Status
Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
Steidl (2002), Edition: 1, 216 pages
Description
The author of the Tin Drum takes on the worst maritime disaster in history, the sinking of a German cruise ship packed with refugees by a Soviet sub, a disaster that killed nine thousand people. Gunter Grass has been wrestling with Germany's past for decades now, but no book since The Tin Drum has generated as much excitement as this engrossing account of the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff. A German cruise ship turned refugee carrier, it was attacked by a Soviet submarine in January 1945. Some 9,000 people went down in the Baltic Sea, making it the deadliest maritime disaster of all time. Born to an unwed mother on a lifeboat the night of the attack, Paul Pokriefke is a middle-aged journalist trying to piece together the tragic events. While his mother sees her whole existence in terms of that calamitous moment, Paul wishes their life could have been less touched by the past. For his teenage son, who dabbles in the dark, far-right corners of the Internet, the Gustloff embodies the denial of Germany's wartime suffering. "Scuttling backward to move forward," Crabwalk is at once a captivating tale of a tragedy at sea and a fearless examination of the ways different generations of Germans now view their past. Winner of the Nobel Prize.… (more)
Media reviews
"Im Krebsgang" ist ein Roman des deutschen Autors Günter Grass, der 2002 veröffentlicht wurde. Der Roman ist eine fiktive Auseinandersetzung mit einem historischen Ereignis, nämlich dem Untergang des deutschen Schiffes Wilhelm Gustloff während des Zweiten Weltkriegs. Das Buch ist nach dem
Erzählt wird die Geschichte von Paul Pokriefke, einem Journalisten, der das Kind einer Frau ist, die den Untergang der Wilhelm Gustloff überlebt hat. Der Roman verwebt drei Erzählstränge miteinander: die historischen Ereignisse rund um den Untergang des Schiffes, die persönlichen Erfahrungen von Pauls Mutter und Pauls eigenes Leben und seine Überlegungen in der Gegenwart.
Die Wilhelm Gustloff war ein deutsches Flüchtlingsschiff mit Zivilisten, Militärangehörigen und verwundeten Soldaten an Bord, als es im Januar 1945 von einem sowjetischen U-Boot torpediert wurde. Der Untergang führte zu einer der tödlichsten Schiffskatastrophen der Geschichte, die Tausende von Menschenleben kostete.
Grass erforscht die komplexen und oft kontroversen Aspekte der deutschen Geschichte, der Erinnerung und der Schuld. Der Roman befasst sich mit den Auswirkungen des Krieges auf Individuen und Generationen und untersucht die Schwierigkeiten, sich mit der Vergangenheit auseinanderzusetzen und sie zu bewältigen.
"Im Krebsgang" wirft Fragen nach der Verantwortung nachfolgender Generationen für die Taten ihrer Vorgänger und nach den Herausforderungen des Verstehens und Gedenkens historischer Tragödien auf. Der Nobelpreisträger Günter Grass bringt seinen unverwechselbaren Stil und seine erzählerische Komplexität in dieses Werk ein, das einen Beitrag zum anhaltenden Dialog über die deutsche Kriegsvergangenheit und das Erbe der NS-Zeit leistet.
Show More
Phänomen des "Krebsgangs" benannt, das sich auf die seitliche Bewegung von Krabben bezieht und die indirekte Auseinandersetzung mit der Vergangenheit symbolisiert.Erzählt wird die Geschichte von Paul Pokriefke, einem Journalisten, der das Kind einer Frau ist, die den Untergang der Wilhelm Gustloff überlebt hat. Der Roman verwebt drei Erzählstränge miteinander: die historischen Ereignisse rund um den Untergang des Schiffes, die persönlichen Erfahrungen von Pauls Mutter und Pauls eigenes Leben und seine Überlegungen in der Gegenwart.
Die Wilhelm Gustloff war ein deutsches Flüchtlingsschiff mit Zivilisten, Militärangehörigen und verwundeten Soldaten an Bord, als es im Januar 1945 von einem sowjetischen U-Boot torpediert wurde. Der Untergang führte zu einer der tödlichsten Schiffskatastrophen der Geschichte, die Tausende von Menschenleben kostete.
Grass erforscht die komplexen und oft kontroversen Aspekte der deutschen Geschichte, der Erinnerung und der Schuld. Der Roman befasst sich mit den Auswirkungen des Krieges auf Individuen und Generationen und untersucht die Schwierigkeiten, sich mit der Vergangenheit auseinanderzusetzen und sie zu bewältigen.
