23 August 2006 - Günter Grass

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Poet: Poor Günter Grass. All that ability, and one touch of hypocrisy raises a storm. No wonder he kept it quiet for so long.
Weird: You’re absolutely right, he should be burned at the stake. The leftover Nobel Prize would look good on my wall, don’t you think?
Smart: Ah, but posterity reads books, not newspapers. He’ll come out fine.
Weird: You’re absolutely right, and some guy just turned down a Fields Medal, so there’s a spare we can give him.
Poet: [amused] And if he’s just promoting his memoirs?
Weird: You’re absolutely right, um, is that good or bad?
Smart: It’s sort of like being drafted—involuntary.

clue:

German author Günter Grass was drafted into the SS as a teenager in WWII. Since the war he has often called for openness and reconciliation, but he only recently admitted that he was in the SS.

The Fields Medal is an award for young mathematicians.

give me a clue so sweet and true

the Daily Whale || copyright 2006, 2024 Jay J.P. Scott <jay@satirist.org>