Böll, Heinrich

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[[Image:Heinrich boell.jpg|thumb|right|220px|A monument of Heinrich Böll in [[Berlin]] ]]
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[[Image:Heinrich boell.jpg|thumb|right|220px|A monument of Heinrich Böll in Denkmal in der Greifswalder Straße, Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin. Sculpted by Wieland Förster]]
'''Heinrich Theodor Böll''' ([[December 21]], [[1917]] – [[July 16]], [[1985]]) was one of [[Germany]]'s foremost post-[[World War II]] writers. Böll was awarded the [[Nobel Prize for Literature]] in 1972.  
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'''Heinrich Theodor Böll''' (December 21, 1917 – July 16, 1985) was one of [[Germany]]'s foremost post-[[World War II]] writers. His ironic novels dealt with the aftermath of German militarism during the first half of the twentieth century and the effects of its [[Nazi]] past on German society in the second half of the twentieth century. Böll was deeply affected by the Nazi experience, especially the destruction of his home town, [[Cologne]].
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Böll's novels are part of modern Germany's attempt to come to terms with its embrace of Nazism, which represented the nadir of twentieth-century racism and the triumph of the irrational in a supposedly enlightened modern civilization. Hitler's hatred of the Jews and his fanatical pursuit of the Final Solution, even as Germany was on the verge of defeat, was a repudiation of the European tradition of rationalism and presented the problem of evil not merely a sociological matter, but as rooted in the dysfunction of the human heart.
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Böll was a gentle, peace-loving man but tenacious in his efforts to examine the causes of Germany's horrific national experience. In his time, he was known as a leading advocate for peace. Böll was awarded the [[Nobel Prize]] for Literature in 1972.  
  
 
== Biography ==
 
== Biography ==
Böll was born in [[Cologne]], Germany to a liberal, [[Catholic]], pacifistic family. He successfully resisted joining the [[Hitler Youth]] during the [[1930]]s. He was apprenticed in a bookseller, then studied German at the [[University of Cologne]]. Drafted into the [[Wehrmacht]], he served in [[France]], [[Romania]], [[Hungary]] and the [[Soviet Union]], and was wounded four times before he was captured by [[United States|American]]s in April [[1945]] and sent to a [[POW]] camp. His wounds (he had lost all toes to frost bite) made him a regular in hospitals until the end of his life.
 
At the age of 30, he became a full-time writer.
 
  
His first [[novel]], ''Der Zug war pünktlich'' (''The Train Was on Time''), was published in 1949. Many other novels, short stories, [[radio play]]s and [[essay]] collections followed, and in [[1972]] he received the [[Nobel Prize for Literature]]. He was the first German to receive this award since [[Hermann Hesse]] in [[1946]]. His work has been translated into more than 30 languages, and he is one of Germany's most widely read authors. His best-known works are ''[[Billiards at Half-past Nine]],'' ''The Clown,'' ''Group Portrait with Lady,'' ''The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum'', and ''The Safety Net.''
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Böll was born in [[Cologne]], Germany to a liberal, [[Catholic]], pacifistic family. He successfully resisted joining the [[Hitler Youth]] during the 1930s and was apprenticed to a bookseller, then studied German at the University of Cologne. Drafted into the [[Wehrmacht|German Army]], Böll served in [[France]], [[Romania]], [[Hungary]], and the [[Soviet Union]], and was wounded four times before he was captured by [[United States|American]]s in April 1945, and sent to a [[POW]] camp. His wounds (he had lost all toes to frost bite) made him a regular in hospitals until the end of his life. At the age of 30, he became a full-time writer.  
  
Böll was deeply rooted in his home town of Cologne, with its strong [[Roman Catholic|Roman Catholicism]] and its rather rough and drastic sense of humour. In the immediate post-war period, he was preoccupied with memories of the War and the effect it had—materially and psychologically—on the lives of ordinary people. He has made them the heroes in his writing.
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His first [[novel]], ''Der Zug war pünktlich'' ''(The Train Was on Time),'' was published in 1949. Many other novels, short stories, [[radio play]]s, and [[essay]] collections followed, and his best-known works include ''Billiards at Half-past Nine,'' ''The Clown,'' ''Group Portrait with Lady,'' ''The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum,'' and ''The Safety Net.''
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Böll was deeply rooted in his home town of Cologne, with its strong [[Roman Catholic|Roman Catholicism]] and its rather rough and drastic sense of humor. In the immediate post-war period, he was preoccupied with memories of the War and the effect it had—materially and psychologically—on the lives of ordinary people. He made them the heroes of his writing.
  
His villains are the authority figures in government, business, and in the Church, whom he castigates, sometimes humorously, sometimes acidly, for what he perceived as their conformism, lack of courage, self-satisfied attitude and abuse of power. His simple style made him a favourite for German-language textbooks.
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His villains are the authority figures in government, business, and the Church, whom he castigates, sometimes humorously, sometimes acidly, for what he perceived as their conformism, lack of courage, self-satisfied attitude, and abuse of power. His simple style made him a favorite for German-language textbooks.
  