"Im Krebsgang" wirft Fragen nach der Verantwortung nachfolgender Generationen für die Taten ihrer Vorgänger und nach den Herausforderungen des Verstehens und Gedenkens historischer Tragödien auf. Der Nobelpreisträger Günter Grass bringt seinen unverwechselbaren Stil und seine erzählerische Komplexität in dieses Werk ein, das einen Beitrag zum anhaltenden Dialog über die deutsche Kriegsvergangenheit und das Erbe der NS-Zeit leistet.
Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member lriley
As World War 2 winds down a Russian submarine sinks a German cruiseship the 'Wilhelm Gustloff' in the Baltic Sea in the process of evacuating refugees. Over 9000 people die in the biggest maritime disaster of all time as Paul Pokriefke is being born on a lifeboat to his single mother. Growing up
Show More
Paul tries to come to grips with what happened which takes him back in time to the origins of the boat and its being named after a would be Nazi demagogue who was assassinated by a young jew in the runup to the war--makes him look up the exasperated and alcoholic soviet sub commander on the outs with his own command who just happens to be at the right spot at the wrong time. One catastrophe follows another. This is juxtaposed with a present day scenario involving Paul's son and his fascination with web-sites recalling Germany's military past which will lead in the book to a present day act of violence. The writer's description of the disaster as it happens is especially effective. For those interested in chaos theory this in one of Grass's better works and he has several pretty good ones. Show Less
LibraryThing member Niecierpek
A very thought provoking and multilayered book. It presents three generations of an East Prussian (German) family against the backdrop of the biggest maritime disaster ever- the sinking of a cruise ship, turned troop carrier, turned hospital ship and finally, refugee carrier- Wilhelm Gustloff- in
First and foremost, it is a book about how the Germans grapple with recent history. The book presents us with three generations of the family displaced by the Second World War and scattered through East and West Germany. Every member of the family represents different political views and different attitude towards the past. They represent views and attitudes ranging from Stalinist to Neo-Nazi, liberal and socialist.
Through them the important questions of guilt and atonement, martyrdom and heroism, and how they depend on one’s beliefs (recently tackled by another book I read, _The Tiger Claw_, must be a trend after 9/11), meaning of history and the importance of talking about difficult topics is stressed.
On another level, it is a book about the biggest single maritime disaster that wasn’t in history books for a long time, and about which almost nothing has been written. The Germans kept the tragedy hidden, because it was not good for morale at the end of the war when everything was going bad for them. The Russians, who sank the ship, had nothing to boast about, because they sank the ship that looked like a troop carrier, but at the time was carrying almost exclusively women and children fleeing from the war. Not to mention that in East Germany the new political “friends” couldn’t be responsible for such a hideous act, so it wasn’t even mentioned there.
On still another level, the book can be viewed as a story about fathers and sons, and the importance of a father figure, his acceptance and his interest.
It was very interesting. I also liked the narration which was in a “crabwalk” fashion, scuttling back and forth, and sideways.
Show More
the final year of the Second World War. The ship was torpedoed and went down with at least 9, 000 refugees onboard in the Bay of Danzig (now Gdansk) in frigid weather. There were only about 200 survivors. First and foremost, it is a book about how the Germans grapple with recent history. The book presents us with three generations of the family displaced by the Second World War and scattered through East and West Germany. Every member of the family represents different political views and different attitude towards the past. They represent views and attitudes ranging from Stalinist to Neo-Nazi, liberal and socialist.
Through them the important questions of guilt and atonement, martyrdom and heroism, and how they depend on one’s beliefs (recently tackled by another book I read, _The Tiger Claw_, must be a trend after 9/11), meaning of history and the importance of talking about difficult topics is stressed.
On another level, it is a book about the biggest single maritime disaster that wasn’t in history books for a long time, and about which almost nothing has been written. The Germans kept the tragedy hidden, because it was not good for morale at the end of the war when everything was going bad for them. The Russians, who sank the ship, had nothing to boast about, because they sank the ship that looked like a troop carrier, but at the time was carrying almost exclusively women and children fleeing from the war. Not to mention that in East Germany the new political “friends” couldn’t be responsible for such a hideous act, so it wasn’t even mentioned there.
On still another level, the book can be viewed as a story about fathers and sons, and the importance of a father figure, his acceptance and his interest.
It was very interesting. I also liked the narration which was in a “crabwalk” fashion, scuttling back and forth, and sideways.
