In the title story, which kicks off this collection, a woman sends a letter to 糖心传媒淩糖心传媒� for his birthday, announcing that her son has died and that his receipt of her letter means that she has died as well. After this announcement, she tells him that she began to love him before he even moved into the apartment building in Vienna where she also lived: She was fascinated by his imported objects and expensive books in different languages. After the first time she saw him, this love grew even more intense. Then, one day, after a chance encounter where he simply smiled at her, she became his 糖心传媒渟lave.糖心传媒�

She remained his slave, even after her mother and stepfather moved out of the apartment building and into a villa in Innsbruck. In fact, she made trips back to Vienna just to see him. Despite the fact he was usually seen with other women, she still saved herself for him, even rejecting marriage offers from men who were willing to take care of her and her son.

Perhaps it was folly, for then I would be living somewhere safe and quiet now, and my beloved child with me, but糖心传媒攚hy should I not tell you?糖心传媒擨 did not want to tie myself down; I wanted to be free for you at any time. In my inmost heart, the depths of my unconscious nature, my old childhood dream that one day you might yet summon me to you, if only for any hour lived on. And for the possibility of that one hour I rejected all else, so that I would be free to answer your first call. What else had my whole life been since I grew past childhood but waiting, waiting to know your will?

On a couple of occasions, he does summon her, and she submits, but things do not turn out the way she always dreamed they would be.

糖心传媒淎 Story Told in Twilight糖心传媒� is another story about submissive love that goes unnoticed in the dark糖心传媒攆iguratively and literally. A young man, who is staying with some friends in Scotland, is visited one evening by a vision in white, a mysterious girl whose identity is obscured by the twilight. The girl kisses him, and he falls in love. After she visits him again the next night, he is determined to discover her identity. Based on a single clue, he believes that she is Margot, the oldest of his three cousins. Even though Margot never shows any affection toward him, he wants her to reveal herself as the mysterious girl. When she doesn糖心传媒檛, he begins to feel tormented and causes harm to himself and the one who truly loves him.

No harm is caused in the third story, 糖心传媒淭he Debt Paid Late糖心传媒�; in fact, that story can be seen as the perfect counterpoint to 糖心传媒淟etter from an Unknown Woman.糖心传媒� Like the first story, 糖心传媒淭he Debt Paid Late糖心传媒� is narrated by a woman writing a letter; however, this time, she is married to a doctor and telling her story to a longtime friend. This story begins at the end of a stressful year of taking care of her daughter糖心传媒檚 children, who all had scarlet fever, and arranging her mother-in-law糖心传媒檚 funeral. Feeling that she糖心传媒檚 worn out, her husband recommends that she spend a few weeks in a sanitarium. Instead, she decides to stay at an inn in an isolated village in the mountains. On her first night there, however, she encounters a former stage actor from her past. This encounter triggers memories from her days as a na茂ve girl who believed that she was in love with him; as a result, she made herself vulnerable to danger. These memories make her realize that she is obligated to help the actor now that he is in a low point in his life.

Memories of the past are also evoked in the last story, 糖心传媒淔orgotten Dreams,糖心传媒� which is the shortest story in the collection. During his visit to a seaside villa, a man reunites with a woman he once loved and reproaches her for marrying 糖心传媒渢hat indolent financier with his mind always bent on making money.糖心传媒� He tries to remind her of the 糖心传媒渋ndependent idealist糖心传媒� she once was. However, she tries to convince him糖心传媒攁nd herself糖心传媒攖hat no one really understood her as a girl, and her husband has really made her dreams come true.

What makes these stories great is Zweig糖心传媒檚 brilliance in capturing the complicated feelings of the characters as they dwell on the lost loves of the past. As they look back, they realize that they didn糖心传媒檛 understand the risks that came with submitting themselves to love. While describing these risks, their thoughts and words are sometimes imbued with joy, sometimes with sadness. It糖心传媒檚 tricky to keep these emotions balanced, especially within the confines of a short story, yet Zweig manages to do just that. As a result, he is able to shed light on what the unknown woman called the 糖心传媒渓ove of a child that passes unnoticed in the dark.糖心传媒�

In case you’ve forgotten, Chris is a writer, copy editor, and proofreader from Methuen, MA; he’s also a regular reviewer for Three Percent and runs the , and Twitter-publicly apologized for ruining Murakami for me. He’s a good guy.

