Before the sculptor or stonemason works on his material, the stone, he subjects it to a sound test: Through the resonance, he learns whether the block has flaws, cavities, cracks, or inclusions. Siegfried Lenz also subjects the characters in his novel to a sound test: He confronts them with the phenomenon of decay. By telling the story of the stonemason Hans Bode and his family, he illustrates the transience of our world.