Trilogy

Agota Kristof, Alan Sheridan, David Watson, Marc Romano

From Shelf: December 2024 Meeting Theme: GIFT TO YOUR YOUNGER SELF

Agota Kristof's celebrated trilogy of novels exploring the after-effects of trauma and the nature of story-telling in the context of Nazi occupation and Soviet 'liberation' at the end of World War Two.

Sent to a remote village for the duration of the war, two children devise physical and mental exercises to render themselves invulnerable to pain and sentiment. The Notebook distils the experience of Nazi occupation and Soviet 'liberation' during World War II into a stark fable of timeless relevance. In The Proof and The Third Lie perspectives shift and identity becomes unstable as Claus and Lucas, isolated in different countries, yearn for the restoration of their lost connection. The novels are an exploration of both the after-effects of trauma and the nature of story-telling.