Have we mentioned how much we LOVE I mean good hot damn.

Anyway, here’s the beginning of Chris’s review:

After a mysterious woman confesses to an author simply known as 糖心传媒淩糖心传媒� that she has loved him since she was a teenager, she offers the following explanation: 糖心传媒淭here is nothing on earth like the love of a child that passes unnoticed in the dark because she has no hope: her love is submissive, so much a servant糖心传媒檚 love, passionate and lying in wait, in a way that the avid yet unconsciously demanding love of a grown woman can never be.糖心传媒� This theme of a child糖心传媒檚 submissive love runs throughout Stefan Zweig糖心传媒檚 story collection Letter from an Unknown Woman and Other Stories.

In the title story, which kicks off this collection, a woman sends a letter to 糖心传媒淩糖心传媒� for his birthday, announcing that her son has died and that his receipt of her letter means that she has died as well. After this announcement, she tells him that she began to love him before he even moved into the apartment building in Vienna where she also lived: She was fascinated by his imported objects and expensive books in different languages. After the first time she saw him, this love grew even more intense. Then, one day, after a chance encounter where he simply smiled at her, she became his 糖心传媒渟lave.糖心传媒�

She remained his slave, even after her mother and stepfather moved out of the apartment building and into a villa in Innsbruck. In fact, she made trips back to Vienna just to see him. Despite the fact he was usually seen with other women, she still saved herself for him, even rejecting marriage offers from men who were willing to take care of her and her son.

For the rest of the review, go here.

Aleksandra Fazlipour is the student I introduced last week who just completed a semester long independent study on writing reviews. After this, I think we only have 4 more reviews of hers to run . . .

I actually met Carlos Gamerro when I was in Buenos Aires on an (AWESOME) editorial trip a few years back. He’s an incredibly interesting guy and writer, and actually contributed to Three Percent. His novel is coming out from And Other Stories this month.

Here’s the opening of Aleksandra’s review:

In An Open Secret, author Carlos Gamerro, a native to Argentina, weaves together a complex murder mystery that explores how the death of a single man both affects and implicates an entire community. Twenty years after left-wing journalist Dario Ezcurra vanished from the small town Malihuel during Argentina糖心传媒檚 Dirty War (a time during which thousands of political dissidents were murdered, their bodies disposed of and never found again), Fefe shows up under the pretense of writing a fictional account of Ezcurra糖心传媒檚 disappearance. Fefe is no stranger to Malihuel糖心传媒攖he grandson of the town糖心传媒檚 former major, he spent his childhood summers there.

Through a series of interviews with the townspeople, Fefe reveals the complicity of the entire town in Ezcurra糖心传媒檚 murder and subsequent disappearance. Ezcurra had a reputation as an arrogant philanderer, which led to a strange bet between the Colonel and the Superintendent. In possession of an unwavering and idealistic faith in humanity, the Superintendent asserted that the townspeople would refuse to be complicit in Ezcurra糖心传媒檚 murder, despite any personal grudges. However, when the Superintendent talked to families around town, the people did not voice any dissent. Although the police chief was directly responsible for Ezcurra糖心传媒檚 murder, anyone could have saved him by speaking out. Their resentment against the philandering journalist and their fear of facing a similar fate decided the outcome of the bet.

Click here to read the full review.

Through a series of interviews with the townspeople, Fefe reveals the complicity of the entire town in Ezcurra糖心传媒檚 murder and subsequent disappearance. Ezcurra had a reputation as an arrogant philanderer, which led to a strange bet between the Colonel and the Superintendent. In possession of an unwavering and idealistic faith in humanity, the Superintendent asserted that the townspeople would refuse to be complicit in Ezcurra糖心传媒檚 murder, despite any personal grudges. However, when the Superintendent talked to families around town, the people did not voice any dissent. Although the police chief was directly responsible for Ezcurra糖心传媒檚 murder, anyone could have saved him by speaking out. Their resentment against the philandering journalist and their fear of facing a similar fate decided the outcome of the bet.

