ida0810's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
minnie_loves_to_read's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
k5tog's review against another edition
3.0
Set in Germany duRing WWII, this is a coming of age story about a strange teenager nicknamed the Great Mahlke. Socially awkward, devoutly religious, and strikingly odd, Mahlke moves from anti-social outcast to admired swimmer to being expelled from school, and finally to becoming a decorated war hero. The narrator, Pilenz, is slightly younger than Mahlke and obviously in awe.
There were weird changes in point of view - narrating about Mahlke as a third person then narrating as if talking directly to Mahlke - in the middle of paragraphs. Because this book was a translation from German, I’m not sure if this is the way the author intended it or if was just a translation problem. Either way, it really bothered me.
There were weird changes in point of view - narrating about Mahlke as a third person then narrating as if talking directly to Mahlke - in the middle of paragraphs. Because this book was a translation from German, I’m not sure if this is the way the author intended it or if was just a translation problem. Either way, it really bothered me.
david_rhee's review against another edition
4.0
Still a bit wobbly from just having read Günter Grass' The Tin Drum, the second entry in Grass' Danzig trilogy, Cat and Mouse, has a way of confounding like few others. I was on skates with rotating wheels for a large portion of this work and this worried me. Slowly realizing Grass' intentions helped me see the reasons for my state. No, I wasn't totally off my game, maybe a little bit. It is the state of the narrator which drives the bizarre feel of the novella which at times strings out long stretches of incoherent relating of events which are strange enough already.
The interplay between Cat and Mouse and The Tin Drum coaxed smiles from me early on. The two stories shared the same time and setting and familiar faces from the The Tin Drum made their way into this narrative. Remember how Oskar the narrator of The Tin Drum bounced from first to third person when telling his story? In Cat and Mouse, Pilenz mixes second and third person addresses when relating the story of his friend, Mahlke the Great. This clever conversational interplay is yet another device employed by the genius Grass.
Say what you will about the story. Maybe one could be inclined to think there isn't much to it. The vulgarity might be a turn-off to some. A mere sixty pages in and you'll be treated to public masturbation and people casually chewing on seagull poop (unless, of course, my suspect reading comprehension skills have failed me yet again).
I believe the level of life-like realism in Pilenz's relationship with Mahlke is reason enough to open Cat and Mouse. There is admiration, jealousy, love, hatred all intertwined in the same cord. The ambivalence of an already volatile mixture is still more heightened by the fact that Pilenz is still distraught and jarred by Mahlke's fate. His slips into second person addresses betray his failure to understand his friend and what became of him. He is still making pleading remarks, at times really deranged ones, to Mahlke while trying to tell an objective story about him. It is a relationship so organic and pure that the only thing which can produce it is real life itself.
The interplay between Cat and Mouse and The Tin Drum coaxed smiles from me early on. The two stories shared the same time and setting and familiar faces from the The Tin Drum made their way into this narrative. Remember how Oskar the narrator of The Tin Drum bounced from first to third person when telling his story? In Cat and Mouse, Pilenz mixes second and third person addresses when relating the story of his friend, Mahlke the Great. This clever conversational interplay is yet another device employed by the genius Grass.
Say what you will about the story. Maybe one could be inclined to think there isn't much to it. The vulgarity might be a turn-off to some. A mere sixty pages in and you'll be treated to public masturbation and people casually chewing on seagull poop (unless, of course, my suspect reading comprehension skills have failed me yet again).
I believe the level of life-like realism in Pilenz's relationship with Mahlke is reason enough to open Cat and Mouse. There is admiration, jealousy, love, hatred all intertwined in the same cord. The ambivalence of an already volatile mixture is still more heightened by the fact that Pilenz is still distraught and jarred by Mahlke's fate. His slips into second person addresses betray his failure to understand his friend and what became of him. He is still making pleading remarks, at times really deranged ones, to Mahlke while trying to tell an objective story about him. It is a relationship so organic and pure that the only thing which can produce it is real life itself.
kalkwiese's review
5.0
Ich habe großen Respekt vor den literarischen Mitteln, mit denen diese Geschichte erzählt wird, aber Grass hat hier noch mehr als in den anderen Teilen der Danziger Trilogie die Tendenz, auf eine Weise ins Detail zu gehen, die mich als Leser einfach nicht so interessiert. Als Ergebnis waren diese 150 Seiten unerwartet anstrengend zu lesen - und dabei finde ich Hundejahre und Die Blechtrommel vergleichsweise angenehm!
Dennoch ist es beeindruckend, wie absichtsvoll Grass schreibt.
Dennoch ist es beeindruckend, wie absichtsvoll Grass schreibt.
leesahbee's review against another edition
3.0
A really interesting book, but more enjoyable in an academic sense than as a leisure read. I thought the relationship between the narrator and the main character was fascinating. The structure of the book (story of main character told through eyes of narrating friend) almost reminded me of some very twisted form of 'Great Gatsby.'
astroneatly's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
greenbourne's review against another edition
4.0
The second book from Grass has as its main character the 'big mahlke'. The story is told in first person by Pilenz, a 'friend' of Mahlke.
