International

«Chiuso. Voi uomini c'eravate una volta. Siete dei fu, il ricordo di una follia... In futuro nient'altro che ratti». È l'apocalisse prossima ventura così come la vede Günter Grass, o meglio così come gliela rivela in sogno la Ratta sapiente, simbolo e presagio dell'èra post-umana. Un day after a cui concorrono scorie radioattive, piogge acide, fusti che colano veleni, discariche immense e naturalmente l'incombere della catastrofe termonucleare. A salvarsi dalla distruzione sarà solo il grande popolo dei ratti che prospera sui rifiuti dell'uomo e resiste al disastro ecologico nelle fogne diventate rifugi antiatomici. Una degenerazione universale in cui è coinvolto anche il romanzo come struttura narrativa, una matassa di storie che si rincorrono, si perdono, si ritrovano.

De nadrukkelijk in het boek aanwezige schrijver droomt over wat er gebeurt na de Grote Knal waarmee de mens zichzelf vernietigt. De ratten lijken dan bijna als enige dieren te zijn overgebleven. Totdat er uit laboratoriumproeven ontstane creaturen te voorschijn komen en uiteindelijk lijkt de maatschappij die dan ontstaat veel op die van de mensen.
Een roman waarin zure regen, de dreiging van de atoombom en de kritiek op de Duitse deling en de onoprechtheid van de beide Duitse leiders (net als de schilder Malskat maken zij vervalsingen) samen een nachtmerrie worden voor de schrijver. De bot en Oskar Mazerath (De Blikken Trommel) treden in dit boek ook op.

Flying across the Atlantic in 1997 Two Frenchmen noticed me reading The Rat, both were already quite drunk and fuelling their mirth with minibottle cocktails which they pored into Coke cans. One held his nose and said something the other began laughing and mumbled something in a thickened voice, the word nazi may have been in there. I can't really say. I put on my headphones and attempted to ignore them, hoping the airport security would stomp them upon arrival. No, I didn't think that. I was hoping they'd leave me alone. They did. I finished the novel in Rome and was astonished. The return of Oskar and the idea of image as document was remarkable. Such were a few of The Rat's favorite things, including Hansel and Gretel being besieged by acid rain and mutually assured destruction as a lullaby. ( )