In this important collection of speeches and debates, Grass opposes any union of the to Germanys into one state dominated by West Germany. He argues tht East Germany has a national character of its own and should therefore have a state of its own and a united Germany would be a threat to world peace.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Going against the tide, eminent German novelist-playwright Grass staunchly opposes German reunification in this collection of lashing speeches, essays and lectures. A reunified Germany, he warns, would be "a colossus loaded with complexes," standing in the way of the political-economic integration of Europe. Pointing out that a unified Germany existed for only 75 years and brought unimaginable misery, war and genocide, he advocates a German confederation in which the two halves would "share one cultural nationhood" while preserving a separate political identity. Under this scheme, West Germany would assist East in a far-reaching econmic equalization. In a powerful, partly autobiographical piece, "Writing After Auschwitz," Grass ponders the renewed arms race and concludes, "We Germans have every reason to fear ourselves as a unit." His courageous polemic brings a much-needed historical perspective to a pressing issue.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Novelist, playwright, and artist Grass has written and spoken against unification of the two Germanys for many years. This collection of speeches, essays, and newspaper interviews, written between 1961 and spring 1990, here translated for the first time, presents his reasons. For most of its history Germany was a loose confederation of small holdings and was a unified state for only 75 years. Because of united Germany's bellicose history, especially during this century, and of its "sin of Auschwitz," as he calls the Nazi experience, Grass fears the consequences of reuniting Germany. He assumes that this aggressive tendency will lead to adverse consequences for someone, if not the world. Although seemingly a lone voice crying out against the inevitable, Grass has written essays that are well reasoned, deserving of a place in most libraries. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/90.
- Marcia L. Sprules, Council on Foreign Relations Lib., New York
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Marcia L. Sprules, Council on Foreign Relations Lib., New York
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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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.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
The combinatiion of the Federal Republic and the GDR.,
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This review is from: Two States - One Nation? (Paperback)
In 1990, when the Federal Republic was going about taking over the GDR, Grass voiced his concerns over the reunification of Germany. Grass was opposed due to the two World Wars that Germany started. His suggestion was that confederation with the German states was better for Europe than the reunification. German reunification posed risks to the European continent that could not be chanced again in this lifetime. Of course, Germany reunited and there has been no risk so far.
Grass also exposes the reader to other interesting thoughts about Germany. He talks about the old boundaries given up, the concentration camps and how they affected the artists of post war Germany, and the wall. Grass is a writer and artist from Danzig, the old free city of the Baltic coast. He dwells on some interesting topics. This is an OK read. The writer is a left of center artist who has some interesting and provacitive ideas.
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