Patrick Modiano wrote a book called Suspended Sentences and never was there a more apt title in summary of his writing style which, it strikes me, is a suspension of everyday reality in favour of lives lived as if in a dream told by the writer. The characters may be real, have lead real lives, but the art of Modiano is such that their depths remain hidden, shadowy, as vague as distant memories, hinted at more than described since he has no desire to 'flesh out' as prescribed by writing courses. You will not be handed a detailed portfolio of Modiano characters. Instead, there are basic charts of movement, memory and action which you may fill in according to your reading of their stories. Place names and travel between them are important, but like all signs, they show the way and denote destinations but cannot describe reality. To read Modiano is to briefly visit marginalised lives, their losses and loves, like watching travellers on a train platform and imaging their lives from the visual clues whilst perhaps even talking to one for a while. Modiano's novels are not literature in the classic sense, but in the unreality of their nature, they feel more real. I recently finished The Night Watch. It's a good a place as any to start if you don't know his work.
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