Reviews for Show your tongue

The average rating for Show your tongue based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-12-01 00:00:00 Jeff Harris But later over tea, language did treason, the boy went wrong on me, became a terrible angel. This is an intriguing diary/travelogue from one of the masters chronicling a six month stay in Calcutta in 1987-88. The account is larded with sketches by Grass. These afford a haunting atmosphere to the prose descriptions of poverty and merciless weather. There are two occasions when the author and his wife meet other westerners, instantly it doesn't matter whether the counterparts are Italian or Russian: the four together are European---united in the midst of this subcontinental chaos. That made me ponder my own travel experiences with my wife. The lens of prejudice could be something you can't leave behind. It is easy to compare this account with the one by Naipaul I read earlier this year. There is much sifting to be considered. Herr Grass weaves German politics and history into his description. The 19C author Theodor Fontane becomes a companion--as he will again later in Too Far Afield. It is likely the details which will linger. Grass buys some stationary upon which he sketches. A subtle touch indicates that the paper costs a few days wages for many of those he encounters. All the while the author stands gape mouthed at the crowding and the soaring birth rate. This reminded me of Klaus Mann recalling how the literary publication The Dial brought relative prosperity to his family during the years following The Great War. These asides to a grander canvas are appreciated, as is the constant configuring of the Indian goddess Kali into an approach to a geo-political reality. I imagine some could regard that as racist, a new Orientalism, or one with a new press release anyway. Perhaps the scandal of his teen conscription into the SS has undermined the general appreciation for this master. I am curious about the future regard for Gruppe 47.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-12-14 00:00:00 Vincent Vanburik One good thing to come out of all the furore surrounding the new edition of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was that I came across this Mark Twain quotation: "The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter - it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning." One author who never settles for the almost right word is Gunter Grass, whose Show Your Tongue I have just finished reading. I have already told you how I came by this book, so I was really looking forward to reading it. It certainly wasn't a disappointment. It is a marvellous book. Read the rest of my review at