He was deeply affected by the [[Nazism|Nazi]] takeover of Cologne, as they essentially exiled him in his own town. Furthermore, the destruction of Cologne by [[Allied powers|Allied]] bombing raids scarred him irrevocably. Architecturally, the newly-rebuilt Cologne, prosperous once more, left him indifferent. (Böll seemed to be a pupil of [[William Morris]]: He made known that he'd have preferred [[Cologne Cathedral|Cologne cathedral]] unfinished, with the 14th. century wooden crane on top of it, as it stood in 1848). Throughout his life he maintained numerous relations to Cologne citizens, rich and poor. When he was in hospital, the nurses often complained about the "low-life" people who came to see their friend Heinrich Böll.
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He was deeply affected by the [[Nazism|Nazi]] takeover of Cologne, as they essentially exiled him from his own town. Furthermore, the destruction of Cologne by [[Allied powers|Allied]] bombing raids scarred him irrevocably. His works have been dubbed "''Trümmerliteratur''"—the literature of the rubble. Architecturally, the newly-rebuilt Cologne, prosperous once more, left him indifferent. On this note, Böll seemed to be a pupil of [[William Morris]]: He made known that he'd have preferred [[Cologne Cathedral|Cologne cathedral]] unfinished, with the fourteenth century wooden crane on top of it, as it stood in 1848. Throughout his life he maintained numerous relations to Cologne citizens, rich and poor. When he was in the hospital, the nurses often complained about the "low-life" people who came to see their friend, Heinrich Böll.
  
His works have been dubbed "[[Trümmerliteratur]]"—the literature of the rubble. He and his wife lived in Cologne and the [[Eifel|Eifel mountains]]. However, he also spent time on Achill Island off the west coast of Ireland. His cottage there is now a local museum. He recorded some of his experiences in Ireland in his book 'Irish Journal'.
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He and his wife lived in Cologne and the Eifel mountains. However, he also spent time on Achill Island off the west coast of [[Ireland]]. He recorded some of his experiences in Ireland in his book ''Irish Journal,'' and his cottage there is now a local [[museum]].  
  
He was at one time president of [[International P.E.N.]] He travelled frequently as a representative of the new, non-Nazi Germany. His appearance and attitude were in complete contrast to the boastful, aggressive type of German which had became infamous all over the world during Hitler's reign. Böll was particularly successful in [[Eastern Europe]], as he seemed to portray the dark side of [[capitalism]] in his books. He sold millions of copies in the [[Soviet Union]] alone. When [[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn]] was expelled from the Soviet Union, he first took refuge in Heinrich Böll's house.
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He was at one time president of [[International P.E.N.]] He traveled frequently as a representative of the new, democratic Germany. His appearance and attitude were in complete contrast to the boastful, aggressive type of German which had became infamous all over the world during Hitler's reign. Böll was particularly successful in [[Eastern Europe]], as he seemed to portray the dark side of [[capitalism]] in his books. He sold millions of copies in the [[Soviet Union]] alone. When [[Alexander Solzhenitsyn]] was expelled from the Soviet Union, he first took refuge in Heinrich Böll's house.
  
Heinrich Böll died in 1985 at the age of 67. His memory lives on at, among other places, the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation and a special Heinrich Böll Archive in the [[Cologne Library]].
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Heinrich Böll died in 1985, at the age of 67. His memory lives on at, among other places, the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation and a special Heinrich Böll Archive in the Cologne Library.
  
 
==Billiards at Half Past Nine==
 
==Billiards at Half Past Nine==
{{infobox Book | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] —>
 
| name          = Billiards at Half-past Nine
 
| title_orig    = Billard um halb zehn
 
| translator    =
 
| image        =
 
| image_caption =
 
| author        = [[Heinrich Böll]]
 
| illustrator  =
 
| cover_artist  =
 
| country      = [[Germany]]
 
| language      = [[German language|German]]
 
| series        =
 
| genre        = [[Novel]]
 
| publisher    = [[Penguin Books]] (Eng. trans.)
 
| release_date  = 1959
 
| media_type    = Print ([[Hardcover|Hardback]] & [[Paperback]])
 
| pages        = 280 pp (Eng. trans. paperback edition)
 
| isbn          = ISBN 0-14-018724-3 (Eng. trans. paperback edition)
 
| preceded_by  =
 
| followed_by  =
 
}}
 
 
'''''Billiards at Half-past Nine''''' was written in 1959 by [[Heinrich Böll]]. It reflects the opposition Böll, who won the [[Nobel Prize for Literature]] in 1972, had to the period of [[Nazism]] as well as his aversion to war in general.
 
 
==Plot introduction==
 
The entirety of the novel takes place on the day of September 6, 1958 but the story stretches back to the turn of the century through the use of flashbacks and the retelling of memories of the characters.  It follows the Faehmel family in post-Nazi Germany as well as their history during the First World War through the present day of 1958.
 
 
==Plot summary==
 
{{spoiler}}
 
The novel begins with Robert Faehmel's secretary's description of Robert and the knowledge that something is out of the ordinary of her routine life.  Robert is an architect who is meticulous in everything he does.  An old school friend of Robert had shown up and Leonore, his secretary at the office, sent him to the Prince Heinrich Hotel where Robert always is from the hours of 9:30 to 11:30.  This is to cause trouble for the entire Faehmel family, which includes three generations of architects: Heinrich Faehmel, his son Robert and Robert's son Joseph.    Through the old bellhop at the Prince Heinrich, Jochen, the reader learns that it is a man named Nettlinger who wants to see Robert, but Jochen refuses to let the man into the billiards room to disturb his patron.
 
 
Upstairs, Robert is telling the young bellboy, Hugo about his life and we find out that Nettlinger used to be a Nazi policeman.  Robert and his friend Schrella, both of whom were schoolmates with Nettlinger, had opposed the Nazis, refusing to take "the Host of the Beast," a reference both to the devil and the Nazis.  Schrella had disappeared after being beaten by Nettlinger and their gym teacher, Old Wobbly, also a Nazi policeman.
 
