Summary of "The Tin Drum"

When Oskar is three years old his mother gives him a tin drum, an instrument that he loves and uses all the time. The drum becomes like a part of him and it helps him to express himself. When the novel begins Oskar is an adult and he lock up in a mental hospital. His drum helps him to remember his past as he is talking about the story of his life.

Oskar was born in 1924 in Danzig, Poland. He grew up with his grandmother, his mother, his two fathers and his beloved Maria. At the age of three Oskar does not want to grow any more and then he stops growing. He is only 94 centimeters.

When his parents got fed up with his drumming and tried to take his drum away from him, he discovered that he could break glass with his voice, a talent which he used a lot during his childhood.

Gunter Grass has written a great story about a very unique and talented boy, who is by people seen as a freak and mentally retarded, but Grass shows the reader a very intelligent and determined young boy. This is a good story and it is very well written. The author mixes the realism of World War II into the fiction.

Although the book is great fun to read the story is a bit too long. Grass has been over-ambitious and written a story with too much detail. You as a reader wait for the book to end, but it just goes on and on. Don't let this scare you though, this is a classic that you should definately read.

Book Summaries

Fiction
Health
Psychology
Biography
Awards

Book Awards

Man Booker Prize
Nobel Prize
Pulitzer Prize