Too Far Afield

by Günter Grass

Book Overview

From the Nobel Prize-winning author of My Century and The Tin Drum, a novel of broad historical proportions set in Berlin during the years of German reunification. Two old men roam through Berlin observing life in the former German Democratic Republic after the fall of the Wall in 1989. Theo Wuttke, a former East German functionary, is a keen observer and a gifted speaker. Ludwig Hoftaller is a mid-level spy whose loyalties shift with each new regime...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0156014165
• ISBN13: 9780156014168
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 672 Pages
• Weight: 1.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

Having been recently impressed by Mr. Grass's new book, Crabwalk, I also found myself happy to have finally read The Tin Drum since then. Encouraged by those experiences, I decided it was time to read Too Far Afield, which was roundly criticized when it came out. I wondered how the book had stood the test of time in its views about German reunification. I came away feeling that I had read a masterpiece.Mr. Grass's point is simply that human nature and our histories play a powerful role in shaping our present and future lives. In Too Far Afield, he magnificently captures the enormous influences that culture, nation, religion and family practices play in reinforcing our human nature and histories. Of the three books, I felt like Too Far Afield was the only one that captured the human condition in its broadest sense, rather than just the German human condition. Although I majored in European history in college, I don't think I ever quite got the point about how 19th century influences came together to have such a large impact on people who lived in East Germany prior to the reunification. Too Far Afield put the mosaic of those influences together for me for the first time. The story is an unbelievably intricate one. After finishing the book, I couldn't see how the points could have been made as powerfully without all of the material. You will feel like the book dawdles in many places. Please realize that Mr. Grass is trying to set you up to draw the wrong conclusions as you react to the surface reality, so that his story can serve as a counterpunch to your gut reactions. In that subtle way, he strengthens his message that life is vastly different than what you believed when you started the book.The book has many interesting characters, but all exist to tell the story of Theo Wuttke. Wuttke is every person in the story. He has been drawn to the rich cultural tradition of Germany's great writer, Fontane (referred to as "The Immortal"), and is inspired to want to experience the freedom and variety of the West. Historical accidents impinge on those yearnings. The East German bureaucracy keeps him in line, acting very much as its predecessor, the Nazi bureaucracy, and its predecessor, the Prussian bureaucracy did. The governmental constraints work because Wuttke has sinned, and does not want those sins exposed . . . or his children harmed. So he turns out to be a captive of his past and his nonexistent former nation, even as the dawn of freedom arrives with the reunification. Wuttke ultimately finds redemption as the indirect result of his attempts to do good in the past.The story is told through extensive use of internal monologues and indirect references to the past. Be patient. Those indirect references are eventually brought together in an astonishingly cogent way. Although the tone of much of the book is quite grey and seemingly hopeless, Mr. Grass does a marvelous job of employing satire and irony to comment upon seemingly unpr

Tough Sledding, but Rewarding

The way to get the most out of this novel is to be both well-versed in German literature (especially the work of Fontana), as well as to be knowledgeable about the history of Germany, and of Berlin in particluar. For me, to read this book was to embark on a rigourous journey of two extremes:On the one hand, I did not understand and thus could not appreciate the no doubt rich literary commentaries and allusions that surrounded Fontana; I am simply not conversant with his writing. All I could do in those parts of the novel was read what was written, and wish that I had read Effi Briest, etc. first.On the other hand, I was at times mesmerized by the depth and breadth of Grass's probing and questioning of historical issues pertaining to Germany and Berlin. By my having spent the equivalent of almost a year in Germany, including time in Berlin in the 70's, 80's and 90's, I was able to grasp Grass's commentary on the transformation of Germany and Berlin into one country and city, respectively, from their previously divided conditions. Grass makes all sorts of subtle and clever references to certain streets, neighbourhoods and buildings ("the hall of tears") in Berlin, as well as to various historical incidents and figures (e.g. the "Goatee": Walter Ulbricht), referring to them by their locally-known idioms or nicknames; this rich aspect of the novel, which, gratifyingly, made me feel very close to the author and to the story, will likely be lost on readers without a firm grounding in 20th century German history. The historical commentary is usually highly concentrated, at times hypnotic in its relentlessness and directness; I often found myself mentally exhausted from having to concentrate as much as I needed to, to follow the threads of discussion and inquiry. Invariably, though, I wanted to do nothing more than keep reading, so compelling is Grass's writing style.I did not want the book to end; I did not want to say goodbye to Wuttke|Fonty. I was sad that the exhilarating experience of reading this novel was over. I felt a certain wistfulness toward Germany, its people and its turbulent history. One can tell that Grass both loves his country, and is most wary of its history and circumstances.One needs to invest a lot of emotional and intellectual energy to get through this novel, but so long as the reader is conversant with German literature, German history, or, ideally, both, it is well worth the effort.

