"The Laugher" (1966) - An Extremely Short, Reflective Story by Heinrich Böll

[DonRocks]

You can read "The Laugher" (1966) in less than five minutes - it's a well-written, very reflective short story - something of a meditation - by Heinrich Böll, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1972.

While I was reading it, I immediately thought of "The Mask Maker" (1959), and I'd be very surprised if Böll wasn't familiar with this when he wrote "The Laugher."

I would ask everyone to watch "The Mask Maker" (click the link above) performed by the great Marcel Marceau (who I had the privilege to see in person!), before reading "The Laugher." The video will take you seven minutes to watch, and it's a requirement if you care about anything related to theater - it's seven minutes of your life that you'll never forget.

"The Laugher" by Henrich Böll on 101bananas.com