SOURCE: "Jeep Thrills," in The Times Literary Supplement, No. 1028, November 10, 1966, p. 1028.

In the following review, the critic commends the diverse range of characters in Böll's novella Ende einer Dienstfahrt.

On the eve of his demob (and return to the family furniture-making business) a private in the Bundeswehr is sent on an extended jeep ride. The ostensibly absurd, but administratively tenable, object of this exercise is the "clocking up" of a certain mileage in time for the next vehicle inspection. Rather than wear out long stretches of Autobahn the driver heads straight for home, parks the jeep without switching off the engine, and a few sawdust-shrouded days later the milometer indicates the desired figure (minus the distance back to camp). But the return journey is never completed; in full public view father and son pour petrol over the jeep and set it alight, compounding temporal dereliction with a...