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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An essential companion for readers of Gunter Grass, 20 Jun 2007
This immensely enjoyable book, a memoir, or biography of Gunter Grass, is a fascinating account of the history and background of this great author.
As a record of a boy and young man growing up in 1930s Germany it is a fascinating historical record, particularly the sections on Grass's war service in the Waffen SS, and his later internment as a prisoner of war.
We read the little picture here, the daily struggle for survival, the domestic arrangements for eating and sleeping, the thoughts of a late teenage boy co-erced into the military and dealing with the everyday pettiness and frustration of army life. I wondered at this account, how typical it seemed of a boy soldier, while also seeming to be strangely devoid of references to the propaganda and culture which surely permeated Nazi army life? Although Grass was a member of the Hitler Youth, and describes its boy scout-like aspects, somehow we do not read hear of the anti-Jewish indoctrination which must have featured so strongly? Maybe Grass feels that this is old-ground and does not need to be repeated, almost a courtesy to present-day Jews in not mentioning it?
The book provides a large amount of background to Grass's fictional work. He frequently tells us how places he found himself in, and events that happened to him provided sources for his short stories and novels. From The Tin Drum, to Crabwalk, this book fills in the gaps and answers questions that arise in reading the novels.
This is a wonderfully readable book, rich with narrative pace, but also with meditative and reflective passages which give us insight into the mind of the author. I particularly liked the section on the prisoner of war camp, where to alleviate the tedium of camp life, the prisoners arranged educational classes for themselves. Grass, although seemingly continually and painfully hungry, joins a cookery class where the demonstrations are wholly imaginary but still hugely satisfying. Grass provides us with wonderfully descriptive word portraits of the preparation of great dishes, from the slaughter and butchery of a pig, through to the processing of its every part, including the manufacture of blood sausage, a favourite of Grass to this day.
After the war years we read of Grass's work as a miner, and later, as an apprentice stone-mason. However, his great desire it to study art, and the post-war section of the book focuses on his overwhelming desire to be totally dedicated to art, whether sculpture, drawing, poetry or writing. He seemed to have a tremendous drive to fulfil this ambition, and everything seems to revolve around his third "lust" for creativity (the first and second lusts being food and women!).
We gain many insights into the author and his way of life. I enjoyed reading of the rich life of his imagination (so essential in a novelist), such as when he "invites to dinner" a range of historical characters and converses with them on themes old and new. So often we see clues as to why his books are as they are when we read these small interludes in the dramatic pace of the war years. I will not attempt to describe within the limitations of this review the rest of this substantial book. It succeeds totally in giving us a self-portrait of the author, so that by the end, he almost seems like an old friend - particularly to those who have read his rich collection of novels and reflections.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Life As a Work in Progress . . . As the Past Fades in Memory, 29 Jun 2007
Peeling the Onion is required reading for anyone who wants to have a deeper insight into Mr. Grass's remarkable books; desires to learn how a young Nazi turned into someone who wrote objectively through fiction about the Nazi era; is thrilled by eclectic influences to explore a progression from enjoying art cards and sketching into writing poetry and making sculptures into becoming the author of The Tin Drum; and is intrigued by the tricks that memory plays on us as we get older. Many will find themselves surprised by Mr. Grass's revelations about his youthful enthusiasm for the Nazis and volunteering for service that led to becoming a member of the Waffen SS. The book's writing style once again reveals a man whose incisive perspective allows him to stand among us while standing apart. The book's title and ongoing imagery relate to the way that exploring and reexploring memory help us come closer to the truth about ourselves and the world around us. But ultimately, there's no more onion left to peel. The imagery is illustrated by pencil drawings of peeled onions that are presumably by Mr. Grass's hand.
Rarely does an author reveal the sources of his characters, situations, images, and locales in as much detail as Mr. Grass does in this autobiography that concludes with the publication of The Tin Drum. I feel a need to reread all of the works to inject these perspectives.
Most writers will tell you that they use all of their life experiences as resources. Having seen how true that is of Mr. Grass, I realized for the first time that for writers to have truly original voices they need to have experiences that are far different than what most people do. Mr. Grass's war-disrupted youth certainly makes that clear.
For those who find realistic accounts of wartime interesting, Mr. Grass spends more time on his brief period under fire than on any other subject. You'll get an impressive eye-witness account of the collapsing German military just before Hitler's suicide.
Ultimately, I came away astonished most by the way that Mr. Grass is able to look at even his own actions and life as an external viewer might. That's a remarkable talent that obviously contributes to his ability to sculpt complex word pictures into stories that defy memory loss.
If you read only one autobiography of a writer, I suggest this one.
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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Life As a Work in Progress . . . As the Past Fades in Memory, 29 Jun 2007
Peeling the Onion is required reading for anyone who wants to have a deeper insight into Mr. Grass's remarkable books; desires to learn how a young Nazi turned into someone who wrote objectively through fiction about the Nazi era; is thrilled by eclectic influences to explore a progression from enjoying art cards and sketching into writing poetry and making sculptures into becoming the author of The Tin Drum; and is intrigued by the tricks that memory plays on us as we get older. Many will find themselves surprised by Mr. Grass's revelations about his youthful enthusiasm for the Nazis and volunteering for service that led to becoming a member of the Waffen SS. The book's writing style once again reveals a man whose incisive perspective allows him to stand among us while standing apart. The book's title and ongoing imagery relate to the way that exploring and reexploring memory help us come closer to the truth about ourselves and the world around us. But ultimately, there's no more onion left to peel. The imagery is illustrated by pencil drawings of peeled onions that are presumably by Mr. Grass's hand.
Rarely does an author reveal the sources of his characters, situations, images, and locales in as much detail as Mr. Grass does in this autobiography that concludes with the publication of The Tin Drum. I feel a need to reread all of the works to inject these perspectives.
Most writers will tell you that they use all of their life experiences as resources. Having seen how true that is of Mr. Grass, I realized for the first time that for writers to have truly original voices they need to have experiences that are far different than what most people do. Mr. Grass's war-disrupted youth certainly makes that clear.
For those who find realistic accounts of wartime interesting, Mr. Grass spends more time on his brief period under fire than on any other subject. You'll get an impressive eye-witness account of the collapsing German military just before Hitler's suicide.
Ultimately, I came away astonished most by the way that Mr. Grass is able to look at even his own actions and life as an external viewer might. That's a remarkable talent that obviously contributes to his ability to sculpt complex word pictures into stories that defy memory loss.
If you read only one autobiography of a writer, I suggest this one.
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