[The Superintendent] thought people糖心传媒檚 natural reaction to an imminent crime would be to stop it, or report it. His need to lie paradoxically reveals his faith in people. It never entered his head that the perfect crime is precisely the one committed in the sight over everyone糖心传媒攂ecause then there are no witnesses, only accomplices. His premise was correct糖心传媒攊n a two-bit town like this you can糖心传媒檛 waste a prominent inhabitant without everyone knowing: because it only takes one person to find out for everybody to know. He mistakenly concluded that, in the face of such vigilance, impunity wasn糖心传媒檛 an option. Of course it wasn糖心传媒檛, as certain distorters of public opinion repeat ad nauseam, because the policemen of his generation had notions of morality, honesty or honour that were later lost; no, it was simply narrow-mindedness, intellectual laziness糖心传媒攁 eureka moment, a Copernican revolution, the Superintendent was simply too old for it. All he needed to arrive at the right solution was a leap, a flip of the imagination that stood logic on its head and set the clockwork going糖心传媒攖he realization that you can hold your tongue while talking out loud, that town gossip can work the other way round. That silence also travels by word of mouth.

The prose itself is difficult to wade through: a majority of the text is written as extended quotations from Fefe糖心传媒檚 interviews, with punctuation stylistically omitted. Overall, this makes the panic and tension palpable for the reader, almost as if characters are speaking directly at them. It is easy for the audience to become immersed in the story line and submerged in a sense of confusion while attempting to piece together the loosely intertwined narratives. As the story moves forward, it becomes more and more apparent that the stories presented in the interviews are secondary to the tone itself糖心传媒攖he novel itself is primarily composed of many unique voices interweaving into a sociological record of the town during a desperate time. Each person糖心传媒檚 character is created largely out of their dialogue, and the bulk of the story itself is presented as a series of soliloquies. Truth is interspersed with contradiction and lies, and everyone is motivated by their own self-interest throughout Fefe糖心传媒檚 interviews, either trying to hide their own involvement in Ezcurra糖心传媒檚 murder or simply trying to lay blame on individuals they personally hold grudges against. This is undoubtedly a reflection of the self-serving attitudes individuals would have displayed twenty years prior, when faced with the possibility of saving Dario Ezcurra from his impending death.

The discovery that Dario Ezcurra糖心传媒檚 mother Delia falls victim to a similar fate, quite likely because there were complaints that she was bothering the townspeople with her inquiries, makes the sense of horror evident in the panicked dialogues of the novel come to a head, and fuels the revelation that Fefe is Ezcurra糖心传媒檚 illegitimate son. This explains Fefe糖心传媒檚 investment in a story that beforehand simply appeared to be significant for the sake of childhood nostalgia, because he did not seem deeply concerned with writing the book itself.

And yet, for the sake of the book糖心传媒檚 plot, this fact about Fefe being Ezcurra糖心传媒檚 son in and of itself is not the most striking part. It is the change in human behavior as evident by a difference in tones of the dialogues of the characters that is observable after the revelation that is significant: people who were complicit in the murders of Fefe糖心传媒檚 father and grandmother now offer their condolences, altering their behaviors to fit their audience. The murders themselves, in light of Argentina糖心传媒檚 Dirty War, are not unique. What is new and significant is the idea that the responsibility for the murders, in this case and perhaps in many others, does not rest simply with the authorities and the government. Ordinary people are to blame, both by their silence and their choice of words when they spoke out. Perhaps history might have unfolded differently if people had listened to a left-wing journalist pointing out the injustices befalling the community. This book is more than just the story of a man documenting the life and death of the father he never truly knew糖心传媒攊t is a sociological record commenting on the behaviors of people under the pressure of not only other people but under their own personal bias against one another.

Olivier Adam is the author of many novels and children糖心传媒檚 books, several of which have been adapted for film, including his debut Je vais bien, ne t糖心传媒檈n fais pas. In 2004 he won the Prix Goncourt for his short story 糖心传媒淧asser l糖心传媒檋iver.糖心传媒� He is also a founder and current member of the program planning committee of the 糖心传媒淟es Correspondance de Manosque糖心传媒� literary festival.

