The Rat

Rating:
Summary: Apocalypse Then
Review: In the early 1980s the Cold War was on its last legs, but at the time it did not quite feel that way. Especially in Europe, many people were afraid that the new more sophisticated nuclear missiles would sooner or later destroy humanity. At the same time there were growing worries about the environment, as trees and whole forests seemed to be dying from the exposure to pollution. That is the background of Grass' novel "The Rat", which is his own version of the Apocalypse.

The construction of the novel is very intricate, poems and prose interweave several plots. The rat of the title is a pet which the narrator keeps, and which suddenly starts telling him about the end of humanity in a nuclear war; rats survive and found a new civilisation. The narrator does not want to accept this and starts telling stories to prove to the rat that he still exists. There definitely is a feeling of endgame about the novel, as Grass summons characters from earlier novels (such as Oskar from "The Tin Drum"), all the women he has loved (the five of them corss the Baltic Sea in a boat) and his native Danzig-Gdansk as if to say goodbye to them all. In another subplot, characters from well-known fairytales try to start a kind of revolution to save the German forests.

Much of this is very poignant, some of it full of brilliant black humour, yet somehow I get the impression that maybe Grass tried to do too much here. The novel is far from being a page turner. As both the rat and the narrator insist on their points of view, some annoying repetitions occur. - To me it seemed quite dated, too. Even Grass himself seems to be less worried about the end of the world today, as his recent novels are more concerned with the injustices of German unification. That said, "The Rat" is representative of its time - and it is a daring vision which few writers of Grass' standing have attempted. Maybe it will prove a case of greatness which was not recognized in its own time.

Rating:
Summary: A Remarkable Book
Review: One of the best books I have read in a long time. I agree that this book is very dense with symbolism, but I think that this is a virtue, not a fault. Grass orchestrates an amazing chaos through out the book, tying together themes as diverse as the death of fairy-tales, the destruction of the environment, human attitudes toward rats, and a host of other ideas, and somehow turns them into something remarkable. For all its different plot lines, I felt a unity running through this book that few authors could have achieved.

This book is certainly not for everyone, and I would not advise reading it until after you have read "The Tin Drum" and "The Flounder" both by Grass, but for me this book was a remarkable reading experience.

Rating:
Summary: One of his best
Review: _The Rat_ is my favorite novel by Gunter Grass. It is miserly and potent, with very little wasted space or filler. It is an almost continuous stream-of-conscience monologue; it is the nonstop ranting and raving of an angst-ridden person in the midst of a spiritual crisis, venting his frustration and confusion. Overall, this technique proves to be a very successful literary device. It reads almost like nonfiction philosophy, and because Grass does not get bogged down with an absurd plot and characterization, this novel provides an ideal vehicle for his undiluted spiritual-philosophical beliefs. Keep in mind, however, that there is very little in the way of action, charaterization, and concrete plot events in this novel. If you are looking for a more traditional novel, you may want to look elsewhere. Nevertheless, I still believe this is Grass' best work because it is personal and revealing with regards to his deepest sources of philosophical angst and spiritual misgivings. I recommend this book to anyone who really wants to know what is going on in the mind of Gunter Grass.