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A review by k5tog
Cat and Mouse by Günter Grass
3.0
Set in Germany duRing WWII, this is a coming of age story about a strange teenager nicknamed the Great Mahlke. Socially awkward, devoutly religious, and strikingly odd, Mahlke moves from anti-social outcast to admired swimmer to being expelled from school, and finally to becoming a decorated war hero. The narrator, Pilenz, is slightly younger than Mahlke and obviously in awe.
There were weird changes in point of view - narrating about Mahlke as a third person then narrating as if talking directly to Mahlke - in the middle of paragraphs. Because this book was a translation from German, I’m not sure if this is the way the author intended it or if was just a translation problem. Either way, it really bothered me.
There were weird changes in point of view - narrating about Mahlke as a third person then narrating as if talking directly to Mahlke - in the middle of paragraphs. Because this book was a translation from German, I’m not sure if this is the way the author intended it or if was just a translation problem. Either way, it really bothered me.