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| '''Cat and Mouse''' is a ] in the ] of ]. | '''Cat and Mouse''', published in ] in ], is a ] in the ] of ]. The book is about Joachim Mahlke, an alienated youth. He was a friend of the ], on perhaps uncertain terms. The story is set around the time of the ] and ] rule. | ||
| The title relates to the central metaphor, in which Mahlke is the mouse and society is the cat. Mahlke's large ] is the ]: | |||
| Topic of the book is the development of the adolescent Joachim Mahlke. He mainly spends his life with some other boys of the same age, but never really catches up with them and is therefore the outsider. The story is set in the ]. | |||
| <blockquote> | |||
| The title of the novella was chosen due to Mahlke's big larynx- which is the leitmotif throughout the whole book. In one scene, a cat confuses the larynx with a mouse. Mahlke becomes the mouse and society a deathly cat. | |||
| ...Mahlke's ] had become the cat's mouse. It was so young a cat, and Mahlke's whatsis was so active — in any case the cat leapt at Mahlke's throat; or one of us caught the cat and held it up to Mahlke's neck; or I ... seized the cat and showed it Mahlke's mouse; and Joachim Mahlke let out a yell, but suffered only slight scratches. (p. 6) | |||
| </blockquote> | |||
| The ] and metaphorical embodiment of gross social forces is common Grass' work; here "It was a young cat, but no kitten." describes the German state in the ] — young but by no means innocent (p. 5). The narrative style — the gradual, chatty disclosure of the truth — is also characteristic. | |||
| ⚫ | In ] |
||
| ⚫ | In ] an attempt was made to put the book on the index of Germany's ], particularly due to the "] competition" scene, in which Mahlke displays his enormous penis and remarkable sexual endurance. After protest from both the public and other writers the request was withdrawn. | ||
| == References == | |||
| ''(translation of the article on Katz und Maus on www.wikipedia.de)'' | |||
| The quoted English edition is: | |||
| * {{Book reference|Last=Grass|First=Günter|Title=Cat and Mouse| | |||
| Editor=Ralph Manheim (translator)| | |||
| Publisher=]|Year= 1975| | |||
| ID=ISBN 0-14-002542-1}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
Revision as of 16:10, 13 November 2005
Cat and Mouse, published in Germany in 1961, is a novella in the Danzig Trilogy of Günter Grass. The book is about Joachim Mahlke, an alienated youth. He was a friend of the narrator, on perhaps uncertain terms. The story is set around the time of the Second World War and Nazi rule.
The title relates to the central metaphor, in which Mahlke is the mouse and society is the cat. Mahlke's large larynx is the leitmotif:
...Mahlke's Adam's apple had become the cat's mouse. It was so young a cat, and Mahlke's whatsis was so active — in any case the cat leapt at Mahlke's throat; or one of us caught the cat and held it up to Mahlke's neck; or I ... seized the cat and showed it Mahlke's mouse; and Joachim Mahlke let out a yell, but suffered only slight scratches. (p. 6)
The anthropomorphism and metaphorical embodiment of gross social forces is common Grass' work; here "It was a young cat, but no kitten." describes the German state in the 1940s — young but by no means innocent (p. 5). The narrative style — the gradual, chatty disclosure of the truth — is also characteristic.
In 1961 an attempt was made to put the book on the index of Germany's Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons, particularly due to the "wank competition" scene, in which Mahlke displays his enormous penis and remarkable sexual endurance. After protest from both the public and other writers the request was withdrawn.
References
The quoted English edition is:
- . ISBN 0-14-002542-1.
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