Günter Grass — Quote from The Tin Drum “Even bad books are books and therefore sacred.” The Tin Drum (1959) Concepts: conformity, meaning, rebellion Resonant Quotes“The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meanin...” — Václav Havel, Letters to Olga Both diagnose cultural pathologies—Grass's reverence for books as repositories of meaning directly confronts Havel's ...“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” — Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night Both quotes reveal the ontological power of representation—Grass's sacred regard for all books parallels Vonnegut's w...