Show Less
LibraryThing member madhuri_agrawal
One of the books in which I took a long break in the middle of reading. I found it very dry to begin with - perhaps it was adjusting to German writing.But in the second run, I actually liked it, especially since the story moved at a better pace, and slightly away from the slow "crabwalk"
The story
I still think that the writing looked mechanical and journalistic, even though the events narrated were charged and were of a personal nature.
The story
Show More
is about the sinking of a ship "Gustloff" by a Soviet submarine, and the lives that were affected by this sinking. But I think, in narrating the ship's fate, the author has also tried to draw attention to the race bias in Germany and the changes that the country had to deal with post its defeat in the world war II. I still think that the writing looked mechanical and journalistic, even though the events narrated were charged and were of a personal nature.
Show Less
LibraryThing member gemilyinterrupted
I found this story quite difficult to access at first. I wonder if that is partly because some of it was given in a sort of documentary narrative which I struggled to engage with, even though the "crabwalk" between stories, characters, chronologies and relationships was alluded to by the narrator.
Show More
I found that I preferred the sections of the novel which dealt with the sinking of the Gustloff than the sections about Konrad, who was a distinctly unlikeable character. Which probably pays testament to Grass' skill I suppose. Worth reading? Yes I think so. Show Less
LibraryThing member kristinbell
Crabwalk is a sobering story about how three generations of Germans come to terms with the history of Nazi Germany. It is translated from German and can be a bit difficult in the beginning, but I find that if you hang in there you will become familiar enough with the names and the writing style.
Show More
The book is fiction, but it uses aspects of historical fact to illustrate the story. The book has nothing to do with crabs, but as the author tells us, he is sharing the story in a fashion similar to how a crab walks. If you finish the book, you will probably find it lingering with you in those quiet moments of contemplation about life and the world. Not for the faint of heart, but I would recommend this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member lynnarnold
The cover says that Gunter Grass won the Nobel Prize for Literature, but that was in 2000, and he wrote this book in 2002. The cover sheet says of him that he ‘is Germany’s most celebrated contemporary writer.’
The book is a fictional recreation of the events of the Second World War’s worst
The story is ‘polyphonic’ in the sense that Milan Kundera writes about in ‘The art of the novel’ inasmuch as there are three parallel stories:
- the murder of the German leader of the Nazi Party branch in Switzerland, Wilhelm Gustloff, by a Jew, David Frankfurter who is gaoled and then goes to Israel after the war;
- the story of a cruise ship launched in 1936 months after Gustloff and named after him until its sinking in 1945; and
- the story of the narrator’s mother, a passenger on the fatal last voyage of the Wilhelm Gustloff, and who gave birth to her son on a rescue boat on the night of the sinking. Also in this story is the narrator’s son from his broken marriage who becomes a neo-Nazi.
The characters in the first two existed, but have had their story embellished in the telling; those in the third are entirely fictional and represent a allegory for the post-war journey of the German people – the Mother who can never forget the sinking, hates the Russians, but becomes a willing Stalinist in eastern Germany; her son, who fled to the West and becomes a liberal and a disappointment to his mother (not because of his fleeing to the West, in that she helped him; but because of his failure to share her obsession and write its story; and the grandson, who resents the weakness of his father and becomes the zealot who not only tells the story via internet hate pages, but also reprises the story of the original murder.
The stories weave together probably in the only way they could – in the way of the ‘crabwalk’, the title of the book. This is how Grass describes the ‘crabwalk’:
“But I’m still not sure how to go about (the telling of the story); should I do as I was taught and unpack one life at a time, in order, or do I have to sneak up on time in a crabwalk, seeming to go backward but actually scuttling sideways, and thereby working my way forward fairly rapidly?”
Which is all to say that the events of the three stories are interwoven throughout the story in backwards, forwards and sideways motions.
The story is interesting enough, though I think the section in the third quarter of the book which deals mainly with the ship’s fateful voyage is somewhat belaboured. There is also an interesting exploration of the inherent capacity of human beings to be contradictory rather than coherent – the mother who despises the Russians but cries at Stalin’s death, the liberal journalist son who never adequately explains the length of time he worked for the feral conservative Springer newspaper group, the neo-Nazi grandson who hates Jews and praises Israel and is accused by skin-heads of being a ‘Russian lover’ – all these are conveyed quite effectively by way of filling out the picture of the complex German psyche in the post-war period and, in doing so, the complexity of the human psyche generally. On the back cover, Sarah Schaeffer of the New Statesman is quoted:
“Grass could scarcely be delving deeper into the German soul and challenging its demons to do their worst”
while Tom Rosenthal, of the Daily Mail, writes that the book is for anyone ‘who wants to understand that great but deeply flawed country’.
