SOURCE: "Heinrich Böll's Political Reevaluation of Adalbert Stifter: An Interpretation of Böll's 'Epilog zu Stifters "Nachsommer" '," in The Michigan Academician, Vol. XIV, No. 1, Summer, 1981, pp. 31-9.

In the following essay, Conrad determines the influence of Adalbert Stifter's novel Der Nachsommer on Böll's story "Epilog zu Stifters 'Nachsommer', " and asserts that "although [the story reads as an entertaining spoof, on close analysis it reveals Böll's serious social concerns at the beginning of the seventies. " ]

Böll's work has never been without its moral dimension, but in the five years between the novels End of a Mission (Ende einer Dienstfahrt, 1966) and Group Portrait with Lady (Gruppenbild mit Dame, 1971), while Böll's public life and his essays became more political, his prose fiction seemed to grow less so. The stories of this half decade, a mere three short pieces, appear to confirm this conclusion. "Er kam...