 
Nettlinger and Old Wobbly, we find out, have not just beaten Schrella and Robert, but corrupted Robert's brother Otto.  Heinrich Faehmel, who married Johanna Kilb, had four children, of which Robert is the only one alive, Otto dying last in 1942 at the Battle of Kiev.  Johanna is now committed to a mental institution, going there after she tried to save some Jews from the cattle cars going to the extermination camps.  It is now Heinrich's 80th birthday. Heinrich and Robert meet in a bar after going to visit Johanna, sitting down and talking for the first time in many years.
 
 
Meanwhile, Schrella has returned to Germany and talks with Nettlinger, who tries to make amends for his past life despite the fact that he has not really changed and remains an opportunist.  Schrella goes visits his old home.
 
 
We meet Joseph Faehmel and his girlfriend Marianne.  Joseph has just learned that Robert was the one who destroyed the beautiful Abbey his grandfather had built and this greatly upsets him.  Marianne tells him the story of her own family: that her mother had been so brainwashed by the Nazis that she had tried to murder her children at the end of the war.
 
 
Johanna, who is still a hold of her wits as she ages, leaves the sanatorium with a pistol which she intends to use on Old Wobbly for his sins past.  The entire family gathers in the Prince Heinrich Hotel for the birthday party and Johanna shoots at Old Wobbly, who is not killed.  At the conclusion, Robert adopts the bellhop Hugo, and he and Joseph carry in the birthday cake which is shaped like Abbey.  Heinrich slices it and hands the first piece to his son.
 
 
==Characters in "Billiards at Half-past Nine"==
 
*Robert Faehmel – an architect who opposed the Nazis but was in the army towards the end of World War II and demolished St. Anthony Abbey by the orders of a Nazi general
 
*Heinrich Faehmel – Robert's father who built St. Anthony Abbey and celebrates his 80th birthday
 
*Johanna Faehmel – Heinrich's wife, committed to a sanatorium in 1942 for trying to go into the freight cars with the Jews headed to the extermination camps
 
*Joseph Faehmel – Robert's son, also an architect who is helping to rebuild St. Anthony Abbey
 
*Ruth Faehmel – Robert's daughter
 
*Schrella – Robert's school friend who opposed the Nazis and disappeared in 1936, reappearing in 1958
 
*Nettlinger – Robert and Schrella's classmate and former Nazi policeman who has risen in status since the end of the war
 
*Hugo – the bellboy at the Prince Heinrich Hotel who is at the end adopted by Robert
 
*"Old Wobbly" Vacano – former Nazi policeman who was Robert and Schrella's gym teacher
 
*Marianne Schmitz – Joseph's fiancée whose Nazi-indoctrinated mother tried to kill at a young age
 
*Heinrich Faehmel, Jr. – Heinrich's first son who died at seven with love for the Kaiser 
 
*Otto Faehmel – Heinrich's second son who was brainwashed by the Nazis and was killed at Kiev
 
*Ferdi Progulske – Robert and Schrella's schoolmate who was executed by the Nazis after trying unsuccessfully to assassinate Vacano.
 
*Jochen Kuhlgamme – the old bellhop at the Prince Heinrich
 
*Edith Schrella – Schrella's sister who was killed by shrapnel in the World War II
 
  
==Form and structure==
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''Billiards at Half-past Nine'' was written in 1959 and reflects the Böll's opposition to [[Nazism]] as well as his aversion to war. The entirety of the novel takes place on the day of September 6, 1958, but the story stretches back to the turn of the century through the use of flashbacks and recollections of memories by the characters. It follows the Faehmel family in post-Nazi Germany as well as their history during the [[World War I|First World War]] through the present day of 1958.
  
The majority of the story does not take place in the present, but rather we learn most of the plot through the use of flashbacks, characters remembering something from their past or relating a story from their life to another person.  This complex plot structure allows the characters to be more fully explored as things do not simply happen to them, but are built upon and remembered in a certain way. Each character's story is given depth through the memories as their emotion comes through strongly as they remember events from years past.  They, as well as the reader, know the significance of these events in their lives at the moment and thus can more accurately relay them.
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The complex plot structure affords the author the opportunity to more fully explore past events and to show the impact that Nazism had not only during the 1930s and 1940s, but on present realities. Saint Anthony's Abbey becomes the focal point for the war and the strife that was not resolved with the end of the Nazi regime, but remains in the lives of the characters and, by implication, the German reading public for whom the book was intended.
  
The effect of their actions is readily seen by the reader when most everything that actually happens in the novel has actually already happened in the characters' pasts.  The connections between the different family members is also very strong because of the flashbacks and retellings.  We do not simply hear about Heinrich, then Roberts and finally Joseph for instance, instead their stories are one, interwoven between each other until their story becomes the same.  This is important reflection of what happens in the story as they all are linked to St. Anthony Abbey and to the wars and strife around them.
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===Point of view===
  
==Point of view==
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The point of view of the [[novel]] is very important and the rotating first person perspective gives the story its multi-layered insight. Eleven different characters in different chapters provide a first-person perspective. Other chapters employ a third-person omniscient narrator and specifically follow the thoughts of a certain character.
  