But it is not a moving book. I didn’t finish it feeling any particular empathy for the main protagonists. And the detailing of the horrible events of the sinking, which contain many facts (real events from actual reports) are contained with a sense of dispassion while at the same time reported as having (understandably) traumatized the mother:
“But even worse, Mother said, was the fate of the children: ‘They all skidded off the ship the wrong way round, headfirst. So there they was, floating in them bulky life jackets, their little legs poking up in the air …’”
This is a deeply disturbing image but somehow its power gets lost in the subsequent continuation of the psycho-emotional complexities of mother and son divided by a chasm of history.
I give the book three out of five – worth reading if you have left the book you really want to read behind.
The book is a fictional recreation of the events of the Second World War’s worst
Show More
naval disaster – the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff by a Russian submarine on January 30 1945, three months before the end of the war in Europe. The exact number of dead in this disaster is unknown as the ship, overcrowded with refugees from the advancing Russians as well as some fleeing soldiers, had not been able to keep track of all those crowding aboard before it set sail in the Baltic. The estimates, however, are that it may have been carrying as many as 10,000 passengers, of whom only about 1,000 survived the sinking by three torpedos. The story is ‘polyphonic’ in the sense that Milan Kundera writes about in ‘The art of the novel’ inasmuch as there are three parallel stories:
- the murder of the German leader of the Nazi Party branch in Switzerland, Wilhelm Gustloff, by a Jew, David Frankfurter who is gaoled and then goes to Israel after the war;
- the story of a cruise ship launched in 1936 months after Gustloff and named after him until its sinking in 1945; and
- the story of the narrator’s mother, a passenger on the fatal last voyage of the Wilhelm Gustloff, and who gave birth to her son on a rescue boat on the night of the sinking. Also in this story is the narrator’s son from his broken marriage who becomes a neo-Nazi.
The characters in the first two existed, but have had their story embellished in the telling; those in the third are entirely fictional and represent a allegory for the post-war journey of the German people – the Mother who can never forget the sinking, hates the Russians, but becomes a willing Stalinist in eastern Germany; her son, who fled to the West and becomes a liberal and a disappointment to his mother (not because of his fleeing to the West, in that she helped him; but because of his failure to share her obsession and write its story; and the grandson, who resents the weakness of his father and becomes the zealot who not only tells the story via internet hate pages, but also reprises the story of the original murder.
The stories weave together probably in the only way they could – in the way of the ‘crabwalk’, the title of the book. This is how Grass describes the ‘crabwalk’:
“But I’m still not sure how to go about (the telling of the story); should I do as I was taught and unpack one life at a time, in order, or do I have to sneak up on time in a crabwalk, seeming to go backward but actually scuttling sideways, and thereby working my way forward fairly rapidly?”
Which is all to say that the events of the three stories are interwoven throughout the story in backwards, forwards and sideways motions.
The story is interesting enough, though I think the section in the third quarter of the book which deals mainly with the ship’s fateful voyage is somewhat belaboured. There is also an interesting exploration of the inherent capacity of human beings to be contradictory rather than coherent – the mother who despises the Russians but cries at Stalin’s death, the liberal journalist son who never adequately explains the length of time he worked for the feral conservative Springer newspaper group, the neo-Nazi grandson who hates Jews and praises Israel and is accused by skin-heads of being a ‘Russian lover’ – all these are conveyed quite effectively by way of filling out the picture of the complex German psyche in the post-war period and, in doing so, the complexity of the human psyche generally. On the back cover, Sarah Schaeffer of the New Statesman is quoted:
“Grass could scarcely be delving deeper into the German soul and challenging its demons to do their worst”
while Tom Rosenthal, of the Daily Mail, writes that the book is for anyone ‘who wants to understand that great but deeply flawed country’.
But it is not a moving book. I didn’t finish it feeling any particular empathy for the main protagonists. And the detailing of the horrible events of the sinking, which contain many facts (real events from actual reports) are contained with a sense of dispassion while at the same time reported as having (understandably) traumatized the mother:
“But even worse, Mother said, was the fate of the children: ‘They all skidded off the ship the wrong way round, headfirst. So there they was, floating in them bulky life jackets, their little legs poking up in the air …’”
This is a deeply disturbing image but somehow its power gets lost in the subsequent continuation of the psycho-emotional complexities of mother and son divided by a chasm of history.
