Mr. Grass--a German noble prize winner in literature, with two really good books The Rat and The Tin Drum, and a host of well-written but mediocre moralizing others--revealed he was a member of the SS as a teenager growing up in Danzig (now Gdansk--a lovely city that I've visited). The Poles are demanding he give up his honorary polish citizenship, writers and critics around the world say his image is now eternally tarnished, and his books will no longer carry any of the moral weight they used to. For anyone that didnt know, Mr. Grass wrote much of his work on or about Nazi Germany. In addition, Mr. Grass has a new book coming out this October, about his adolescence in Nazi Germany.
I would like to get everyones opinion on this issue, as it involves an internationally known and recognized great in late 20th century literature.
Is Mr. Grass a hypocrite for spending his life and art, creating works that denounced Nazi Germany? Is the stain of being apprently drafted into the SS, and being connected with Nazi Germany, so great, that even a lifetime of work trying to change ones past is not good enough--is there no forgiveness for Nazis? And thus, are those attacking Mr. Grass, hypocrites themselves? And finally, is this merely a publicity ploy by Mr. Grass to sell his next book?
I would like to get everyones opinion on this issue, as it involves an internationally known and recognized great in late 20th century literature.
Is Mr. Grass a hypocrite for spending his life and art, creating works that denounced Nazi Germany? Is the stain of being apprently drafted into the SS, and being connected with Nazi Germany, so great, that even a lifetime of work trying to change ones past is not good enough--is there no forgiveness for Nazis? And thus, are those attacking Mr. Grass, hypocrites themselves? And finally, is this merely a publicity ploy by Mr. Grass to sell his next book?
