Heinrich Boll's 1979 novel is a time-release prophesy. What affected a prominent business family of the day in West Germany — surveillance, security, disappearing privacy — now affects everyone. One character warns that "this constant surveillance was causing mental distress leading to psychic damage." Another imagines drone warfare with flocks of mechanical birds carrying explosives. Other themes that resonate 35 years later include the rich who rail against socialism while ignoring that concentrated wealth dismantles the middle class, and the consolidation and trivialization of media. In the blink of an eye, Boll can take in the whole wide world.
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