Suspended Sentences
Patrick Modiano · b. 1945 · France
Originally Suspended Sentences (French) · translated by Mark Polizzotti
Why it matters
Three linked novellas trace the narrator's fragmented childhood memories against the half-erased traces of wartime Paris. A concentrated dose of Modiano's essential method: history recovered only in glimpses.
At a glance
psychological novelpostmodern
Difficulty 4/10medium pace144 pagesShort, plain sentences; difficulty lies in piecing together deliberately withheld connections.
Where to go next
Patrick Modiano · 1978Missing PersonLvl 5Medium pace
Javier Marías · 1992A Heart So WhiteLvl 8Slow burn
J. M. G. Le Clézio · 1980DesertLvl 5Slow burn
Michel Houellebecq · 1998The Elementary ParticlesLvl 5Medium pace
W. G. Sebald · 1995The Rings of SaturnLvl 7Slow burn
Alain Robbe-Grillet · 1957JealousyLvl 8Slow burn