Thursday, 1 April 1993, 7:30 p.m.–Friday, 2 April 1993, 2:30 a.m.Hearts do not grieve and can sufferHour by hour, even for an entire life,Without any of us ever knowing,With too... Read More
Part One 1I well remember the day – or rather the afternoon –before it all began.I’d been in the office for a quarter of an hour andhad absolutely no wish... Read More
“Are you coming over to eat on Sunday?”“Can’t . . . I’ve got work to do.”“Even on a Sunday . . .? Porca miseria!”I don’t like it when he gets... Read More
The heat is a malign plague invading everything. Theheat descends like a tight, stretchy cloak of red silk,wrapping itself round bodies, trees and things, toinject there the dark poison of... Read More
It was Ash Wednesday and, eternally punctual, a parched, choking wind swept through the barrio stirring up filth and sorrow, as if sent straight from the desert to recall the... Read More
CHAPTER 1 “And get here quick …!” he screamed at a sky that seemed languid andbecalmed, as if still painted from October’s deceptive palette of blue: he screamed, arms crossed,... Read More
A cold stench of sweat, tobacco, saltpetre, whiffs ofbleach and ammonia. Elsa crossed the entrance hall ofthe Moulin Rouge without greeting the cleaningladies. At ten o’clock in the morning, the... Read More
1Thirty-five paintings, practically all the same: indescribableblack scribblings on a black background.Obsessive, sick.The day they arrived at the gallery I unpacked themone by one, going faster and faster, wanting to... Read More
The story of the clairvoyant corporal“Read that,” said Studer, thrusting a telegram underhis friend Madelin’s nose. It was dark outside the Palaisde Justice, the Seine gurgled as it lapped against... Read More