Pilenz has a hate-love relationship to Mahlke. When he stays with Malke he plays bad jokes to him, like putting a cat on his throat to let it catch his adams apple, or when he sees him praying in church, he accusses him to only pray so stronlgy for attention. On the other hand, Pilenz doesn't go to church if he knows that Mahlke will not be there as well. When Mahlke isn't around in the summerholidays he even says: "No summer without Mahlke!". Mahlke on the other hand is more of an outsider who is independent and does not need anyone else to fulfill his goals. The main motiv in the story is Mahlke's Adamapple, which is named by Pilenz with several terms. In order to hide it, Mahlke tends wear something around his throat, for instance a scarf and screwdriver. When two honored soldier talk in school about their heroic deed in war with a Knight's cross around their throat, Mahlke puts all his effort to get one. One the one hand, the soldiers in school are treated with great respect from everyone. Throughout its childhood Mahlke puts all his effort in various thinks to receive respect and acceptence, for instance in school sports, swimming and diving. On the other hand the King's cross would perfectly hide his Adam's apple.
When it comes to responsibility of Pilenz's actions, he pretends that he can't remember for sure. At some point pubils are interrogated about a teacher, who then becomes deportated. Pilenz just says, that he hopes that he hasn't testified against hime. He even states that he can't remember who putted the cat on Mahlkes throat.
The story gives a feeling how it was to grow up in that times. Both protagonists do not have a father, one is dead and the other somewhere in the war. Pilenz also looses is brother to the war and says when looking back, that he never really knows him. The schools are named by Nazi's, faith is only accepted reluctangly, the only thing you can choose in your live is in which kind of military you want to apply.
It took me about 50 pages to acclimatise with Grass writing style. I don't think that his language is pretty. Often you have very complex and long sentences, the vocabulary is sometimes vulgar, very rough. He uses such a direct language, especially when he describes scenes.
Summarized, i think that it is often not joyful to read the book, but that it is still a good book. The language transports a feeling from this time in war, i think, in a very inimtable and unique way in german literature.
Pilenz has a hate-love relationship to Mahlke. When he stays with Malke he plays bad jokes to him, like putting a cat on his throat to let it catch his adams apple, or when he sees him praying in church, he accusses him to only pray so stronlgy for attention. On the other hand, Pilenz doesn't go to church if he knows that Mahlke will not be there as well. When Mahlke isn't around in the summerholidays he even says: "No summer without Mahlke!". Mahlke on the other hand is more of an outsider who is independent and does not need anyone else to fulfill his goals. The main motiv in the story is Mahlke's Adamapple, which is named by Pilenz with several terms. In order to hide it, Mahlke tends wear something around his throat, for instance a scarf and screwdriver. When two honored soldier talk in school about their heroic deed in war with a Knight's cross around their throat, Mahlke puts all his effort to get one. One the one hand, the soldiers in school are treated with great respect from everyone. Throughout its childhood Mahlke puts all his effort in various thinks to receive respect and acceptence, for instance in school sports, swimming and diving. On the other hand the King's cross would perfectly hide his Adam's apple.
When it comes to responsibility of Pilenz's actions, he pretends that he can't remember for sure. At some point pubils are interrogated about a teacher, who then becomes deportated. Pilenz just says, that he hopes that he hasn't testified against hime. He even states that he can't remember who putted the cat on Mahlkes throat.
The story gives a feeling how it was to grow up in that times. Both protagonists do not have a father, one is dead and the other somewhere in the war. Pilenz also looses is brother to the war and says when looking back, that he never really knows him. The schools are named by Nazi's, faith is only accepted reluctangly, the only thing you can choose in your live is in which kind of military you want to apply.
It took me about 50 pages to acclimatise with Grass writing style. I don't think that his language is pretty. Often you have very complex and long sentences, the vocabulary is sometimes vulgar, very rough. He uses such a direct language, especially when he describes scenes.
Summarized, i think that it is often not joyful to read the book, but that it is still a good book. The language transports a feeling from this time in war, i think, in a very inimtable and unique way in german literature.
roxxie's review
3.0
Warum hab ich mir das angetan? Ich weiß es nicht. Doch kann ich nun sagen, dass ich es gelesen habe. Für meinen Geschmack in einem zu umständlichen Deutsch geschrieben, dass oft der Sinn verloren geht. Viele der Sätze zu verschachtelt.
Für mich nicht unbedingt ein lesenswertes, zu empfehlendes Buch. Einmal und nie wieder.
Für mich nicht unbedingt ein lesenswertes, zu empfehlendes Buch. Einmal und nie wieder.