The Tin Drum
While still in the womb, Oskar Matzerath recognizes the world as a universal disaster into which he does not want to be born. Only the tin drum promised by his mother for his third birthday opens up an acceptable prospect of survival for him: a life as an artist. So at the age of three, Oskar decides to stop growing and instead to observe and drum. He describes the rise of fascism from the frog's perspective, linking private history with contemporary history.