This book came as part of my New Directions subscription. It’s a “newly discovered” story written by Günter Grass in 2003. It’s very short. 57 pages with big margins.
This story sees Grass (or a fictional substitute) travelling around to give book talks. On a trip before the Berlin Wall fell, he and his wife went to Naumberg. They visited a chapel which featured “life-size” statues. But everyone on the trip is disappointed at how small they actually are. One of the statues is of Uta of Naumberg [click for the Wikipedia explanation of who she was].
The repeated phrase in the book is “you can do anything on paper.” And so, he invites the 12 statues to lunch. It’s a jolly time with these ancient statues not really grasping modern behavior (they all hate the potatoes). He was quite taken with Uta. She ordered a Coke and then said she had to go.
He ran into her again after the Wall fell, She was being a living statue outside of Cologne Cathedral. She was very convincing, standing still and doing nothing. He approached her and got very close whereupon he whispered to her that she should take a break and get a Coke with him. She did not break character at all. But her manager/boyfriend came up and told him to get lost.
He saw her again some time later and wanted to approach, but the manager/boyfriend was staring. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: JENDRIK-“I Don’t Feel Hate” (Germany, Eurovision Entry 2021).
I couldn’t really leave Eurovision without mention the German entry which raised lots of eyebrows with its dancing foam middle finer.
The melody is very catchy–reminds me a lot of Wham or a George Michael song except he’s playing it on the ukulele. After a quick clapped beat, the bass kicks in.
The song is pretty over the top in terms of everything, but his heart is so on his sleeve that I 100% support his message of tolerance.
So you can wiggle with that middle finger, it’ll never wiggle back to you
And then came the big surprise. He sings “I don’t feel” and the song explodes with orchestral hits. It turns into a big dance party and then ends as quickly as it started.
There’s a middle section that begins
I really don’t mind (ah, ah-ah) to be your rival (ah-ah, ah-ah)
‘Cause for your kind it’s essential for survival (say what? He did not just say that)
Yes, I did (yes, I did), and I feel sorry (so sorry)
I don’t feel hate, that’s the whole point of this song (that’s the song)
and then segues into a twenties-era melody with muted trumpets and very fast vocals:
I guess you need patronization as some kind of validation
You won’t cope with the frustration that your random me-fixation
Is another affirmation that you’re just a hateful person
Who’s not really better than me
Then comes a muted trumpet solo which toes in perfectly to the following, yes, tap dance break.
Jandrik really couldn’t have put anything more into this song. It is so over the top, so very much too much, and I really like it. The foam middle finger is crazy cheesy though, which fits pretty well.
The actual video though is quite well produced–his extras are really excellent.
[READ: May 21, 2021] “How I Spent the War”
Do you want to know what went through the mind of a Nazi as World War II was ending?
Well, this essay by author Günter Grass–whom I have never read although I have often intended to–tells you.
When he was fifteen, living in Danzig, he volunteered for active duty. This was not youthful folly. He wanted to support his country and his Führer–he offers no excuses.
He had been serving in the Luftwaffe auxiliary–a group of boys too young to be conscripted. It was compulsory but many viewed it as a respite from school routine.
They felt like they were guarding the front line–the last line of defense before Germany was destroyed. They were allowed to go home every two weeks but Grass’ home wasn’t great. He hated his father–probably because his father was a peace loving man.
So he would watch the newsreels and revel in videos of Germany’s subs returning victorious.
He volunteered to serve on a submarine, was rejected–they had too many volunteers and he was too young. He was later called up for Labor Service like everyone his age–three months active duty—giving up the chic Luftwaffe uniform for Labor Service’s shit brown. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: .
I Just Read About That... 