Out of the Dark
by Patrick Modiano
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Patrick Modiano, winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature, is the author of more than thirty books and one of France's most admired contemporary novelists. Out of the Dark is a moody, expertly rendered tale of a love affair between two drifters. The narrator, writing in 1995, looks back thirty years to a time when, having abandoned his studies and selling off old art books to get by, he comes to know Gérard Van Bever and Jacqueline, a young, enigmatic couple who seem to live off show more roulette winnings. He falls in love with Jacqueline; they run off to England together, where they share a few sad, aimless months, until one day she disappears. Fifteen years later, in Paris, they meet again, a reunion that only recalls the haunting inaccessibility of the past: they spend a few hours together, and the next day, Jacqueline, now married, disappears once again. Almost fifteen years after that, he sees her yet again, this time from a distance he chooses not to bridge. A profoundly affecting novel, Out of the Dark is poignant, strange, delicate, melancholy, and sadly hilarious. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
A young man in 1960s Paris, vaguely adrift, student age but not a student, meets a couple by chance. Jacqueline and Gerard seem to subsist through Gerard’s gambling. Jacqueline asks the young man to steal a briefcase with some cash from a dentist, then they run off to London where they meet a Polish slumlord who “likes young people” and may have designs on Jacqueline. The young man begins to write a novel roughly based on their journey. And then Jacqueline is gone from his life.
Fifteen years later, now apparently a writer and back in Paris, he meets her again, with a different name and a husband. They spend a few hours together after a party – then she’s gone again. Another fifteen years and he sees her in the street but show more doesn’t approach this time.
Everyone is what would now be called sketchy. Motives and desires are obscured and probably not pure. Patrick Modiano bends memory and past occurrences at will. Despite this, there’s an innocence and sense of loss and longing at the center of the story – as with all of his novels. show less
Fifteen years later, now apparently a writer and back in Paris, he meets her again, with a different name and a husband. They spend a few hours together after a party – then she’s gone again. Another fifteen years and he sees her in the street but show more doesn’t approach this time.
Everyone is what would now be called sketchy. Motives and desires are obscured and probably not pure. Patrick Modiano bends memory and past occurrences at will. Despite this, there’s an innocence and sense of loss and longing at the center of the story – as with all of his novels. show less
Such boring French realism could barely will myself to pick it up after I’d established its tone and breadth for myself. Good to put one to sleep. Is this all there is, I was given to ask myself, is this really real. Is this why I’ve had such trouble settling in (or is it ‘for’) the so-called real world. Dispiriting
Una historia romántica, policiaca, de aventuras, road movie: una novela extraordinaria para descubrir o redescubrir a un autor único.
Un joven aspirante a escritor coincide con una pareja de paso en un París invernal. Él es adicto al juego y ella sueña con viajar a Mallorca. Los tres forman un vago triángulo amoroso, hasta la irrupción de un hombre misterioso llamado Cartaud.Novela romántica, policiaca, de aventuras y road movie, Más allá del olvido es también la historia de una obsesión. Sin duda, nos econtramos ante una obra clave para descubrir o redescubrir a Patrick Modiano, ganador del Premio Nobel de Literatura.
Un joven aspirante a escritor coincide con una pareja de paso en un París invernal. Él es adicto al juego y ella sueña con viajar a Mallorca. Los tres forman un vago triángulo amoroso, hasta la irrupción de un hombre misterioso llamado Cartaud.Novela romántica, policiaca, de aventuras y road movie, Más allá del olvido es también la historia de una obsesión. Sin duda, nos econtramos ante una obra clave para descubrir o redescubrir a Patrick Modiano, ganador del Premio Nobel de Literatura.
Atmospherics
Cryptic, wistful writer. All internal monologue and atmospherics. Main character, unnamed, pursues a woman as young man, runs away with her, then she runs from him. Then skips ahead 15 years and he sees her again. As if no time has been lost. But it has. Jacqueline.
Cryptic, wistful writer. All internal monologue and atmospherics. Main character, unnamed, pursues a woman as young man, runs away with her, then she runs from him. Then skips ahead 15 years and he sees her again. As if no time has been lost. But it has. Jacqueline.
9/10
I don't remember if I ever thought about the future in those days. I imagine I lived in the present, making vague plans to run away, as I do today, and hoping to see them soon, him and Jacqueline, in the Café Dante.
~~~~~
I climbed the stairs in the train station and came out into the huge lobby known as the Salle des Pas Perdus. ... The Gare Saint Lazare offered me an escape route that extended far beyond the suburbs or the province of Normandy, where these trains were headed. Buy a ticket for Le Havre, Cartaud's town. And from Le Havre, disappear anywhere, anywhere in the world, through the Porte Océane. ...
Why did they call this the Salle des Pas Perdus, the room of lost steps? It probably took only a little time here before show more nothing meant anything anymore, not even our footsteps.
Only a marker. Review to come. show less
I don't remember if I ever thought about the future in those days. I imagine I lived in the present, making vague plans to run away, as I do today, and hoping to see them soon, him and Jacqueline, in the Café Dante.
~~~~~
I climbed the stairs in the train station and came out into the huge lobby known as the Salle des Pas Perdus. ... The Gare Saint Lazare offered me an escape route that extended far beyond the suburbs or the province of Normandy, where these trains were headed. Buy a ticket for Le Havre, Cartaud's town. And from Le Havre, disappear anywhere, anywhere in the world, through the Porte Océane. ...
Why did they call this the Salle des Pas Perdus, the room of lost steps? It probably took only a little time here before show more nothing meant anything anymore, not even our footsteps.
Only a marker. Review to come. show less
Modiano non si smentisce mai. Le sue sono sempre storie evanescenti, sfumate, di memoria e di perdita nelle pieghe del tempo. Sempre scritte con una grazia e un garbo inimitabili. Un niente, apparentemente, che affascina e cattura.
Apr 9, 2018Italian
Una historia de amor desdibujada por el recuerdo -tema recurrente en la literatura- puede ser también la excusa más eficaz para delatar la ambiguedad y el desasosiego en que discurre la vida.
Feb 4, 2015Spanish
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Mit den immer gleichen Utensilien ausgestattet - Stadtplänen, Telefonbüchern, Auszügen aus dem Geburtsregister - begeben sich die Menschen auf die Suche nach der verlorenen Zeit. Modiano begleitet sie mit scheinbar einfachen Worten, die man in Frankreich "sa petite musique" nennt. Ihm gelingt es, so ein französischer Kritiker, mit Worten Stille zu schaffen. Was sich hinter dieser show more Leichtigkeit auftut, kann man nur ahnen. Aus dem vergessen lockst du..." - diese Zeile von Stefan George stellt Modiano als Motto seinem Roman voran. show less
added by Indy133
Author Information
84+ Works 11,092 Members
Paul Modiano is a French writer who was born on July 30, 1945, in Boulogne-Billancourt. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2014 for his lifetime body of work. He previously won the Austrian State Prize for European Literature in 2012 and the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca from the Institut de France for his lifetime achievement in 2010. His show more other awards include the Prix Goncourt in 1978 for his novel Rue des boutiques obscures and the Grand prix du roman de l'Académie française in 1972 for Les Boulevards de ceinture. Modiano's works explore the traumas of the Nazi occupation of France and the puzzle of identity. His preoccupation with the theme of identity can be seen throughout many of his works including his 2005 memoir entitled Un Pedigree. Modiano was greatly influenced by his parents' relationship. His mother and father began their clandestine relationship during occupied France. Growing up, his father was absent for most of his life and his mother was away frequently while on tour acting. He was alone much of the time and went to school because of government aid. His younger brother died of a disease at age 10 and this added to his "lost identity" feelings while growing up. Modiano first came to prominence in France when he wrote the 1968 book La Place de L'Étoile. He has published over 30 works which include novels, screenplays and children's books. His other works include: La Ronde de nuit (1969), English translation: Night Rounds; Rue des boutiques obscures (1978), English translation: Missing Person; and Quartier Perdu (1984), English translation: A Trace of Malice. Although he is well known in France, only about 12 of his works have been translated into English. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Out of the Dark
- Original title
- Du plus loin de l'oubli
- Original publication date
- 1996-01-03 (1e édition originale française ∙ Blanche ∙ Gallimard) (1e édition originale française ∙ Blanche ∙ Gallimard); 1997-10-14 (Réédition française ∙ Folio ∙ Gallimard) (Réédition française ∙ Folio ∙ Gallimard)
- People/Characters
- Gerard Van Bever; Jacqueline; Linda; Pierre Cartaud; Peter Rachman; Michael Savoundra (show all 8); Darius; George & Therrse Caisley
- Important places
- Paris, France; London, England, UK; Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
- Epigraph*
- Du plus loin de l'oubli...
Stefan George - Dedication*
- Pour Peter Handke
- First words*
- Elle était de taille moyenne, et lui, Gérard Van Bever, légèrement plus petit. Le soir de notre première rencontre, cet hiver d'il y a trente ans, je les avais accompagnés jusqu'à un hôtel du quai de la Tournelle et j... (show all)e m'étais retrouvé dans leur chambre. Deux lits, l'un près de la porte, l'autre au bas de la fenêtre. Celle-ci ne donnait pas sur le quai et il me semble qu'elle était mansardée.
[...] - Original language
- French
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Romance
- DDC/MDS
- 843.914 — Literature & rhetoric French Literature French fiction 1900- 20th Century 1945-1999
- LCC
- PQ2673 .O3 .D8313 — Language and Literature French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese literatures French literature Modern literature 1961-2000
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 260
- Popularity
- 124,222
- Reviews
- 9
- Rating
- (3.57)
- Languages
- 9 — Dutch, English, Estonian, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 25
- ASINs
- 2
