Gunter Grass - 'Crabwalk'
May 12, 2009 8:59:09 GMT
Post by spindrift on May 12, 2009 8:59:09 GMT
'Crabwalk' is a novel published in 2002. In it Grass examines a subject that has long been taboo - the suffering of the Germans during the Second World War. He explores the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, the deadliest maritime disaster of all time.
Here is one brief review: 'In Crabwalk, Grass has written a flawless, up to the minute "Condition of Germany" novel which anyone who wants to understand that great but deeply flawed country must surely read'.
I came across 'Crabwalk' in my local library. I was half-way through the book when I realised, with horror, that the story of the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff is true. Echoing the theme of the book, there are indeed websites on the internet devoted to this ghastly event.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Gustloff_(ship)
www.wilhelmgustloff.com/sinking.htm
Gunter Grass has done us all a favour by writing this book.
Exact numbers of the dead are not known but estimated at around 10,000.....4,000 of those being children. Everyone was trying to escape the depradations of the Red Army closing in around the Baltic ports in 1945 in January when temperatures were down around -16degrees. Imagine the scene - ice, freezing seas, 3 Russian torpedos including a direct hit to the engine room, crew mostly imprisoned in their foreward quarters when captain closed and sealed hatches, those inside either vaporized or trapped, people being trampled to death on stairways, lifeboats frozen into their davits,decks slippery with ice, the attack took place at night, lights went out, emergency lights on, nothing to be done but die in the most dreadful conditions, children in lifejackets floating upside down in the sea, little legs poking above the water, the ship listing, hundreds being plunged into the icy depths...
In memoriam.
Here is one brief review: 'In Crabwalk, Grass has written a flawless, up to the minute "Condition of Germany" novel which anyone who wants to understand that great but deeply flawed country must surely read'.
I came across 'Crabwalk' in my local library. I was half-way through the book when I realised, with horror, that the story of the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff is true. Echoing the theme of the book, there are indeed websites on the internet devoted to this ghastly event.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Gustloff_(ship)
www.wilhelmgustloff.com/sinking.htm
Gunter Grass has done us all a favour by writing this book.
Exact numbers of the dead are not known but estimated at around 10,000.....4,000 of those being children. Everyone was trying to escape the depradations of the Red Army closing in around the Baltic ports in 1945 in January when temperatures were down around -16degrees. Imagine the scene - ice, freezing seas, 3 Russian torpedos including a direct hit to the engine room, crew mostly imprisoned in their foreward quarters when captain closed and sealed hatches, those inside either vaporized or trapped, people being trampled to death on stairways, lifeboats frozen into their davits,decks slippery with ice, the attack took place at night, lights went out, emergency lights on, nothing to be done but die in the most dreadful conditions, children in lifejackets floating upside down in the sea, little legs poking above the water, the ship listing, hundreds being plunged into the icy depths...
In memoriam.
