The Tin Drum

One of the most important novels of modernity, which entered the post-war canon of European literature, was first published in 1959. Its protagonist is the "little man" Oskar Matzerath, whose childhood coincides with the years of the rise of National... Socialism. Realizing the absurdity of reality, he decides to stop growing and refuses to become an adult. His constant companion is a tin drum: by beating a rhythm on it, Oskar expresses his attitude toward his surroundings. With a ruthless, sarcastic, and at the same time insightful perspective of an observer "from below," life in the Third Reich is depicted, alongside the atmosphere of the bourgeois world that engenders indifference to the ever-increasing terrible evil. The novel, grotesquely reflecting the history of Germany in the 20th century, brought its author worldwide fame.