End of a Mission

by Heinrich Böll

Book Overview

End of a Mission, written in 1968, finds Heinrich Boll trying to come to terms with his country's monstrous past in an investigation of an inexplicable crime and an even more absurd trial. Told to rack up mileage on a jeep to prepare it for inspection, a soldier drives it home--and burns it in the company of his complaisant father. Boll's account of the testimony and background of the witnesses, and their nonplussed response to the composure and satisfaction...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0810111543
• ISBN13: 9780810111547
• Release Date: April 1994
• Publisher: Northwestern University Press
• Length: 207 Pages
• Dimensions: 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Hilarious Satire

An extremely funny book, it has a quiet, wry sense of humor. But, like all good satires, there is an underlying seriousness. In this book, the underlying themes deal with the relationship between the state and the individual. As always, Boll's characters are powerfully human and fully realized, and the events are told with a touch that remains light without trivializing.

The story of two men who burn an Army jeep as art...

This is not Heinrich Boll's best book, but it is certainly well worth reading. The story centers around a court case, in which a man and his father are being tried for burning an army jeep. The case is kept very low-profile, and the accuseds are not concerned at all by the charges, which seem suspiciously minor. Boll's finely drawn characters and dialogue make the story eminently palatable, as he asks the reader subtle questions about art and its place in the state.