I love it when Oskar demands that a miracle take place, then "patiently" waits an overlong time, then gets fed up and convinced, as you have nicely excerpted, Gary. Ah, his self-justification is limitless. But at first I was upset by Oskar calling on Satan. I mean, jeesh, Oskar is a nice, ...

Well, I can add that Hitler and Goebbels would remark to each other how easily the commoners would seem to just believe in whatever they were told. The other comment is that after a few years, the Brownshirts (or SA), under Ernst Roehm, got to be very professional with their bullying tactics. They w...

Gary, I think you are on to something again. Oskar slips himself into the story when he feels like it, and his perspective seems to constantly change. Imagine talking to someone who did bad (and good) things during a war, who suffered (and had some laughs) and now talks about it. Perhaps this person...

Suzanne, my German is unreliable, but I will try just this once. The last sentence of the 3rd paragraph of the first page, in Manheim's, he wrote: "He raises his hands in horror, tries to give his rather expressionless face an expression of extreme disgust, and abandons his polychrome project.&...

The little snot is defiance personified! As a parent, i feel for Oskar's - they are very sympathetic, in part because Oskar is not upset by the sexual openness of his mom, and so the parents remain two-dimensional. Is everything around Oskar two-dimensional and extant solely for him to label, perhap...

To me, this is a really funny chapter about a horrid, repulsive little boy who sees horrid, repulsive little details in the rest of the world - except for the man who runs the boy scouts down in the courtyard. And what a disaster at the end - complete mayhem! Is Oskar homosexually inclined, or at le...

Hello. I am new here and have a few thoughts for those who are still with the book. I promise to not give anything away - the plot is so bizarre, anyway. Knowing does not compare to the experience. I read it and had to write a paper on it for college (in 1985) - I did not, at that time, 'get' the bo...