La Maladie de la mort

Marguerite Duras writes of a man who pays a young woman to spend several nights with him in a house by the sea so that he can try to learn how to love. The narrator addresses the man in the second person, describing his inability to feel. The text is short and spare, with stage directions at the end.

Readers of experimental French writing and those who know Duras will find it intense and brief. It is best read slowly in one sitting.

Deep, inward-looking, open-ended and thought-provoking; a moderate read.

Best for readers like The Wisdom Collector. Which reader are you?