The Flounder [Import] [Paperback]

Gunter Grass (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Picador; New Ed edition (1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0330305581
• ISBN-13: 978-0330305587
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Born in Danzig, Germany, in 1927, Günter Grass is a widely acclaimed author of plays, essays, poems, and numerous novels. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1999.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I can't believe it's out of print..., December 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Flounder (Helen & Kurt Wolff Book) (Paperback)

I read this book when it first came out (1980?), and have read, in English or German, 4 other novels by GG. All were wonderful, but this was my favorite. It's "magic realism" that's both thought-provoking and very entertaining, and so well-written and translated. It's really too bad that it's out of print.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a wonderful work, August 23, 2007

By 

roan (oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flounder, The (Paperback)

Truly an epic journey. The story combines many themes and just as many characters. One must read about half to get a grasp on the reins and after that, it's fun. Cooking and copulation play large roles. All the talk about soup and the endless mushrooms are fantastic. Throughout the text are poems and songs. At first, they don't seem to relate. But one comes to expect them after a time. This is a big change from the style of the Danzig trilogy, much more modern. Grass makes some interesting points about guilt and shame (defecation circles, sleeping with the abbess.) The last few scenes are tremendous. Supposedly, this was Grass' present to himself. The terrific ending must reveal an optimist side to him.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars check it out, December 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Flounder (Helen & Kurt Wolff Book) (Paperback)

An outstanding statment by Grass on history, feminism, cooking and Joycean bodily details which encapsulates the obssession by the Germans of systems, machoness and abstractions that have led to disaster. But the book is a balanced look at the effects of excess feminism as well.