The Plebeians Rehearse the Uprising: A German Tragedy (Harvest Book)
by Günter Grass
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Description
A full-length play dealing with the German intellectuals' abandonment of the East German workers during their rebellion in 1953. Translated by Ralph Manheim. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book.Tags
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A German play in which the character of Bertolt Brecht (the Boss in the play) is rehearsing Coriolanus while the East German workers take to the streets in protest of increases in their productivity quotas. The Boss is being courted by both sides to lend his considerable voice to the cause. Based on a real incident, the play still manages to be a bit absurdist and surreal, taking place entirely within the theatre, on the set of ancient Rome, as real life mixes with theatrical rehearsals, and at times it becomes difficult to be sure which is which. This version also contains an essay about Coriolanus by the author, and a history of the uprising following the play.
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Author Information
Günter Wilhelm Grass was born on October 16, 1927 in the Free City of Danzig, which is now Gdansk, Poland. He was a member of the Hitler Youth and at the age of 17, he was drafted into the German army. Near the end of the war, he served as a tank gunner in the 10th SS Panzer Division. He was captured by the Americans and forced to visit the newly show more liberated Dachau concentration camp. After his release from a POW camp in 1946, he worked in a potash mine and as a stonemason's apprentice and studied painting and sculpture in Düsseldorf. His first novel, The Tin Drum, was published in 1959. It was adapted into a film and won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1979. His other works included Cat and Mouse, Dog Years, From the Diary of a Snail, The Flounder, The Rat, and Crabwalk. He also wrote a memoir entitled Peeling the Onion. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1999. He was also a political activist and liberal provocateur. He advocated for environmental conservation, debt relief for poor countries, and generous policies regarding political asylum. He died on April 13, 2015 at the age of 87. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Penguin Plays (PL120)
Work Relationships
Has as a student's study guide
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Die Plebejer proben den Aufstand
- Original title
- Die Plebejer proben den Aufstand
- Original publication date
- 1966
- People/Characters
- Bertolt Brecht
- Original language
- German
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 133
- Popularity
- 245,128
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.00)
- Languages
- 5 — Dutch, English, German, Spanish, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 11
- ASINs
- 9
