Cat and Mouse

About “Cat and Mouse”

Cat and Mouse is a 1961 novella by German writer Günter Grass, part of the Danzig Trilogy and the sequel to The Tin Drum. It follows Joachim Mahlke, an alienated only child without a father. The narrator, Pilenz, is described as the only person who could be called Mahlke’s friend, though the relationship is complex. Much of the story is told through second-person narration, addressing Mahlke directly. The setting is Danzig, now known as Gdańsk, during the Second World War under Nazi rule. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.)