Out of the Dark

Like most European students (in movies and novels, anyway), the narrator seldom studies anything, preferring to associate with a fascinating, maybe fatal, woman and her shady boyfriend. He has a hard time figuring out what the pair are up to, and his mystery is thus ours. Fundamentally, this descends from the ancient romances of inscrutable, enchanting women, with the city replacing the forest as setting; but it recalls more immediately French black-and-white films of the 50s like "Diabolique." You can read it as a mystery story or a subtly artful narrative reminiscent of Robbe-Grillet's. It's hard to believe so witty and verbally charming a novel could be a translation.