Questions About The Tin Drum

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about The Tin Drum, please sign up.

Answered Questions (3)

I haven't read any Goethe or Rasputin. What am I missing?

Alex Cole Goethe and Rasputin represent different angles of the German psyche - namely, Goethe represents Germany's literary and cultural past and the individua…moreGoethe and Rasputin represent different angles of the German psyche - namely, Goethe represents Germany's literary and cultural past and the individuated "reason" of Apollonian art. Rasputin represents the need for Dionysian communitarian intoxication underlying the deeply individualistic petit bourgeoisie society of pre-war Danzig. Both figures drive "history" in the carousel of Oskar's fever-dream, culminating in a sense of historical non-consciousness or nihilistic empty time to use the language of Walter Benjamin.

I should note, too, the Apollonian-Dionysian distinction is itself a German invention, finding its origins in the early writings of Friedrich Nietzsche.(less)

flag

When does this book pick up? I'm at about page 140 and I'm already starting to get a bit bored, and I was wondering if events started to pick up after a little while, or if it stays at the same slow, meandering pace.