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In a seaside town, a man and a woman meet and begin a strange, ritualized affair. They are both obsessed with a third person—a stranger with blue eyes and black hair—and they use their relationship to try to recreate the image of this person. As they become more deeply involved, the boundaries between their own identities and the object of their desire begin to blur, leading to a haunting exploration of love, loss, and the nature of obsession.
A man and a woman meet in a seaside town, bound by a shared, obsessive fixation on a stranger with blue eyes and black hair. The protagonist, a man haunted by an unrequited desire, engages in a ritualistic, detached relationship with a woman who agrees to mirror his fixation. Their interaction is defined by a profound sense of isolation and the impossibility of true connection, as they attempt to reconstruct a lost image through their own bodies. The narrative framework is sparse and dreamlike, stripping away conventional plot progression to focus on the internal mechanics of longing and the erosion of identity.
This work is frequently analyzed for its stark, minimalist approach to the complexities of human desire and the fragility of the self. Critics often point to the author's ability to create an atmosphere of profound alienation that forces the reader to confront the emptiness inherent in obsession. The narrative's refusal to provide traditional resolution or character development is seen as a deliberate stylistic choice that mirrors the characters' own inability to find fulfillment. It remains a significant example of late-twentieth-century experimental fiction that prioritizes mood and philosophical inquiry over conventional storytelling structures.
Page Count:
128
Publication Date:
1989-05-25
Publisher:
Flamingo
ISBN-10:
0006543367
ISBN-13:
9780006543367
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