The point of view of the novel is very important and the rotating first person perspective gives the story its deep insight.  Fully eleven different characters provide a first person perspective in the novel and each chapter switches the point of view. The first is told by Robert's secretary, Leonore, the second by the old bellhop Jochen, the third by Robert, the fourth by Heinrich, the fifth his wife Johanna, the sixth by Robert again, the seventh by both Schrella and Nettlinger, the eighth by Joseph Faehmel and his fiancée Marianne, the ninth by Schrella, the tenth by both Robert and his daughter Ruth, the eleventh is again told from the perspective of Johanna, the twelfth and thirteenth by nearly every different character in the story. Some of these chapters are told in first person and others by third person omniscient and specifically follow the thoughts of a certain character.
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Böll's decision to have so many different narrators creates a panorama of post-Nazi society and allows the reader to see characters not only from their own perspective, but through the perception of the others as well. The reader first meets the main character, Robert, through his secretary, and then old Jochen, another principal character; not until the third chapter is the protagonist physically introduced. The reader's connection to characters is constantly being filtered through the perceptions of the different narrators. This creates questions of narrative reliability and a shifting sense of meaning. The subjective retellings style is a reflection on the world the Faehmel family lived in and a commentary on their society.
  
Böll's decision to have so many different narrators greatly affects the book. In the beginning, we first meet Robert through his secretary and then old Jochen; it is not until the third chapter when we actually become face to face with the protagonist.  We meet Heinrich Faehmel in the first chapter, but only through the eyes of Leonore, the secretary.  Our connection to characters is constantly being filtered by the narrator at the time.  Though this could have the possibility of being subjective to the point of unreliability, the many points of view instead enhance the story.  In some ways, the subjective retellings could be a reflection on the world the Faehmel family lived in: of their government and the Nazis trying to brainwash their country and its people.
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===Major themes===
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Böll was an impassioned pacifist and ''Billiards at Half-past Nine'' comments on the stupidity of war. The two world wars that the characters live through, and fight through, are never projected in a positive or justifiable light, but as destructive to the country, the society, and all involved.  
  
In the story, however, the perspectives presented offer many different views of the characters.  The relationship between father and son, husband and wife, friend and schoolmate and dissenter and blind-follower is not simply discussed but with the many different perspectives, given full access to.  Through his father we see Robert, through Robert we see Schrella and through Schrella, Nettlinger.  Everyone is described by not simply one narrator, but we are able to see the different sides and histories of each character.
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Robert, the main character, is required to join the army and becomes a demolition expert, destroying buildings, bridges, and everything in the path of the German Army. Under the command of a crazy German general, he carries out the order to destroy Saint Anthony Abbey, which his father had built. He knows it is senseless, and the worthless destruction of the Abbey is symbolic of the uselessness of the war and of war in general.
 
 
==Major themes==
 
Böll was an impassioned pacifist and it comes as no surprise that his themes in Billiards at Half-past Nine all revolved around the idea of the stupidity of war.  The two world wars that the characters in the book live through, and fight through, are never projected in a positive light but instead show the inanity of war.  It affects the different characters in different ways and it is through their different stories that Böll reveals that the war was not simply useless, but destructive to the country, the society and to all those involved.
 
 
 
Robert role in World War II is the main story the theme revolves around.  He was in school with Schrella when his friend and he first swore "never to put the Host of the Beast our lips," (p. 42), a reference to the idea of supporting the ideals and acts of the Nazis.  This is also an allusion to the host of the lamb, which refers to the Christian idea that Jesus, as the lamb, sacrificed himself for mankind.  The Host of the Beast then, would be the opposite, that is to say to worship Satan.  Schrella invited him to join his small group of dissenters and both were beaten and whipped by Nettlinger, Old Wobbly and the police.  Both of them also disappeared for a periods of time to save themselves.  Later, however, Robert is required to join the army, and becomes a demolition expert, destroying buildings bridges and everything in the path of the German Army. It is in this position, under the command of a crazy German general, that he carries out the order to destroy St. Anthony Abbey which his father had built. He knows it is senseless but carries out the order nevertheless.  The worthless destruction of the Abbey is symbolic of the uselessness of the war Germany fought and of war in general.
 
 
 
Robert's mother also refused to conform to the Nazis and was put into a sanatorium because she tried to get in the cattle cars with the Jews going off to the extermination camps.  During the First World War, her sentiments were no different.  She had said what Heinrich felt at the time, but had been too afraid to voice.  At an officer's party "she said it out loud: 'That fool of a Kaiser.,' " (p. 82).  She was put on military tribunal, but Heinrich successfully defended her saying that she was " 'pregnant, gentlemen, in two months she'll be having it./  Lost two brothers, Captain Kilb of the Horse Guards and Cadet Kilb, both killed on the same day.  A little daughter too, lost her in 1909,' " (p. 83).  He pled her insanity, but the irony was not lost on him.  Heinrich told himself: "All along I knew I should have been saying, 'I agree with my wife, absolutely.'  I knew that irony wasn't enough, and never would be," (p.83).  Though it is his wife who is eventually certified crazy, it is the war which insane in its very nature.
 
 
 
The stories of many of the other characters also culminate into a renouncement of war.  Joseph's fiancée Marianne was a child during the waning years of the Second World War.  He father was in the military and her mother was a nurse.  When they saw that Germany was about to fall to the Allies however, they were so indoctrinated by the Nazi propaganda that they decided it was better to die for their dying cause than to live in an occupied Germany.  Her father "fired a bullet into his mouth," (p. 204) and died in front of Marianne.  Her mother put a rope around Marianne's younger brother's neck and hung him from the doorway.  Marianne was next, but the act was interrupted and she survived.  That a war would cause a mother to do such a thing is a point that is gotten across over and over in the novel as the German generals are all crazy, the policemen all unnaturally cruel and all the Faehmels steadfast in their resistance to the ideas of war.
 
 
 
{{endspoiler}}
 
 
 
==Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science==
 
In the flashbacks and retellings, the setting shifts around a lot, but the majority of the plot takes place in the city of [[Cologne]], Germany.  This is a direct reflection on Böll's ideology.  Not only was Böll born in Cologne, but saw it taken over by the Nazis as well as the bombing of the entire city by the Allies towards the end of the war.  Cologne was a cultural capital of Germany and the bombing not only destroyed the entire city, but cost 20,000 civilians their lives.
 
 
 
Within the city, much of the action takes place in the Prince Heinrich Hotel, where Robert plays billiards every weekday.  The Hotel, and more specifically the billiards room, is a place where Robert focuses his routine around.  After the unsettling stupidity of the war, Robert relishes his routine, habits he needs to make his life ordered again.  He doesn't even really play billiards; "for some time now he had given up playing according to the rules, trying for runs, racking up points," (p. 31).  For Robert, it's not about winning or losing, it's the physics of the game, of the action and reaction and the laws of science that stay constant no matter what. "Energy of the blow imparted to the ball by cue, plus a little friction, question of degree…and behold, impulse was converted into momentary figures," (p. 31) as the balls bounce off of each other.  In the billiards room, Robert is able to do everything precisely how he wants in, in his ordered fashion, contrasting to the world outside the hotel where Robert had to deal with the unpredictable stupidity of war.  Even when he was in the war, he reduced his demolitions to stress and give.  "He's never been interested in the creative side of architecture," Joseph observes about his father.  "Only in the formulas," (p. 192).  Robert thus goes to the Hotel on his precise schedule to play a game of scientific certainty as he tries to escape from the memories of war and regain some sort of certainty in his life.
 
 
 
St. Anthony Abbey, though not a place where much of the plot takes place, is a setting that is pivotal in the Faehmel family.  Heinrich Faehmel built it as a budding young architect.  In fact, it was his first commission when he entered the design against other much-more well-known architects and won.  Many years later, in the waning days of World War II, his son Robert demolished the Abbey.  He was in the German Army under the command of a general, he called "off his rocker, and the only idea in his one-track mind was 'field of fire,' " (p. 63) the idea of destroying everything in your path.  In this case, the Abbey "lay exactly between two armies, one German, the other American," (p.63).  Robert did not want to destroy the Abbey, he said that the German army needed a filed of fire "like a hole in the head," but he destroyed it all the same, "just three days before the war ended," (p. 63).  Finally, Robert's son Joseph is helping to rebuild the Abbey and though he really does not want to be an architect, the Abbey is what ties the family together. He, like his grandfather, understands the uselessness of blowing up the Abbey.  Heinrich had "walked through the rubble of the Abbey…mumbling what the peasants were mumbling, what Grandmother had always muttered in the air-raid shelter, whywhywhy," (p. 201).  In the very end of the novel, at Heinrich's birthday party, there is a model of St. Anthony's made from cake.  Joseph, and Robert's adopted son Hugo, bring the cake in and then Heinrich "cut off the spire of the Abbey first, and passed the plate to Robert," (p. 280).  They have reconciled and their family history has become emblematic of Germany's history in the setting of St. Anthony Abbey.
 
 
 
==Film, TV or theatrical adaptations==
 
''Billiards at Half-past Nine'' was made into a film in 1965.  It was entitled ''Nicht versöhnt oder Es hilft nur Gewalt wo Gewalt herrscht'' (Only Violence Helps Where Violence Rules) and was directed by Jean-Marie Straub.
 
 
 
==External links==
 
 
 
*[http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1972/boll-autobio.html Autobiography by Heinrich Böll]
 
*[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9080493 Britannica Article on Heinrich Böll]
 
*[http://www.boell.de/asp/frameset_en.html The Heinrich Böll Foundation]
 
*[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059503/ Internet Movie Data Base for ''Only Violence Helps Where Violence Rules'']
 
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/dramaon3/pip/5icng/ BBC Radio Adaptation]
 
*[http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERnazigermany.htm Indepth Information on Nazi Germany]
 
  
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The devastation of the war is also seen in the lives of other characters. Robert's mother refused to conform to the Nazis and was put into a sanatorium because she tried to get in the cattle cars with the Jews going to the extermination camps. Though she is certified crazy for her opposition to the war, her objection is clearly viewed as the only sane response to the insane war. Others are so indoctrinated by the Nazi [[propaganda]] that they decide it is better to die for their losing cause than to live in an occupied Germany.
  
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==Legacy==
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Böll's greatest legacy is in trying to address the shadow of the Nazi past on post-war German society. Böll was a gentle, peace-loving man but he was tenacious in his efforts to acknowledge Germany's horrific past in the face of the natural tendency of those who would prefer to sweep such things under the proverbial rug. He was a leading advocate for peace. In 1972 Böll received the [[Nobel Prize]] for Literature. He was the first German to receive this award since [[Hermann Hesse]] in 1946. His work has been translated into more than 30 languages, and he is one of Germany's most widely read authors.
  
 
== Selected bibliography ==
 
== Selected bibliography ==
  
* ''Kreuz ohne Liebe'', written [[1946]]-[[1947]]; publ. [[2002]]
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* ''Kreuz ohne Liebe,'' written 1946-1947; publ. 2002
* ''Der Zug war pünktlich'' (''The Train Was on Time''), [[1949]]
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* ''Der Zug war pünktlich (The Train Was on Time),'' 1949
* ''Das Vermächtnis'' (''A Soldier's Legacy''), written [[1948]]-[[1949]]; publ. [[1981]]
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* ''Das Vermächtnis (A Soldier's Legacy),'' written 1948-1949; publ. 1981
* ''Wanderer, kommst du nach Spa'' (''Stranger, Bear Word to the Spartans''), [[1950]]
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* ''Wanderer, kommst du nach Spa (Stranger, Bear Word to the Spartans),'' 1950
* ''Die schwarzen Schafe'' (''Black Sheep''), [[1951]]
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* ''Die schwarzen Schafe (Black Sheep),'' 1951
* ''Nicht nur zur Weihnachtszeit'' (''Christmas Not Just Once a Year''), [[1951]]
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* ''Nicht nur zur Weihnachtszeit (Christmas Not Just Once a Year),'' 1951
* ''Wo warst du, Adam?'' (''And Where Were You, Adam?''), [[1951]]
+
* ''Wo warst du, Adam? (And Where Were You, Adam?),'' 1951
* ''Der Engel schwieg'' (''The Silent Angel''), written [[1949]]-[[1951]]; publ. [[1992]]
+
* ''Der Engel schwieg (The Silent Angel),'' written 1949-1951; publ. 1992
* ''Und sagte kein einziges Wort'' (''And Never Said a Word''), [[1953]]
+
* ''Und sagte kein einziges Wort (And Never Said a Word),'' 1953
* ''Haus ohne Hüter'' (''House without Guardians''), [[1954]]
+
* ''Haus ohne Hüter (House without Guardians),'' 1954
* ''Das Brot der frühen Jahre'' (''The Bread of Those Early Years''), [[1955]]
+
* ''Das Brot der frühen Jahre (The Bread of Those Early Years),'' 1955
* ''Irisches Tagebuch'' (''Irish Journal''), [[1957]]
+
* ''Irisches Tagebuch (Irish Journal),'' 1957
* ''Die Spurlosen'' (''Missing Persons''), [[1957]]
+
* ''Die Spurlosen (Missing Persons),'' 1957
* ''Doktor Murkes gesammeltes Schweigen'' (''Dr. Murke's Collected Silence''), [[1958]]
+
* ''Doktor Murkes gesammeltes Schweigen (Dr. Murke's Collected Silence),'' 1958
* ''Billard um halb zehn'' ('' [[Billiards at Half-past Nine]] ''), [[1959]]
+
* ''Billard um halb zehn ([[Billiards at Half-past Nine]]),'' 1959
* ''Ein Schluck Erde'', [[1962]]
+
* ''Ein Schluck Erde,'' 1962
* ''Ansichten eines Clowns'' (''The Clown''), [[1963]]
+
* ''Ansichten eines Clowns (The Clown),'' 1963
* ''Entfernung von der Truppe'' (''Absent Without Leave''), [[1964]]
+
* ''Entfernung von der Truppe (Absent Without Leave),'' 1964
* ''Ende einer Dienstfahrt'' (''End of a Mission''), [[1966]]
+
* ''Ende einer Dienstfahrt (End of a Mission),'' 1966
* ''Gruppenbild mit Dame'' (''Group Portrait with Lady''), [[1971]]
+
* ''Gruppenbild mit Dame (Group Portrait with Lady),'' 1971
* ''Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum'' (''[[The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum]]''), [[1974]]
+
* ''Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum ([[The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum]]),'' 1974
* ''Fürsorgliche Belagerung'' (''The Safety Net''), [[1979]]
+
* ''Fürsorgliche Belagerung (The Safety Net),'' 1979
* ''Was soll aus dem Jungen bloss werden?'' (''What's to Become of the Boy?''), [[1981]]
+
* ''Was soll aus dem Jungen bloss werden? (What's to Become of the Boy?),'' 1981
* ''Vermintes Gelände'', [[1982]]
+
* ''Vermintes Gelände,'' 1982
* ''Die Verwundung'' (''The Casualty''), early tales, publ. [[1983]]
+
* ''Die Verwundung (The Casualty),'' early tales, publ. 1983
* ''Frauen vor Flusslandschaft'' (''Women in a River Landscape''), [[1985]] (publ. posthumously)
+
* ''Frauen vor Flusslandschaft (Women in a River Landscape),'' 1985 (publ. posthumously)
  
== Literature ==
+
== References ==
  
* Werner Bellmann (Ed.): Das Werk Heinrich Bölls. Bibliographie mit Studien zum Frühwerk. Opladen 1995.  
+
'''German'''
 +
* Werner Bellmann, ed. ''Das Werk Heinrich Bölls. Bibliographie mit Studien zum Frühwerk.'' Opladen 1995. ISBN 9783531126944
 +
* Werner Bellmann, ed. ''Heinrich Böll, Romane und Erzählungen.'' Interpretationen. Stuttgart 2000. ISBN 9783150175149
 +
* Vormweg, Heinrich, ''Der andere Deutsche. Heinrich Böll. Eine Biographie.'' Köln 2002. ISBN 9783462031713
  
* Werner Bellmann (Ed.): Heinrich Böll, Romane und Erzählungen. Interpretationen. Stuttgart 2000.
+
'''English'''
 
+
* Butler, Michael, ed. ''The Narrative Fiction of Heinrich Böll. Social conscience and literary achievement.'' Cambridge University Press, 1994. ISBN 9780521465380
* Michael Butler (Ed.): The Narrative Fiction of Heinrich Böll. Social conscience and literary achievement. Cambridge 1994.
+
* Confino, Alon and Peter Fritssche, eds. ''The Work of Memory: New Directions in the Study of German Society and Culture.'' University of Illinois Press, 2002. ISBN 0252027175
 
+
* Reid, James H. ''Heinrich Böll. A German for His Time.'' New York, 1988. ISBN 9780854965335
* James H. Reid: Heinrich Böll. A German for His Time. Oxford/New York/Hamburg 1988.
 
 
 
* Heinrich Vormweg: Der andere Deutsche. Heinrich Böll. Eine Biographie. Köln 2002.
 
 
 
== See also ==
 
* [[German literature]]
 
* [[List of German-language authors]]
 
  
 
== External links ==
 
== External links ==
* [http://www.boell.de/ Heinrich-Böll-Foundation]
+
All links retrieved December 13, 2017.
* [http://www.stbib-koeln.de/boell/ Cologne Library Heinrich Böll Archive]
+
* [http://www.boell.de/ Heinrich-Böll-Foundation]  
* [http://www.electroasylum.com/boll/ The Heinrich Böll Page]
 
 
* [http://www.nobel.se/literature/laureates/1972/index.html Nobel Archive: Böll, 1972]
 
* [http://www.nobel.se/literature/laureates/1972/index.html Nobel Archive: Böll, 1972]
* http://www.heinrich-boell.de/ - German homepage
+
*[http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1972/boll-autobio.html Autobiography by Heinrich Böll]
* http://www2.uni-wuppertal.de/FBA/germanistik/Bellmann/welcome.html
+
* [http://www.heinrich-boell.de/ Heinrich Böll]
  
 
{{Nobel Prize in Literature Laureates 1951-1975}}
 
{{Nobel Prize in Literature Laureates 1951-1975}}
  
[[category:Art, music, literature, sports and leisure]]
+
 
 +
[[Category:Writers and poets]]
 +
 
 
{{credit2|Heinrich_Boll|96919355|Billiards_at_Half-past_Nine|102756842}}
 
{{credit2|Heinrich_Boll|96919355|Billiards_at_Half-past_Nine|102756842}}

Latest revision as of 15:15, 25 January 2023

A monument of Heinrich Böll in Denkmal in der Greifswalder Straße, Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin. Sculpted by Wieland Förster

Heinrich Theodor Böll (December 21, 1917 – July 16, 1985) was one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers. His ironic novels dealt with the aftermath of German militarism during the first half of the twentieth century and the effects of its Nazi past on German society in the second half of the twentieth century. Böll was deeply affected by the Nazi experience, especially the destruction of his home town, Cologne.

Böll's novels are part of modern Germany's attempt to come to terms with its embrace of Nazism, which represented the nadir of twentieth-century racism and the triumph of the irrational in a supposedly enlightened modern civilization. Hitler's hatred of the Jews and his fanatical pursuit of the Final Solution, even as Germany was on the verge of defeat, was a repudiation of the European tradition of rationalism and presented the problem of evil not merely a sociological matter, but as rooted in the dysfunction of the human heart.

Böll was a gentle, peace-loving man but tenacious in his efforts to examine the causes of Germany's horrific national experience. In his time, he was known as a leading advocate for peace. Böll was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1972.

Biography

Böll was born in Cologne, Germany to a liberal, Catholic, pacifistic family. He successfully resisted joining the Hitler Youth during the 1930s and was apprenticed to a bookseller, then studied German at the University of Cologne. Drafted into the German Army, Böll served in France, Romania, Hungary, and the Soviet Union, and was wounded four times before he was captured by Americans in April 1945, and sent to a POW camp. His wounds (he had lost all toes to frost bite) made him a regular in hospitals until the end of his life. At the age of 30, he became a full-time writer.

His first novel, Der Zug war pünktlich (The Train Was on Time), was published in 1949. Many other novels, short stories, radio plays, and essay collections followed, and his best-known works include Billiards at Half-past Nine, The Clown, Group Portrait with Lady, The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, and The Safety Net. Böll was deeply rooted in his home town of Cologne, with its strong Roman Catholicism and its rather rough and drastic sense of humor. In the immediate post-war period, he was preoccupied with memories of the War and the effect it had—materially and psychologically—on the lives of ordinary people. He made them the heroes of his writing.

His villains are the authority figures in government, business, and the Church, whom he castigates, sometimes humorously, sometimes acidly, for what he perceived as their conformism, lack of courage, self-satisfied attitude, and abuse of power. His simple style made him a favorite for German-language textbooks.

He was deeply affected by the Nazi takeover of Cologne, as they essentially exiled him from his own town. Furthermore, the destruction of Cologne by Allied bombing raids scarred him irrevocably. His works have been dubbed "Trümmerliteratur"—the literature of the rubble. Architecturally, the newly-rebuilt Cologne, prosperous once more, left him indifferent. On this note, Böll seemed to be a pupil of William Morris: He made known that he'd have preferred Cologne cathedral unfinished, with the fourteenth century wooden crane on top of it, as it stood in 1848. Throughout his life he maintained numerous relations to Cologne citizens, rich and poor. When he was in the hospital, the nurses often complained about the "low-life" people who came to see their friend, Heinrich Böll.

He and his wife lived in Cologne and the Eifel mountains. However, he also spent time on Achill Island off the west coast of Ireland. He recorded some of his experiences in Ireland in his book Irish Journal, and his cottage there is now a local museum.

He was at one time president of International P.E.N. He traveled frequently as a representative of the new, democratic Germany. His appearance and attitude were in complete contrast to the boastful, aggressive type of German which had became infamous all over the world during Hitler's reign. Böll was particularly successful in Eastern Europe, as he seemed to portray the dark side of capitalism in his books. He sold millions of copies in the Soviet Union alone. When Alexander Solzhenitsyn was expelled from the Soviet Union, he first took refuge in Heinrich Böll's house.

Heinrich Böll died in 1985, at the age of 67. His memory lives on at, among other places, the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation and a special Heinrich Böll Archive in the Cologne Library.

