Crabwalk
Author | : Günter Grass |
Publisher | : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |
Total Pages | : 237 |
Release | : 2004 |
ISBN-10 | : 0156029707 |
ISBN-13 | : 9780156029704 |
Rating | : 4/5 (07 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: Hailed by critics and readers alike as Gnter Grass's best book since The Tin Drum, Crabwalk is an engrossing account of the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff and a critical meditation on Germany's struggle with its wartime memories. The Gustloff, a German cruise ship turned refugee carrier, was attacked by a Soviet submarine in January 1945. Some nine thousand people went down in the Baltic Sea, making it the deadliest maritime disaster of all time. Born to an unwed mother on a lifeboat the night of the attack, Paul Pokriefke is a middle-aged journalist trying to piece together the tragic events. For his teenage son, who dabbles in the dark, far-right corners of the Internet, the Gustloff embodies the denial of Germany's suffering. Crabwalk is at once a captivating tale of a tragedy at sea and a fearless examination of the ways different generations of Germans now view their past.