Billiards at Half-Past Nine (The Essential Heinrich Boll)

There is a good reason Heinrich Böll won the Nobel Prize for Literature (1972), and Billiards at Half-Past Nine contributes mightily to that reason. In fewer than 300 pages, the novel delivers a searing look at life for middle class Germans as their country went through two punishing World Wars and recovered itself in the wake of Hitler. The plotline is like a thin aluminum railing that runs around and through panels of its characters' internal narratives, taking place across a single day (6 September 1958) during which the extended Faehmel family comes together for a public celebration. From the first sentence, it is known that forty-something architect Robert Faehmel insists on one thing of the few who know him, that from 9:30 - 11 a.m., his whereabouts never be disclosed except, if need be, to his father, his son, his daughter and a person named Schrella. That would be the time he spends shooting billiards alone at a local hotel, except for the company of a bellhop. You wonder, why aren't his wife and mother on the short list? Who is Schrella? Through the narratives that hop from character to character, arcing across the first half of the 20th century, Böll reveals what happened to ordinary people under the crucible of Fascism; some would embrace it and die fighting; some would survive as government panderers no matter what the leadership; some would be forced to compromise their ideals; some would stick to them but at costs; some would fight it; innocents would be killed, collateral damage. The youngest generation would not emerge undamaged, either. The actions and choices of individuals impact each other and the future much as the billiard balls strike off one another. What makes this so very readable are the fully realized Faehmels, a flesh and blood clan rendered with sympathy. However tragic, it is also life affirming. Notes on this edition: Jessa Crispin's afterword considers how the German cultural reverence of motherhood fared in these years and its import for the characters. I don't speak or read German, but the translation seems quite authentic and lucid.

1958, and Germany undergoes political, social and economic reformation.Robert Faehmel looks back over the period of two world wars enabling Boll to explore themes of identity and what fashions identity.German culture led to aggressive militiarism-how to replace it or make it translate into something different;the past isn't easy to erase. Also, the people doing the rebuilding are all in some way linked to this past. The story perhaps is a little allegorical for some tastes, and this dates the book as Germany and the world has moved on 50 years. Still, its an expertly crafted novel by a Nobel prize winner.

Interesting character development. Different chapters tell related stories from different character's POV. A member of our book club created a Excel spreadsheet to keep track of who was who and how they were related

I found this book interesting but difficult. The narrative is complex, switching the time of the story and the characters involved. I have the feeling that if I reread it carefully I would get a better understanding of the tensions between former nazis and anti-nazis, and the cullture of post WW2 Germany..

Boll is right up there with other pre and post WWII German authors

You might have to read it twice to get it. The ending if you think about it isn't as pleasant as you will initially think. You may need a scorecard to follow the characters.

Excellent!

Compelling read

This book describes the sadness and pathos of a post war Germany riddled with pathos and anguish. The mother Johanna symbolizes the anguish of her live and the death of her children.

I read this book first at school, when I was about 12 I think and it left a big impression. Heinrich Boell is one of my favourite authors and this is one of my favourite books. I'm going to read the English version for the very first time, I hope it's as good as the German. You never know with translations.

I read this in German with the help of the translation I'm reviewing. This is a review of the novel as such. It wasn't as impressive as I'd expected it to be. It's multiple points of view and streams of consciousness became a kind of evasiveness - especially of Hitler and the Nazis.

Of course the book is amazing! I love Heinrich Boll’s books. But the quality of the font wasn’t that good. Still enjoyed the book!

Good book in very good condition