Through the Eyes of a Clown (1963) First published in 1963, Böll’s novel, which critics called “the German Catcher in the Rye,” takes place over just one day in Hans’s life, but this day in which the events of the present are mixed with memories about the past, sums up not only the life of the saddest clown, but also the fate of all of Germany - at first glance happy and prosperous, but in reality deeply experiencing the drama of involvement in the defeated, but not yet forgotten “ordinary fascism.” Billiards at half past nine (1959 )Architect Heinrich Fehmel turns eighty years old. An anniversary is a good reason to take stock of your life. His victory - the victory of an unknown stranger in the competition for the construction of the Abbey of St. Anthony - promised a full and happy life... But in the end - disappointed expectations... Henry's wife is kept in a privileged hospital for the mentally ill, his youngest son Otto, who in his youth went over to the side of the executioners who were ready to drown peace in blood, became a stranger in his family...On this day, which became a turning point in the fate of the heroes of the novel, the entire tragic history of Germany in the second half of the 20th century came into focus...