October 2023 Wrap-Up: From The Murder to The Blind

The Murder [1895] by Anton Chekhov – ★★★★1/2

This short atmospheric story by Anton Chekhov tells of the relationship between two brothers torn by suspicions about money, pride and religious fanaticism. Matvey is an ex-factory worker who struggles with his health and is forced to live at the inn run by his brother, merchant Yakov and his family. In the midst of one snowy winter, the family feels particularly claustrophobic in their house, and in no time Yakov and Matvey’s discord comes to its climax. This is a vivid tale of the price of faith, and a thorny path to it, a story of the ultimate crime and the ultimate punishment.

Alien Hearts [1890] by Guy de Maupassant – ★★★★

Guy de Maupassant’s last novel is “a delicate study of falling in love, enjoying its bliss and then being tortured by love’s poisonous darts. Subtle in its contours, but bold in its themes, this tale of being at cross-purposes with one’s beloved must be one of Maupassant’s finest literary achievement.” – see full review.

The House on the Strand [1969] by Daphne du Maurier – ★★★★

Daphne du Maurier’s story takes place in beautiful Cornwall, where publisher-between-jobs Dick Young agrees to ingest a recent drug discovered by his friend Magnus Lane, Professor of Biophysics. The result is a time-travel journey that can result in deadly consequences. – see full review.

A Dead Man’s Memoir (A Theatrical Novel) [1965] by Mikhail Bulgakov – ★★★1/2

Mikhail Bulgakov (The Master and Margarita) had always been fascinated by the theatre and even studied acting. A Dead Man’s Memoir (sometimes translated as Black Snow) is a satirical novella about the trials and tribulations of writing a novel and then seeing it being adapted for the theatre. From the start, Bulgakov employs a wonderful narrative “hook” – we have one obscure and poor employee of one shipping journal (our narrator Maksudov) who receives a mysterious letter from one prominent director of Independent Theatre in Moscow. It turns out that this director is interested in publishing our narrator’s novel, which the latter wrote intermittently over long winter nights. So, the adventure begins…as Maksudov steps into one enticing, exotic and colourful world of Moscow’s Independent Theatre, peopled by all kinds of eccentric personalities and following its own hectic and strange routine.

Bulgakov satirises the creative process behind writing a book and a play, and what unimaginable hurdles may stand in a way, including the artist’s dilemma and the politics of the theatre. This tale of one aspiring writer who finds himself in an extraordinary situation also shines with a lively prose full of irony and humour. All this then makes it even more unfortunate that this novella is very likely left unfinished and in definite want of better developments in its second half. 

The Tube/L’ingénieur aimait trop les chiffres [1958] by Boileau-Narcejac – ★★★1/2

Boileau-Narcejac, a pen name of French crime writers Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac, may be known for their books D’entre les morts and Celle qui n’était plus, that were successfully adapted into major films Vertigo and Les Diaboliques, but their other thriller output is also worth checking out.

The Tube/L’ingénieur aimait trop les chiffres centres around an atomic energy research centre in Paris where one of the leading engineers, Sorbier, is found dead, presumably murdered by a gunshot. This seems to be an impossible crime since the murderer could not have possibly escaped after the crime – the window area below Sorbier’s office was guarded, and another exit also had eyewitnesses standing nearby. And, what about the mysterious letter received by the deceased just before he died? Can it shed clues as to the identity of the murderer? Moreover, a potentially dangerous object of some great research value is found stolen from Sorbier’s office – a tube/cylinder that can be activated to lead to a great explosion. Inspector Mareuil (not that dissimilar to Simenon’s Inspector Maigret) takes this case, questioning Sorbier’s co-workers Renardeau and Belliard, as well as Sorbier’s beautiful wife Linda. More mysteries emerge, including other “impossible” murders, and the point of Boileau-Narcejac was also probably to show the increased technocratization of the society where humane principles become sidelined and forgotten. The crime resolution is a little too straightforward and unbelievable in this case, but this detective thriller still presents an intriguing conundrum and is a page-turner with a unique setting.

The Blind [1891] by Maurice Maeterlinck – ★★★1/2

This play by Belgian Nobel Laureate Maurice Maeterlinck predates the Theatre of the Absurd, including Samuel Beckett’s thought-provoking creations, but definitely has all the hallmarks of it. In this eerie production, a priest leads six blind men and six blind women out of their hospice and into a forest. This group of people, who detect that the priest is no longer responding to them, soon find themselves in one unfamiliar territory (they are on one unexplored island), questioning their environment, each other and even their beliefs about the world. This play can be said to be a parable of our limited perception of the world and how it can give rise to all sorts of unfounded fears and assumptions. The story has a frighteningly indeterminate finale.