The Tin DrumThe Tin Drum
Score Classic
What it's about
Oskar Matzerath, who decided at age three to stop growing, narrates his life from a mental institution, from his grandparents to his thirtieth birthday in 1954. With his tin drum and a voice that can shatter glass, he witnesses the rise of Nazism in Danzig and the war that followed.
Why it's worth reading
It's on the Bokklubben World Library list of the 100 greatest books. Günter Grass won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
You'll love it if you liked
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Midnight's Children
Slaughterhouse-FiveGood to know
It's long, grotesque and darkly comic, translated from German.
By the numbers
- Readers31 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics55 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller18 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
Why it made the list
Reads as
Epic
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Quick answers
Is The Tin Drum worth reading?
Yes. It's on the Bokklubben World Library list of the 100 greatest books. It ranks #1,803 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 65.6 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is The Tin Drum about?
Oskar Matzerath, who decided at age three to stop growing, narrates his life from a mental institution, from his grandparents to his thirtieth birthday in 1954. With his tin drum and a voice that can shatter glass, he witnesses the rise of Nazism in Danzig and the war that followed.
How long does it take to read The Tin Drum?
About 15 hours (593 pages), or about 4 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after The Tin Drum?
If you liked it, try One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie or Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr..