Declare Books In Pursuance Of Billiards at Half-Past Nine
| Original Title: | Billard um halb zehn |
| ISBN: | 0140187243 (ISBN13: 9780140187243) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Robert Faehmel |
| Setting: | Germany |
Heinrich Böll
Paperback | Pages: 288 pages Rating: 3.93 | 3427 Users | 194 Reviews
Mention About Books Billiards at Half-Past Nine
| Title | : | Billiards at Half-Past Nine |
| Author | : | Heinrich Böll |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 288 pages |
| Published | : | September 1st 1994 by Penguin Classics (first published 1959) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. European Literature. German Literature. Cultural. Germany. Classics |
Commentary During Books Billiards at Half-Past Nine
Heinrich Böll's well-known, vehement opposition to fascism and war informs this moving story of Robert Faehmel. After being drawn into the Second World War to command retreating German forces despite his anti-Nazi feelings, Faehmel struggles to re-establish a normal life at the end of the war. He adheres to a rigorous schedule, including a daily game of billiards. When his routine is breached by an old friend from his past, now a power in German reconstruction, Faehmel is forced to confront bothpublic and private memories.Rating About Books Billiards at Half-Past Nine
Ratings: 3.93 From 3427 Users | 194 ReviewsDiscuss About Books Billiards at Half-Past Nine
Set in post-war Germany in the late 50's (although large parts of the narrative focuses on events from the past), Heinrich Böll has written a multi-layered and complex work of brilliance, that uses a free-form narrative, and, on a limited scale, a more structured recognizable one, which alternates around depending on whether in the past or present. And I have to say it's masterfully done. Böll starts out by giving nothing away, regarding names, where we are, or what's going on, landing theThis novel is one of the quintessential works of 20th C. German Literature, dealing as it does with the haunted legacy of Nazism, Germany's collective guilt in the post-war years, and the burden of memory, as reflected in the account of one German family, the Faehmels. Their history unfolds through the reminiscences of three generations, Grandfather, Father, and Son, all architects by trade; it eventually goes back as far as the old man's arrival in Cologne in 1907 and ends with the single,
Böll wants to get a very strong moral message across - that is very upfront. At times it can feel like you are being lectured to. But in the end, the force of that message, the story and the characters prevail. I was so overwhelmed by the different themes and ideas that I ended up drawing a mind map of them to be able to get it straight in my head. Some scenes - like when a man who was arrested by the Nazis explains to his persecutor many years later why it's OK to ask the waiter to pack up your
Read a first time in 1987 and I was already pretty impressed. Böll shows in a very oppressive way how Germany in 1959 still had not processed the legacy of the nazi past (in the novel there is no explicit reference to the nazis, but the constant reference tot the "Sacrament of the Buffalo" is clear enough). The idea to follow three generations and their dealings with the Abbey of St. Anonius (the grandfather build it, the son demolished it in the war and the grandson restored it) is very well
I loved Boll's The Clown and Group Portrait with Lady. Billiards at Half-Past Nine, shares many similarities with Group Portrait, but I didn't love it. Here's my full enthusiastic review of Lady https://medium.com/@Dave.Nash.33/five...Billiards changes point of view with every chapter - it's a close third person. It's not as confusing as Faulkner in Sound and the Fury or Absalom, Absalom even, but that's the idea. This style gives the outline of the main character - Robert - the man who plays
Post war Germany described geniusly in a well written novel with layers and from different perspectives. Böll respects the readers and its a real pleasure to discover his thoughts between the lines.
Set in post-war Germany in the late 50's (although large parts of the narrative focuses on events from the past), Heinrich Böll has written a multi-layered and complex work of brilliance, that uses a free-form narrative, and, on a limited scale, a more structured recognizable one, which alternates around depending on whether in the past or present. And I have to say it's masterfully done. Böll starts out by giving nothing away, regarding names, where we are, or what's going on, landing the
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