stop for the day. Also, Wuttke has two sides. One is a file courier operating in a large bureaucracy where he snatches moments of freedom on the ancient elevator (the "Paternoster"). The other is as Fonty, the erudite cultural aficionado of Fontane. He is referred to in both ways in the story . . . but it's the same man acting in different ways with others.

As I finished the book, I began to question how my own culture and personal history influence me in choosing some paths (and ignoring others). I came away with a stronger sense of who I am, versus who others hope that I am. That's a great gift. Thank you, Mr. Grass!

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Another complex, compelling Grass prize winner!, 1 Nov 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Too Far Afield (Hardcover)
It takes the form of a gripping nostalgia trip. Gunter Grass' "Too Far Afield" features two elderly German men, Theo Wuttke and Ludwig Hoftaller, and has been called his most complexly written novel of all, and this Nobel Prize-winner has more than his share of complex works.

Grass is not an easy man to read; however, that said, Grass and his works speak for themselves quite clearly. Ever ready with the surreal in his works ("The Tin Drum," "Cat and Mouse," to name two), Grass' grasp of the intensity, the confusion, the excitement, the euphoria, the intense dislike between the two Germanys is in top form in his latest work. Wuttke and Hoftaller, who are in their seventies, work for an agency set up to privatize the former East Germany in Berlin in the fall of 1989. Their thoughts are the vehicle for this book's story line and Grass has poignantly captured the moments.

Having lived in Germany before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the ensuing reunification, I find "Too Far Afield" even more relevant. And the book is not meant to put you to sleep with all its poignancy and nostalgia, and Grass once again explores the relationship of Germany with its often-troubled past to the present. There are surprising turns, clever humor, and excellent characterization that make the book a worthwhile undertaking.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same
Having been recently impressed by Mr. Grass's new book, Crabwalk, I also found myself happy to have finally read The Tin Drum since then. Read more
Published on 20 Jun 2004 by Professor Donald Mitchell

5.0 out of 5 stars The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same
Having been recently impressed by Mr. Grass's new book, Crabwalk, I also found myself happy to have finally read The Tin Drum since then. Read more
Published on 20 Jun 2004 by Professor Donald Mitchell

5.0 out of 5 stars The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same
Having been recently impressed by Mr. Grass's new book, Crabwalk, I also found myself happy to have finally read The Tin Drum since then. Read more
Published on 5 Jun 2004 by Professor Donald Mitchell

5.0 out of 5 stars Full of insight, humour and profondity!
As Bill from Texas has said, this is a superb book which almost exists in two spaces in time. Not only does Grass tell the story of re-unification but he constantly echoes back... Read more
Published on 13 Feb 2001

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