Justin Taylor
HIST-3950-003
Prof. Fritz
9/29/2017
Book Review: Billiards at Half Past Nine
The first half of the twentieth century was one of the most violent and chaotic times in European History, if not in world History. For those who were survivors, or of the post-war generation, it was a nearly insurmountable challenge to build a new, Democratic society on top of the ashes of society that was left behind by the Nazis; the war's devastation and aftermath, and that of the holocaust were deep wounds that would not soon be healed or forgotten. Heinrich Böll's novel, Billiards at Half Past Nine, expresses the German attitude towards World War II and the memory of their involvement in the Third Reich. These memories were placed at the backs of German minds, or forcibly forgotten. Since survival and rebuilding were the top priorities of the German people at the time, it only made sense to focus on the present, or look forward to the future. However, ignoring the lessons of the past only gave the perfect opportunity to those populists who wished for nothing more than to repeat it.
Working as an apprentice bookseller in his hometown of Cologne, Germany, Heinrich Böll eventually enrolled at the University of Cologne, where he studied both Classical and German Philology. But, before his enrollment in college, or before writing some of his first literary works, Heinrich Böll was drafted into the Wehrmacht near the beginning of the war, in 1939. He remained in the service until 1945 and, shortly after the war, he took on writing as his full-time job. Over approximately the next 20 years, he published some of his most well-known works, and experienced his greatest amounts of success. He even received the Nobel Prize in Literature, awarded to him by the Swedish Academy for the, "Renewal of German Literature."
Architect Robert Faehmel left his estimates office, after only doing one-hour worth of work so that he could play Billiards at Half Past Nine at the local hotel, rather than acknowledging his father's eightieth birthday. A suspicious stranger appeared at Faehmel's office, inquiring about his old, "friend" under the guise of urgent business, and tracked him down to the hotel. The stranger was one of his old schoolmates who had partaken of the, "Sacrament of the Buffalo" offered by his teacher and had assisted in persecuting all of those who were followers, "The Lamb." Some of these persecuted persons included a selection of Faehmel's classmates and himself. Faehmel had executed a less than optimal bomb attack on one of his Nazi following teachers and had fled Germany. Over time, he was able to return to Germany, with the help of his father, a well-known architect with some influence. Upon his return, he married his friend Edith, and took care of her and her son, Joseph. Unfortunately, Faehmel did not get to spend unlimited, bliss-filled days with them, for he was soon drafted into the army. He was tasked as a demolition expert due to his background as an architect. Before long, he was given the order to level the Abbey of St. Anthony, his father’s first notable, large-scale work as an architect. This served as his revenge agains “the Buffalo” for killing his wife and other innocent people. Once the war was over, he settled down into a peaceful life and took care of his two children, Ruth and Joseph.
Utilizing both third and first-person narrators, and numerous flashbacks and recollections of the past, Billiards at Half Past Nine creates a uniquely disjointed but comprehensive look into lives and minds of the Faehmels during the 1900s. However, Böll's conveys more than just the tale of a family of architects during a violent and tumultuous time. Böll intended for much of his novel to be indicative of symbolism, for example, in the story, the father, son and grandson represent the successive generations of Germans. These generations being the builders, destroyers and rebuilders, respectively. The builders pathed the way for power and war, the destroyers devastated the world with World War II, and ultimately, the rebuilders sought to heal and fix much that was destroyed, while others went their own separate ways, to avoid the harsh realizations and remembrance of the atrocities committed by their fathers. One of the more obvious examples would be the symbolism of, “the Lamb,” and “the Buffalo,” which represented those who opposed the Nazi regime and ultimately fell victims to it, and those who enthusiastically followed the power of the Nazis party. Of the, “Buffalo party,” the main antagonist would have been, “the Big Buffalo” also known as, Paul von Hindenburg, the man responsible for bringing Hitler into power, which was only the first stepping stone in the long path that led to the cataclysmic events of World War II.
Billiards at Half Past Nine is an eloquent literary work that captures and translates the hearts and minds of the German people for the first half of the twentieth century for us as the readers to understand. Böll’s novel also provides an explicit look into the mind-set of the post-war German society and the general attitude of ignoring the history of the Nazis. Böll’s novel is complex and very well written, but it is also, not considered light reading. Some may have considered it to be somewhat confusing, but this was by design, not mistake; the author intentionally did not notify the reader when the narrators or perspectives would change at the beginning of the chapters. This made it difficult to discern who was speaking at the beginning of each chapter, but, soon enough, I was able to figure out how this works. This designs makes the reader pay closer attention to the story and details, in an attempt to find out who the chapter is about, thus missing no important details. The attitude of the German people towards the Nazis and World War II as it stands in History is something that most of us do not get to fully understand, what little knowledge we have mainly comes from stereotypes. Thanks to Böll’s novel, Billiards at Half Past Nine we are able to get a more clear understanding of this.