The Rat

An apocalyptic novel by the German writer Günter Grass, built on the dialogue between the narrator and the rat given to him. He observes the devastated Earth, while she recounts the story of humanity's demise and the takeover of the Earth by rats — the only survivors in Gdansk after the use of neutron bombs — who built their own civilization based on solidarity. The narrator argues with this new worldview, proposing his theories, which become possible scenarios for films by the media magnate, the hero of 'The Tin Drum' Oscar Matzerath: about the artist Lothar Malzkate and the problem of authenticity, about the dead forests, about five women who go to explore the local jellyfish population in the Baltic Sea and secretly seek the legendary Winnetou as a place of female utopia.

The novel is published in Russian for the first time.