I have been in the midst of a long-overdue reading of Sebald's novel Austerlitz, and now, about 2/3 of the way through, I am delighted to find that the titular character visits the spa at Marienbad, Czechoslovakia. This is, undoubtedly, unconsequental to many of you, but the Bioy Casares fans among us have probably already made the connection to Alain Robbe-Grillet's film Last Year at Marienbad. Robbe-Grillet's film was famously inspired by Bioy Casares's masterpiece, The Intention of Morel, and both the movie and the book take memory and its workings as a central issue. Anyone who knows anything about...

More...