Cleanthess
Dinanukht wannabe
Many of my favorite recent French writers (Chevillard, Volodine, Celine Minard, etc.) have an interesting approach / schtick / gimmick for writing their books. They jump genres between books while keeping their particular Marks of Identity.
Based on the little I've read of Modiano, he seems to also follow this practice, but in a diluted fashion. So, Missing Person has a Raymond Chandler a la Modiano feel: "I am nothing. Nothing but a pale shape, silhouetted that evening against the cafe terrace"; my favorite of his books, Accident Nocturne is Borges' Aleph retold and expanded a la Modiano. Modiano's first novel is the one where he was trying to get his first break, so it's the one in which he made the biggest effort at entertaining the reader, so you get hookers, Eva Braun, and some amusing moments. Hopefully his Accident Nocturne will be translated soon now that he has won the Nobel.
Based on the little I've read of Modiano, he seems to also follow this practice, but in a diluted fashion. So, Missing Person has a Raymond Chandler a la Modiano feel: "I am nothing. Nothing but a pale shape, silhouetted that evening against the cafe terrace"; my favorite of his books, Accident Nocturne is Borges' Aleph retold and expanded a la Modiano. Modiano's first novel is the one where he was trying to get his first break, so it's the one in which he made the biggest effort at entertaining the reader, so you get hookers, Eva Braun, and some amusing moments. Hopefully his Accident Nocturne will be translated soon now that he has won the Nobel.