So You Don't Get Lost in the Neighborhood (2014)

Ungt fólk hittir eldri mann sem verður til þess að hann reynir að rifja upp atriði úr fortíð sinni. Heillandi saga þar sem minnið er aðalumfjöllunarefnið. ( )

Nobel Prize winning author (not for this book, though). Interesting story about how things fade from our memory over time and the gradual recall of them. ( )

Clever writing. Somehow moves forward propulsively with a tight plot while sprawling backwards stabbing for memories. ( )

Strange book

I know this was supposed to be a thriller but I found it to be a very strange and disconnected narrative. There are a lot of lose ends and almost the feeling of a reading a memoir of sorts rather than a coherent story. The three stars is for the writing quality which was very engaging. ( )

This was a short, dense, fascinating read. It's my first Modiano book, and apparently not the greatest place to start, but I just went with the flow and didn't have any trouble. Modiano uses some of the techniques and tropes of the mystery genre to set up what turns out to be a much more ambiguous story about memory and how we process our past.

Jean Daragane is an author who lives a solitary life in his Paris apartment. He has forgotten/repressed much of his past, to the point where he won't even read his first novel. He is approached by a man and woman who have questions about specific individuals, of whom Daragane initially has no recollection. He is suspicious that they might be trying to blackmail him, but he doesn't know why or on what grounds. But slowly, as he interacts with these strangers, memories come back to him and the names become people.

The novel is very short, but there's a lot packed into it and it is deeply atmospheric. If you know Paris, the way in which Modiano grounds the story in concrete places adds to the sense of immersion. The reader, like Daragane, frequently doesn't know what is going on, but eventually much falls into place (although the ambiguities persist). The ending comes abruptly (especially on an ereader, where the novel is followed by a book excerpt so I thought I had more left). But on reflection it makes sense.

Definitely recommended, and I'm looking forward to reading more by Modiano. ( )