Died Gunter Grass – BBC

88, died Nobel Prize for Literature, the author of the novel “The Tin Drum” Gunter Grass.

In 1999, 72-year-old writer Günter Grass was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for his “playful and gloomy parable” that “illuminate the forgotten image of history.”

And seven years later, in 2006, the Nobel committee had to think – whether to deprive Grass Prize or not to break tradition.

The reason for thinking of Swedish academics became Grass himself, who published an autobiographical book “Bulb memory.” On its pages he wrote and that he served in the Waffen-SS troops declared criminal by the Nuremberg Tribunal. Terrible scandal, although Grass never hid the fact of his biography – the truth, or let him into the destroyed armored division of Berlin he was on call during the storming of the city was wounded, and the surrender of Germany found a prisoner of the Americans.

In his own words, during the war, he knew what fear is, and survived only by chance.

Nobel Committee, having considered all the pros and cons, I decided that the award is still worthy of the writer. His creative position has always been consistently anti-Nazi and anti-war, and in the late 60s, he said in an interview that the main theme of his work – the German wine.

Grass beliefs were so pacifist, that in 1990 he protested against the unification of East and West Germany – in his opinion, the single will go to Germany again militant way.

Biography Grass has much in common with the biography of his older friend and another German Nobel laureate for literature Heinrich Böll. Boll served in the Wehrmacht, went through the entire Second World War, the end of which was in US custody. Literary career began in the “Group of 47″ – the union of the postwar German writers who called is not an escape from reality into abstraction and not idealize the past.

In the late 50′s to join this group and Grass – author of book of poems “The benefits of air chickens” and plays written, he said, for “theater of the absurd”, sculptor and painter by training.

In 1959, the debut novel of Grass’ The Tin Drum “, the first of his” Danzig Trilogy “- mock-exaggerated description of the German ideology of the recent past. As a result, the book Grass won by the “Group of 47″, and many adherents of traditional values ​​seen in the “Drum” and disrespect to the history of Germany, and godlessness, and desecration. Were courts and appeal to the authorities to put an end to the scandalous activities of Grasse.

The writer himself later said that he was struck by the courts is not about creativity, but the silence of the creative intelligentsia of Germany.

However, the systematic persecution Grass was not – times have changed, even in Germany, where the policy of denazification, despite all the difficulties, implement rigorously. But scandals accompanied almost the entire career – however, affect his beliefs so no one could.

Grass and discredit his second novel “Cat and Mouse”, which takes place during the Second World War – denounced him even checked for immoral content. But then the writer rescued public protests, and intellectuals came out of his stupor and support colleagues.

In addition, in his books Grass tried to comprehend the left fanaticism students (novel “Under local anesthesia”), and the legacy of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (“From the Diary of a snail”).

He was not hiding from critics – on the contrary, willingly join the discussion by explaining their actions and statements. Last time he had to defend his right to speak quite recently – in 2012 he published an article in verse, in which he called to take control of its nuclear program not only Iran, but also Israel and criticized the Israeli government policy. 84-year-old writer in Israel immediately declared persona non grata – though formally Grass punished for his service in the SS.

The writer himself explained that the poem was his contribution to the world.

Just a couple of weeks after the controversial publication of Grass was hospitalized -this heart problems. He never recovered from this attack, and last year found that most likely not be able to write a single book. His latest work began released in 2010. “Words Grimm” – a kind, very typical of Grasse Biographies of famous brothers storytellers.