January Books 14) The Tin Drum

14) The Tin Drum, by Günter Grass (.co.uk, .com)

Part of my reading resolutions. This is the story of a boy growing up in Germany between 1927 and 1954 – in the Free City of Danzig until 1945, then in Düsseldorf – with a couple of fantastical wrinkles: he is able to shatter glass at will by yelling at it, and he deliberately decides not to grow and remains the size of a three-year-old until the war (and even then he grows only to four feet tall).

I found it pretty fascinating. The liminal identities of what is now northwestern Poland are vividly brought to life – various members of our hero’s family are forced to identify themselves as Polish or German, though their roots are in fact KashubianUnSuggestion for this book: Eldest, by Christoper Paolini (the sequel to Eragon).

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