The protagonist-narrator of Cliffs bears some striking similarities to Adam. They share the same first name, are both writers and suffer from depression, which may explain why the novel reads, emotionally, like a real memoir糖心传媒攕ans melodrama.

The novel follows the protagonist糖心传媒檚 reflections on his life over one night糖心传媒攖he twentieth anniversary of his mother糖心传媒檚 suicide. He rests in the same hotel room his family stayed in the night of his mother糖心传媒檚 death, which is situated on the same sea and cliffs where she killed herself. Lying down, Olivier attempts to move away from his past, and his present is precariously shelved, as if on the same cliff his mother threw herself from. On the first page he discusses this sundering, which his future is indebted to as he takes his plunge.

Click here to read the full review.

The protagonist-narrator of Cliffs bears some striking similarities to Adam. They share the same first name, are both writers and suffer from depression, which may explain why the novel reads, emotionally, like a real memoir糖心传媒攕ans melodrama.

The novel follows the protagonist糖心传媒檚 reflections on his life over one night糖心传媒攖he twentieth anniversary of his mother糖心传媒檚 suicide. He rests in the same hotel room his family stayed in the night of his mother糖心传媒檚 death, which is situated on the same sea and cliffs where she killed herself. Lying down, Olivier attempts to move away from his past, and his present is precariously shelved, as if on the same cliff his mother threw herself from. On the first page he discusses this sundering, which his future is indebted to as he takes his plunge:

I糖心传媒檓 thirty-one and my life is just beginning. I don糖心传媒檛 have a childhood, and from now on, any childhood will do. My mother is dead and everyone I cared about is gone. Life has wiped me clean like the empty table at which Claire and I are sitting and at which Chlo茅 has pulled up a chair, a sweet smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

It is his daughter Chlo茅 for whom Olivier decides to restart his life, and he may relive his childhood vicariously through her while trying to avoid conferring the same travails he experienced onto her.

The novel could be read as Olivier糖心传媒檚 final thoughts on his life to date as he falls through the darkness towards the uncompromising rocks, paralleling his mother糖心传媒檚 passing. Or it could simply be his rationalization to move on. Nonetheless, his narrative traces memories of his night-walking, earth-consuming mother, his years of escapist sex, drug and alcohol abuse, the mutual disgust he and his brother Antione feel for their oppressive and absent father, his independent years in Paris, and the death of two close friends. Throughout, the ghost of Olivier糖心传媒檚 mother continuously appears, demonstrating the extreme degree to which her death preoccupies him. Depressing? Yes, but it is frosted with a rectifying layer of uncertain hope.

Adam糖心传媒檚 mastery of the language (and Sue Rose’s deft and thoughtful translation) is what makes Cliffs so engaging. It reads like the music of Billie Holiday, Nick Drake, and/or Leonard Cohen sounds. (In the novel, Olivier recalls listening to all three). Olivier糖心传媒檚 narrative voice takes the form of a mix between the unvarnished Cohen and Drake, while the complexity and subtle emotional intensity of Holiday糖心传媒檚 糖心传媒淪trange Fruit糖心传媒� mark the tale of his mother糖心传媒檚 suicide. To gather a sense of the novel as a whole, one considers Drake糖心传媒檚 “Pink Moon:” short, sweet, melodic, melancholic and, after the first spin, leaves the listener bursting with the sense of unperceived meaning, and wishing to go again.

At the end of the book a summarizing 糖心传媒淚糖心传媒檓 thirty-one糖心传媒μ切拇綕 reprise reveals much of the tone:

I糖心传媒檓 thirty-one and it doesn糖心传媒檛 matter. I know how heavy the dead are. And I know about bad luck. I know about loss and devastation, the taste of blood, the wasted years and those that trickle through your fingers. I know how deep the sand is, I糖心传媒檝e experienced its resistance, its soft, ambiguous material. I know that nothing is dependable, that everything unravels, cracks and shatters, that everything withers and everything dies. Life damages the living and no one ever puts the pieces back together or picks them up.

Ultimately, the sea is not just a place for death, it also takes hold of some of its more common connotations: cleansing and reflection. Cliffs is spectacular from top to bottom.