“I think I’m afraid of being truly happy. Because whenever I get too happy, something bad always happens.” Chapter 1: Tsukuru Tazaki’s Past Tsukuru Tazaki, a 36-year-old railway […]
German literature
Go, Went, Gone
“The law is the law, but the law is also an ass.” Chapter 1: The Professor’s Isolation Richard, a recently retired classics professor in Berlin, finds himself adrift […]
German literature
Fame
“Fame is a form of incomprehension, perhaps the worst.” — Daniel Kehlmann Fame by Daniel Kehlmann is a novel composed of interconnected stories that explore the nature of […]
French literature
The Book of Proper Names
“Names are the fingerprints of the soul.” Chapter 1: The Birth of Plectrude The novel opens with the birth of Plectrude, a name chosen by her father, a […]
French literature
Out of the Dark
“I was nothing more than a shadow among shadows.” Chapter 1: The Encounter The narrator, Jean, recalls his time in Paris in the 1960s. He meets a mysterious […]
French literature
So You Don’t Get Lost in the Neighborhood
“Memory is a strange thing. When I was in the midst of it, it wasn’t there, and now that it’s no longer there, I can see it clearly.” […]
French literature
Honeymoon
“I had the impression that I was walking in the footsteps of a shadow.” Chapter 1: The Disappearance The novel opens with Jean B., a documentary filmmaker, stumbling […]
French literature
Missing Person
“I am nothing. Nothing but a pale shape, silhouetted that evening against the café terrace, waiting for the rain to stop.” Chapter 1 Guy Roland, a private detective […]
American literature
Giovanni’s Room
“I am—or I was—one of those people who pride themselves on their willpower, on their ability to make a decision and stick to it.” Part One The novel […]
American literature
Invisible Man
“I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am […]