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German author Guenter Grass dies

bbc.com

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Re: German author Guenter Grass dies

#2

Post by 2511 »

Read 'The tin drum' about 10 years ago. Didn't get a lot of it but I remember getting very fascinated with it. Kind of like Murakami but I found Murakami easier to read. Time to read 'The tin drum' again.

R.I.P Mr grass.

Re: German author Guenter Grass dies

#3

Post by morsch »

The Günter-Grass-Haus published this poem from his work "Fundsachen für Nichtleser"

  Mit einem Sack Nüsse
  will ich begraben sein  
  und mit neuesten Zähnen.
  Wenn es dann kracht,
  wo ich liege,
  kann vermutet werden:
  Er ist das,
  immer noch er.
I don't think it's available in English, and I'll add my own translation here. I hope that's not too presumptuous. I've done some translation, but translating poetry is difficult.

  With a bag of nuts
  I'd like to be buried
  and with the freshest of teeth.
  When there is gnashing
  where I lie,
  one can surmise:
  He's at it,
  still he.

Re: German author Guenter Grass dies

#4

Post by yitchelle »

morsch wrote: post #3

The Günter-Grass-Haus published this poem from his work "Fundsachen für Nichtleser" Mit einem Sack Nüsse will ich begraben sein und mit neuesten Zähnen. Wenn es dann kracht, wo ich liege, kann vermutet werden: Er ist das, immer noch er. I don't think it's available in English, and I'll add my own translation here. I hope that's not too presumptuous. I've done some translation, but translating poetry is difficult. Wit…

Can you provide some interpretations of the poem, especially the context or the environment which it was written in?

Re: German author Guenter Grass dies

#5

Post by ghshephard »

I somehow completely missed an incredible cultural Icon. The NYT flashed this as "Breaking News", and it's sitting here at 62 points in less than an hour - and I had absolutely no idea who Guenter Grass was, until I started reading the news.

Spooky - it's like I slipped in from an alternate plane of reality.

Re: German author Guenter Grass dies

#6

Post by ukigumo »

2511 wrote: post #2

Read 'The tin drum' about 10 years ago. Didn't get a lot of it but I remember getting very fascinated with it. Kind of like Murakami but I found Murakami easier to read. Time to read 'The tin drum' again. R.I.P Mr grass.

I quite enjoyed the "Tin Drum" but I admit that I lost a bit of respect for the man when it was revealed he had worked for the Stasi.

Still, it is a great loss of a great writer.

Re: German author Guenter Grass dies

#8

Post by thomasz »

ukigumo wrote: post #6
2511 wrote: post #2

Read 'The tin drum' about 10 years ago. Didn't get a lot of it but I remember getting very fascinated with it. Kind of like Murakami but I found Murakami easier to read. Time to read 'The tin drum' again. R.I.P Mr grass.

I quite enjoyed the "Tin Drum" but I admit that I lost a bit of respect for the man when it was revealed he had worked for the Stasi. Still, it is a great loss of a great writer.

He didn't work for the STASI, he volunteered for the Waffen SS.

> Grass was born in the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland). In May 1945, after service as a soldier in the Waffen SS, he was taken prisoner by U.S. forces and released in April 1946. Trained as a stonemason and sculptor, he began writing in the 1950s. In his fiction he frequently returned to the Danzig of his childhood.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnter_Grass

Re: German author Guenter Grass dies

#9

Post by morsch »

yitchelle wrote: post #4
morsch wrote: post #3

The Günter-Grass-Haus published this poem from his work "Fundsachen für Nichtleser" Mit einem Sack Nüsse will ich begraben sein und mit neuesten Zähnen. Wenn es dann kracht, wo ich liege, kann vermutet werden: Er ist das, immer noch er. I don't think it's available in English, and I'll add my own translation here. I hope that's not too presumptuous. I've done some translation, but translating poetry is difficult. Wit…

Can you provide some interpretations of the poem, especially the context or the environment which it was written in?

I'm hardly qualified to comment on any specifics. I'll only go as far as saying that Grass wasn't well-known for his love of snack food, and I interpret the poem as referring to his being argumentative, even beyond his lifetime. Maybe someone else can chime in.

Re: German author Guenter Grass dies

#10

Post by Narretz »

ukigumo wrote: post #6
2511 wrote: post #2

Read 'The tin drum' about 10 years ago. Didn't get a lot of it but I remember getting very fascinated with it. Kind of like Murakami but I found Murakami easier to read. Time to read 'The tin drum' again. R.I.P Mr grass.

I quite enjoyed the "Tin Drum" but I admit that I lost a bit of respect for the man when it was revealed he had worked for the Stasi. Still, it is a great loss of a great writer.

He worked for the Stasi? I think you have this completely wrong: the Stasi observed him. Maybe you mean that he was briefly a member of the Waffen-SS at the end of the war?
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