Billiards at Half-Past Nine (Masterplots II: World Fiction Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Heinrich Böll
- First Published: 1959
- Type of Work: Social criticism
- Time of Work: September 6, 1958
- Setting: West Germany, presumably Cologne
- Principal Characters: Robert Faehmel, Heinrich Faehmel, Johanna Faehmel, Alfred Schrella, Joseph Faehmel, Hugo
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism
- Subjects: 1950’s, Family or family life, Memory, Politics, Mental illness, Assassination, Nazism or Nazis, Germany or German people, Explosions or explosives, Architecture or architects
- Locales: West Germany
The Novel
In this, one of Heinrich Böll’s most structurally complicated works, the history of the Faehmel family over a fifty-year period is narrated by several family members. Through monologue, memory, and flashbacks, historical and personal events since the turn of the century are recounted, mirroring political and social developments in Germany itself. The eightieth birthday of the grandfather, Heinrich—September 6, 1958—marks a turning point for four members of the Faehmel family. Each of them has withdrawn from an active public life, preferring instead the...
[The entire page is 2498 words long]
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See Also:
Heinrich Böll (Cyclopedia of World Authors)Heinrich Böll (Dictionary of World Biography)Heinrich Böll (Short Fiction)Heinrich Böll (Long Fiction)
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