Grass's Reunification Novel

Here we are, another masterpiece from one of Germany's greatest contemporary novelists.This work, which first appeared in Germany in 1995, is Grass's treatment of Germany's reunification. Among the novel's central themes is this: that through successive periods of history some things never change. They may be harder to spot, they may have a different name, they may be lurking in a cellar where no one wishes to find them, but they are there all the same. Grass here uses the medium of the novel to assert that the celebrations of 1989-1990 ignored the dark side of the German national identity.He accomplishes this by invoking minutiae from throughout German history, all of which is related through the novel's two central characters: Wuttke, who believes himself to be the nineteenth-century writer Theodore Fontane; and Hoftaller, a former East German police agent who is Wuttke's "shadow". What emerges is a fascinating montage where elements from both past and present intermingle, which is what Grass wants us to believe anyway: that what is "past" isn't really in the past at all.A variety of symbols reinforce this message. Much of the novel takes place in a quintessentially symbolic building in central Berlin: a building which originally housed the Third Reich's Aviation Ministry, then East Germany's "House of Ministries," and now (although not mentioned in the novel) the Federal Ministry of Finance. Within this building one finds the "Paternoster," an old elevator system which Wuttke attempts to save from being replaced by modern high speed elevators, and which carries a symbolic import of its own: it represents the rise and fall of various people within the building, the memory or in the novel the "Archives" of Germany.At more than 650 pages this is a formidable undertaking but in the end well worth the effort. A reader not terrible familiar with German history or literature may find many of the references terribly confusing or elusive. But here is Grass at his finest--his wit, his insight, his courage to poke fun at everything the Germans have considered sacred: from the former chancellor and "hero" of reunification Helmut Kohl to contemporary author Christa Wolf.

An Entirely Different Viewpoint

Unless you have the personal experience of living in Germany, before, during, and after the Berlin Wall fell, this book will be a very new view on how those that were affected may have felt the changes they experienced. The person that wrote on the 31st of October has the on site experience and he felt this novel was very accurate. Mr. Grass is not known for writing that can be read with ease, and you must want to know about this subject with above average interest, or you may find the book daunting. I did get through it over a period of time, and I frequently was lost amongst the various historical pieces that intruded into the present. Initially the players are none too easy to follow. All that said, this man did not win the Nobel Prize for writing badly. The book is excellent, it just required a great deal of effort for me, and my experience does not seem to differ from others.Conventional presentation of The Divided Germany always was portrayed as those that did not escape, were in effect imprisoned. Various US Presidents would speak at the Brandenberg Gate and challenge Soviet leaders to take down the wall. The wall finally fell and the impression brought to viewers was one of a great celebration, the reunification of Germany became a reality.Mr. Grass presents a different perspective that readers will find interesting, as even Germans found the book controversial when it was first published there.He suggests that the unification was more like an annexation, an acquisition, almost colonization. His portrayal is not of one nation cleaved in two, with citizens counting the moments when they will be reunited as one. There is jealousy, resentment, and even hatred between the two sides, and the ideas he puts forward are not hard to imagine.This was not a merger of equals. In many ways the Western and much more prosperous side of Germany understandably was placed in a position of strength, even if it took on the appearance of benign investment and rebuilding. It is not difficult to believe that in the rush to erase the part of Germany that had been taken, that many in East Germany may have felt as though they had been run over.This book is well worth the effort required to experience the Germany of Theo Wuttke and Ludwig Hoffstaller as created by Mr. Grass. His views and the story he uses to express them were very new to me. If you have the time, or have an interest in German History, this book is well worth the effort.

Grass deserves his Nobel Prize!

It takes the form of a gripping nostalgia trip. Gunter Grass' "Too Far Afield" features two elderly German men, Theo Wuttke and Ludwig Hoftaller, and has been called his most complexly written novel of all, and this Nobel Prize-winner has more than his share of complex works. Grass is not an easy man to read; however, that said, Grass and his works speak for themselves quite clearly. Ever ready with the surreal in his works ("The Tin Drum," "Cat and Mouse," to name two), Grass' grasp of the intensity, the confusion, the excitement, the euphoria, the intense dislike between the two Germanys is in top form in his latest work. Wuttke and Hoftaller, who are in their seventies, work for an agency set up to privatize the former East Germany in Berlin in the fall of 1989. Their thoughts are the vehicle for this book's story line and Grass has poignantly captured the moments. Having lived in Germany before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the ensuing reunification, I find "Too Far Afield" even more relevant. And the book is not meant to put you to sleep with all its poignancy and nostalgia, and Grass once again explores the relationship of Germany with its often-troubled past to the present. There are surprising turns, clever humor, and excellent characterization that make the book a worthwhile undertaking. (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)