Child Of Grass

The Hako

The Child's View of the Third Reich in German Literature

This book examines the ways in which German authors have used the child's perspective to present the Third Reich. It considers how children at this time were brought up and educated to accept unquestioningly National Socialist ideology, and thus questions the possibility of a traditional naive perspective on these events. Authors as diverse as Günter Grass, Siegfried Lenz, and Christa Wolf, together with many less well-known writers, have all used this perspective, and this raises the question as to why it is such a popular means of confronting the enormity of the Third Reich. This study asks whether this perspective is an evasive strategy, a means of gaining new insights into the period, or a means of discovering a new language which had not been tainted by Nazism. This raises and addresses issues central to a post-war aesthetic in German writing.

Child of Grass

In the first installment of the Sea of Grass trilogy, Child of Earth, we learn of young Kaer, whose family decides to emigrate to Linnea, a parallel Earth-like world characterized by huge horses, dangerous giant wolves, and a strict religious, primitive culture. Before Kaer and her family can emigrate, they are expected to undergo rigorous training under a massive dome that simulates the Linnean environment in every respect, designed to prepare Earthlings for the new world. In the midst of Kaer's family's training, an uprising occurs. A band of religious zealots known as the Hale-Stones, former Earth residents living on Linnea, began outing other Earthlings and disrupting Linnean society in order to convert them to Earth's Christianity. Kaer's family was stuck in limbo. Now, in Child of Grass, Kaer and Lorrin, Kaer's father, venture away from the training dome as part of a secret mission to restore peace to Linnea and free the hostage Earthlings from captivity. Defeating the Hale-Stones means using every available resource to preserve the Linnean way of life, from advanced technology, to natural disasters, and even the Hale-Stones' own religious teachings. Through the struggle for peace, Kaer is forced to confront issues about morality, loyalty, the bond of family, and the nature of intelligent life.