num_pages: 280
description: 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 both public and private memories.
language: English
title: Billiards at Half-Past Nine
titlecomplete: Billiards at Half-Past Nine
characters: Robert Faehmel, Nettlinger, Schrella
genres: Germany, 20th Century, Historical Fiction, Nobel Prize, Novels, Literature, German Literature, Classics, War, Fiction
ratings_count: 4299
places: Germany
publisher: Penguin Classics