Don't read the end first it will ruin the whole book! The promise is kept eventually and there is a surprising and very moving twist at the end. If you get into trouble, I promise that I'll come to save you." And you put yourself at risk to save them if you can. "If you love someone-you know where they are and what has happened to them. There is also a simple statement of true love that lasts over the years and survives distance There are some thought provoking reflections the thoughts on loneliness for me were pure existentialism but there is much there that is not. The description is electric, but understated and rests on the unsaid. There is also proof here that sex scenes don't have to be crude, steamy or be contenders for the bad sex award. The Paul Michel character is a strong one who initially appears predatory, but as time goes on the reader understands the particular "madness" and how he has become as he is. He discovers that Michel is now incarcerated in an institution and is mentally unwell.īriefly, the narrator goes to France and finds Michel. This love story is a pale reflection of what comes later. The narrator falls in love with another student he meets in the library and she pushes him in his study of Michel. The unnamed narrator is studying the work of novelist Paul Michel who Dunckner neatly slots in the late 60s and 70s effectively post Sartre and who is gay. In fact reading it took me back to when I was 19 and read Nausea there was a similar feel especially in the dream sequence at the end. There are touches of Nietzsche, Freud and I think Sartre. It is also based on, wound around the philosophy of Foucault, which is not always an easy read, but there is a simplicity and directness here and complex ideas are expressed beautifully simply. In fact reading it took me back to when I was 19 and read Nausea there was a similar feel especially This book took me by surprise I really wasn't expecting much of it, how wrong I was! It is a love story, well more than one love story actually.
This book took me by surprise I really wasn't expecting much of it, how wrong I was! It is a love story, well more than one love story actually.