A 974 page love affair, the first few hundred pages are the seduction, then a hundred or so pages in which the lovers revel in themselves and their beauty and their relationship. Then they run away together and the last five hundred pages record the descension of their relationship into boredom, isolation, and degradation. In order to keep their passion on edge and as exciting as the first night, the man -Solal- resorts to sick cruelty. She accepts it - and adds to the chaos itself. Does she make up the story of her affair to add excitement? The Jewish element seems to be floating in the text. The character struggles with the tide of anti-Semitism that is building up around him.
Although well-written, the story ahs some elements similar to a soap opera. It is possible to skim the love story for pages and still not miss much action. The strange thing is that there is some level of love between the characters yet they themselves destroy it and themselves. The best part of the book for me was the very drown out description of the husband, Deume, a perennial incompetent bureaucrat who spins most of his day spinning his wheels, procrastinating until the end of the day, an endless pencil sharpener. It is quite easy to comprehend and sympathize with this beautiful young wife for falling for someone else, yet it is impossible to avoid feelings of pity for him when he is dumped with no warming.