The genesis of Böll's work in a particle accelerator: from the first writing attempts to the mature texts of his late years
When you think of Heinrich Böll, you think of prose. And yet, throughout his life, he also wrote poetry, from the time he was young until old age. Rather than a by-product of his writing, the poems are an important component of his work – and they are now available for the first time in carefully edited form in this bibliophile edition.
To discover Böll as a poet is to experience an author in the process of finding his voice. Beginning with his first poetic attempts, clearly influenced by his early reading canon (and in which everything rhymes neatly!), through free sound experiments like the poem Preußentum (1938), which breaks down its subject into an absurd militaristic sequence of sounds – “Ra Ta, / Tra Ra / Ra Ta Ta! […] Romm, Bomm, Bomm …” – to the later texts, in which we hear a Böll we are familiar with: warm yet always sharp-tongued humor, serene humanitarianism, and political vigilance.
This is the first time that such a comprehensive selection, including some previously unpublished material, has been published. A gift for all those who already know Böll well or would like to get to know him again through the short form.
