I first read this book either in my late teens or early 20s. Either way, I think I was too young to be able to appreciate a book like this where nothing really happens, certainly nothing in a thrilling manner. However, upon this latest read, I definitely enjoyed the subtle humor throughout this book. It's also a very dark book in many ways, but it's told in such a, "Oh, by the way, this terrible thing happened.", that you don't really pickup on how awful parts of it are unless you're really paying attention to what's being said.

This book is very much in the vein of "absurdism" ie, post-modernism. Our protagonist, Oskar, is an unreliable narrator at best. He tells us that he was born with his full intellectual capacity and can remember everything from birth on. He also says that at age 3, he intentionally quit growing so that he would not have to become an adult. We are told essentially Oskars entire history beginning with his grandmother all the way until Oskar's 30th birthday, which encompasses from ~1900-1950.

For me, one of the most appalling things about this book were several instances of rape, including committed by Oskar. In each of the cases, the women are portrayed as being ok with it, which seems a bit unrealistic. But, all in all, I found this book to be quite funny at times and I think the writing is top-notch.