Nachts schlafen die Ratten doch und andere Kurzgeschichten

by Wolfgang Borchert

Wolfgang Borchert died in 1947––the twenty-six-year-old victim of a malaria-like fever contracted during World War II. This was just one day after the premier of his play, The Man Outside, which caused an immediate furor throughout his native Germany with its youthful, indeed revolutionary, vision against war and the dehumanizing effects of the police state. In a very real sense, Borchert was both the moral and physical victim of the Third Reich and the Nazi war machine. As a Wehrmacht conscript, he twice served on the Russian front, where he was wounded, and twice was imprisoned for his outspokenness. His voice speaks plainly and powerfully from out of the war’s carnage all the more poignantly for its being cut short at so young an age.

Genres: German Literature, Classics

72 pages, Paperback

About the author

German author and playwright whose work was affected by his experience of dictatorship and his service in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. His work is among the best examples of the Trümmerliteratur movement in post-World War II Germany. His most famous work is the drama "Draußen vor der Tür (The Man Outside)", which he wrote in the first days after World War II. In his works he never makes compromises in questions of humanity and humanism. He is one of the most popular authors of the German postwar period, and today his work is often read in German schools.

Reviews

[Lee - Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent.

[juliazlr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich habe mir die Kurzgeschichten angehört und fast alle fand ich wieder mitreißend. Vor allem das Brot, die Küchenuhr und die Hundeblume fand ich wieder sehr eindrücklich und in dem expressionistischen Stil Borcherts überzeugend rübergebracht. Teilweise finde ich es schwierig den literarisch hohen Schreibstil mit den geschilderten Hässlichkeiten und Gräuel zu verbinden (ähnlich wie bei Herta Müllers poesierenden Büchern), aber das ist vielleicht einfach mein Geschmack.

[Johanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

„Ich bin 25. Ich kenne die 57, die sie bei Woronesch begraben haben, die 57, die nichts wussten, die nicht wollten, die kenn ich Tag und Nacht.“

[Antonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wolfgang Borchert gehört für mich zu den begabtesten Schriftstellern - nicht nur seiner Zeit. Vor allem „Lesebuchgeschichten“ und „die Küchenuhr“ haben mich hier sehr beeindruckt (wenn das der richtige Begriff dafür ist). Auch „draußen vor der Tür“ fand ich bereits absolut gelungen.
Mich würden nun noch „die Hundeblume“ und „die traurigen Geranien“ interessieren :)

[artrynsic · Rating 4 out of 5]

heartbreaking 💔

[helene · Rating 4 out of 5]

why so sad bro :(

[Timo · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,07

[Junya Peeters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of our German history course. Good wholesome story in a hard time in history!