Racing with Utopia: Collected Works of Ge Las

Author: (German) Grass (Grass, G.) (Author), Lin Jia et al. (Translator)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Grass is one of the most outstanding contemporary German writers. His groundbreaking work The Tin Drum has been translated into dozens of languages and sold nearly 500 million copies. The film adapted from it won the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or in 1979 and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1980. His novels such as The Year of the Dog, Cat and Mouse, Meeting in Teplitz, The Mother Mouse, and The Crab Walk are widely acclaimed and celebrated worldwide. His accolades are as abundant as falling leaves, including the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature, as well as the Gruppe 47 Prize, the Bremer Literature Prize, the Medal of the Free Academy of Arts and Sciences of Hamburg, the Bavarian State Prize for Arts and Sciences, the Büchner Prize, the Fontane Prize, the Thomas Mann Prize, the German Book Peace Prize, the French Best Book Award, the Mondello International Prize for Literature in Italy, the Alexander-Majkowski Gold Medal in Poland, the Antonello-Fettineiri International Novel Prize in Rome, the Hidalgo Prize in Spain, the Karel-Kapek Prize in the Czech Republic, and the Sonning Prize in Denmark, among dozens of other influential German and international awards. Grass is a versatile writer, not only composing novels but also creating numerous poems and plays. He is also a sculptor and etcher. In recognition of his contributions to literature and the arts, Germany appointed him as a member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences and Arts, while universities in the United States, Poland, and many other countries have awarded him honorary doctorates and professorships. Grass has received so many honors, not only for his works but also for his character. He speaks for the ordinary people, and his behavior is just like that of an ordinary person. His charm lies in his integrity and courage to speak truth to power. He always stands up for justice and voices his criticism against the various flaws of modern society, whether domestic or international. For this reason, in addition to publishing his nine long novels, we have selected 56 of the most outstanding speeches and essays from his three-volume extensive Collected Speeches and Essays, which reflect the author's views and insights on a series of major issues in today's social, political, military, economic, technological, educational, cultural, and literary and artistic fields. These articles can be said to embody the essence of Grass, one of the most outstanding contemporary German writers, and we believe they will also help us understand and explore the unique creative thought trajectory and context of Grass's artistic creation.