A short novel set in Danzig during the Second World War. A narrator looks back on his schoolboy friend Joachim Mahlke, an awkward, quiet teenager with a large Adam's apple that draws constant attention. Mahlke is obsessed with proving himself, and the boys' games, dives to a sunken Polish minesweeper and dreams of heroism are set against the growing war. The story explores adolescence, shame, guilt and the pull of military glory. It forms part of the Danzig Trilogy with The Tin Drum and Dog Years.