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My Century by Günter Grass, by M. C. Castaño López (Avanzado 2, 2010-11)

My Century is a novel by Günter Grass, a German author.

Good literature does not understand of language and frontiers, nor about prejudices either. Günter Grass was awarded the Spanish award Principe de Asturias in 1999. He is a prolific writer, The Cat and the Mouse, and The Tinker Drum, are some of his master pieces.

My Century is intended to be a collection of the main events in the 20th century exposed through the eyes of different characters, not only in Germany but transcendental facts that were news one day in newspapers all over the world. However, this is not history, but literature.

To understand this book one may just find out some of the relevant facts of each year from 1901 to 2000. It is convenient, however, to have at hand the 20th century Annual Chronicles because sometimes it is difficult to find the connections between the chapter and the facts in the history. Furthermore, some chapters do not address what might be expected and may be linked to some other events in a different chapter.

Get ready for feedback and future prospection, stream-of-consciousness metaphoric allusions, and a witty irony, all of which provide the narrations with a vivid sense of empathy. Get also ready to learn — the novel is quite complex. It can inform you of some historical facts, from the viewpoint of literature, which implies, it is capable of surprising the most skeptical reader.

For many still unknown, if you have lived in the 20th century you should not die without reading this masterpiece of contemporary literature.

Resources

1. Talking People - Skills - Writing - Descriptive Texts (for the theory)
2. Talking People - Your Stuff! - Your Texts - Reviews (for examples)
3. Wikipedia - Günter Grass
4. A Günter Grass Interview