I give the book three out of five – worth reading if you have left the book you really want to read behind.
Show Less
LibraryThing member porch_reader
I found this book fascinating. On its surface, it is a work of historical fiction. The story is narrated by Paul Pokriefke, a journalist who was born on a lifeboat following the attack on the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German ship carrying refugees in January 1945. The narrative moves back and forth
While I've read a number of books about the experiences of Jewish citizens in Germany during World War II, I have read little from the perspective of those who who were loyal to Hitler. Especially interesting is the way that their descendents view and reconstruct that period of history. This is a slim book, but the layers of meaning gave me much to think about.
Show More
through time, in a pattern similar to a crabwalk, as parts of the story are gradually revealed. But the book is more than a recounting of these historical events. It is also an examination of how our framing of the past influences events in the present. While I've read a number of books about the experiences of Jewish citizens in Germany during World War II, I have read little from the perspective of those who who were loyal to Hitler. Especially interesting is the way that their descendents view and reconstruct that period of history. This is a slim book, but the layers of meaning gave me much to think about.
Show Less
LibraryThing member GabrielF
"History, or, to be more precise, the history we Germans have repeatedly mucked up, is a clogged toilet. We flush and flush, but the shit keeps rising."
I found Crabwalk to be very compelling. Grass explores the dangers of an obsession with one's identity and history, especially in combination with
Tulla Pokriefke, a survivor of the Gustloff sinking, and her grandson Konrad are desperate for some official acknowledgment of the tragedy, but the memorial to Gustloff the man was torn down decades ago. Tulla can't stop reliving the events, and her stories become a sort of poison for her grandson.
Crabwalk raises a lot of interesting questions, particularly in light of the debates in Germany over war and holocaust memorials. Would a monument to the Gustloff have brought peace to Tulla? Would it have prevented her son from running away from his mother and her history? Would it have prevented her grandson from falling into a dangerous obsession?
I found Crabwalk to be very compelling. Grass explores the dangers of an obsession with one's identity and history, especially in combination with
Show More
isolation and the Internet, which enables people to absorb themselves in wallowing and battling with their fellow obsessives. This phenomenon is not unique to Germans. Tulla Pokriefke, a survivor of the Gustloff sinking, and her grandson Konrad are desperate for some official acknowledgment of the tragedy, but the memorial to Gustloff the man was torn down decades ago. Tulla can't stop reliving the events, and her stories become a sort of poison for her grandson.
Crabwalk raises a lot of interesting questions, particularly in light of the debates in Germany over war and holocaust memorials. Would a monument to the Gustloff have brought peace to Tulla? Would it have prevented her son from running away from his mother and her history? Would it have prevented her grandson from falling into a dangerous obsession?
Show Less
LibraryThing member NRTurner
I listened to an unabridged compact disc edition with spoken narration by George Guidall (ISBN 9 781841 978932).
The author captures the plaintive tone of the protagonist in this first-person narrative which is draining but rewarding. The narrator recounts the history of his family in particular the
Spoken narrator comments: Mature male, United States English accent. Pronounces German words well. Cadences sound like a German speaker (strong stress is realistic but sometimes sounds like a speech synthesizer in English).
Translation gripe: I don't know the German cognate of "leftist".
(SPOILERish)
A quote I liked went something like "if we use few words, we will get to the end sooner" which succeeded the narrator's comments that thoughts and motivations are locked up in other's head's, inaccessible to us (towards the end of the work). I didn't write it down :/ Does anyone know the exact quote? If the German source is quotable, a quote in German would suffice.
The author captures the plaintive tone of the protagonist in this first-person narrative which is draining but rewarding. The narrator recounts the history of his family in particular the
Show More
events leading up to the arrest of his son accused of a serious crime. At the same time, telling stories of the Germans in Eastern Europe through World War II and the aftermath.Spoken narrator comments: Mature male, United States English accent. Pronounces German words well. Cadences sound like a German speaker (strong stress is realistic but sometimes sounds like a speech synthesizer in English).
Translation gripe: I don't know the German cognate of "leftist".
(SPOILERish)
A quote I liked went something like "if we use few words, we will get to the end sooner" which succeeded the narrator's comments that thoughts and motivations are locked up in other's head's, inaccessible to us (towards the end of the work). I didn't write it down :/ Does anyone know the exact quote? If the German source is quotable, a quote in German would suffice.
Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Language
Original publication date
2002 (German)
2003 (English)
Physical description
216 p.; 5.16 inches
ISBN
3882438002 / 9783882438000