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The Call of the Toad

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( 577 ratings, 58 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Set in Gdansk in 1989, The Call of the Toad follows a Polish woman who specialises in gilding and a German art history professor. Together, during a contemplative walk in a graveyard, they conceive the ambitious idea of creating a Cemetery of Reconciliation, symbolising the newfound unity of their times. The novel skilfully blends satire and poignant analysis, exploring the complexities and ironies of human behaviour against the backdrop of European political transformation.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Readers interested in European history, political satire, and thoughtful love stories will find this novel compelling. Fans of Günter Grass and literary fiction that combines humour with serious themes will appreciate this work.

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The satire is sharp, the analysis precise, and Grass is still expert in drawing out the painful comedy of human behaviour and the pitfalls that await good intentions' - The New Yorker

From the Nobel Prize-winning author of The Tin Drum comes a satire of european politics and a love story.

'This book is a genuine tour de force' - New York Times Book Review

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

This book is a genuine tour de force - New York Times Book Review

Gdansk 1989. A Polish woman, a gilding specialist, meets a German man, a professor in art history. A walk together in a graveyard gives rise to an ambition to establish a Cemetery of Reconciliation as a mark of the times and their spirit of unity... The satire is sharp, the analysis precise, and Grass is still expert in drawing out the painful comedy of human behaviour and the pitfalls that await good intentions. - The New Yorker

From the Nobel Prize-winning author of The Tin Drum comes a satire of European politics and a love story.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Financial Times praises the book as a "tour de force," highlighting its sharp satire and witty fantasy. The New York Times commends Grass's lyrical sense of place, while multiple reviews celebrate his skill as a storyteller and his insightful update of Europe's fable landscape through this captivating love story and political satire.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780749398781

Publisher: Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 27 September 1993

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Vintage Classics

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 16.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 182g

Pages: 256

About the Author

Gunter Grass (1927-2015) was Germany's most celebrated post-war writer. He was a creative artist of remarkable versatility: novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, graphic artist. Grass's first novel, The Tin Drum, is widely regarded as one of the finest novels of the twentieth century, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1999.

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