Dog Years

"Dog Years" is the concluding novel of Günter Grass's "Danzig Trilogy." It contemplates the history of Germany in the first half and mid-20th century: the pre-war period, the rise and flourishing of Nazism, the war, the post-war years, and the era of the German "economic miracle." The narrative in each part of the novel is told from the perspective of one of the characters: Eddy Amsel — the "victim," Harry Liebeneau — the "witness," and Walter Matern — the "criminal," each of whom perceives events in their own way. The grotesque images, plots, and allegories that permeate the narrative reflect the tragic paradox of the era. Satire becomes Grass's only means capable of showing the madness of a society that nurtured and then rejected the horrors of the Third Reich.