Billiards at Half Past Nine

Billiards at Half-past Nine was written in 1959 and reflects the Böll's opposition to Nazism as well as his aversion to war. The entirety of the novel takes place on the day of September 6, 1958, but the story stretches back to the turn of the century through the use of flashbacks and recollections of memories by the characters. It follows the Faehmel family in post-Nazi Germany as well as their history during the First World War through the present day of 1958.

The complex plot structure affords the author the opportunity to more fully explore past events and to show the impact that Nazism had not only during the 1930s and 1940s, but on present realities. Saint Anthony's Abbey becomes the focal point for the war and the strife that was not resolved with the end of the Nazi regime, but remains in the lives of the characters and, by implication, the German reading public for whom the book was intended.

Point of view

The point of view of the novel is very important and the rotating first person perspective gives the story its multi-layered insight. Eleven different characters in different chapters provide a first-person perspective. Other chapters employ a third-person omniscient narrator and specifically follow the thoughts of a certain character.

Böll's decision to have so many different narrators creates a panorama of post-Nazi society and allows the reader to see characters not only from their own perspective, but through the perception of the others as well. The reader first meets the main character, Robert, through his secretary, and then old Jochen, another principal character; not until the third chapter is the protagonist physically introduced. The reader's connection to characters is constantly being filtered through the perceptions of the different narrators. This creates questions of narrative reliability and a shifting sense of meaning. The subjective retellings style is a reflection on the world the Faehmel family lived in and a commentary on their society.

Major themes

Böll was an impassioned pacifist and Billiards at Half-past Nine comments on the stupidity of war. The two world wars that the characters live through, and fight through, are never projected in a positive or justifiable light, but as destructive to the country, the society, and all involved.

Robert, the main character, is required to join the army and becomes a demolition expert, destroying buildings, bridges, and everything in the path of the German Army. Under the command of a crazy German general, he carries out the order to destroy Saint Anthony Abbey, which his father had built. He knows it is senseless, and the worthless destruction of the Abbey is symbolic of the uselessness of the war and of war in general.

The devastation of the war is also seen in the lives of other characters. Robert's mother refused to conform to the Nazis and was put into a sanatorium because she tried to get in the cattle cars with the Jews going to the extermination camps. Though she is certified crazy for her opposition to the war, her objection is clearly viewed as the only sane response to the insane war. Others are so indoctrinated by the Nazi propaganda that they decide it is better to die for their losing cause than to live in an occupied Germany.

Legacy

Böll's greatest legacy is in trying to address the shadow of the Nazi past on post-war German society. Böll was a gentle, peace-loving man but he was tenacious in his efforts to acknowledge Germany's horrific past in the face of the natural tendency of those who would prefer to sweep such things under the proverbial rug. He was a leading advocate for peace. In 1972 Böll received the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was the first German to receive this award since Hermann Hesse in 1946. His work has been translated into more than 30 languages, and he is one of Germany's most widely read authors.

Selected bibliography

  • Kreuz ohne Liebe, written 1946-1947; publ. 2002
  • Der Zug war pünktlich (The Train Was on Time), 1949
  • Das Vermächtnis (A Soldier's Legacy), written 1948-1949; publ. 1981
  • Wanderer, kommst du nach Spa (Stranger, Bear Word to the Spartans), 1950
  • Die schwarzen Schafe (Black Sheep), 1951
  • Nicht nur zur Weihnachtszeit (Christmas Not Just Once a Year), 1951
  • Wo warst du, Adam? (And Where Were You, Adam?), 1951
  • Der Engel schwieg (The Silent Angel), written 1949-1951; publ. 1992
  • Und sagte kein einziges Wort (And Never Said a Word), 1953
  • Haus ohne Hüter (House without Guardians), 1954
  • Das Brot der frühen Jahre (The Bread of Those Early Years), 1955
  • Irisches Tagebuch (Irish Journal), 1957
  • Die Spurlosen (Missing Persons), 1957
  • Doktor Murkes gesammeltes Schweigen (Dr. Murke's Collected Silence), 1958
  • Billard um halb zehn (Billiards at Half-past Nine), 1959
  • Ein Schluck Erde, 1962
  • Ansichten eines Clowns (The Clown), 1963
  • Entfernung von der Truppe (Absent Without Leave), 1964
  • Ende einer Dienstfahrt (End of a Mission), 1966
  • Gruppenbild mit Dame (Group Portrait with Lady), 1971
  • Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum (The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum), 1974
  • Fürsorgliche Belagerung (The Safety Net), 1979
  • Was soll aus dem Jungen bloss werden? (What's to Become of the Boy?), 1981
  • Vermintes Gelände, 1982
  • Die Verwundung (The Casualty), early tales, publ. 1983
  • Frauen vor Flusslandschaft (Women in a River Landscape), 1985 (publ. posthumously)

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

German

  • Werner Bellmann, ed. Das Werk Heinrich Bölls. Bibliographie mit Studien zum Frühwerk. Opladen 1995. ISBN 9783531126944
  • Werner Bellmann, ed. Heinrich Böll, Romane und Erzählungen. Interpretationen. Stuttgart 2000. ISBN 9783150175149
  • Vormweg, Heinrich, Der andere Deutsche. Heinrich Böll. Eine Biographie. Köln 2002. ISBN 9783462031713

English

  • Butler, Michael, ed. The Narrative Fiction of Heinrich Böll. Social conscience and literary achievement. Cambridge University Press, 1994. ISBN 9780521465380
  • Confino, Alon and Peter Fritssche, eds. The Work of Memory: New Directions in the Study of German Society and Culture. University of Illinois Press, 2002. ISBN 0252027175
  • Reid, James H. Heinrich Böll. A German for His Time. New York, 1988. ISBN 9780854965335

External links

All links retrieved December 13, 2017.

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