The Notebook, The Proof, The Third Lie: Three Novels [Paperback]

Agota Kristof (Author), Alan Sheridan (Translator), David Watson (Translator), Marc Romano (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 23, 1997

These three internationally acclaimed novels have confirmed Agota Kristof's reputation as one of the most provocative exponents of new-wave European fiction. With all the stark simplicity of a fractured fairy tale, the trilogy tells the story of twin brothers, Claus and Lucas, locked in an agonizing bond that becomes a gripping allegory of the forces that have divided "brothers" in much of Europe since World War II. Kristof's postmodern saga begins with The Notebook, in which the brothers are children, lost in a country torn apart by conflict, who must learn every trick of evil and cruelty merely to survive. In The Proof, Lucas is challenging to prove his own identity and the existence of his missing brother, a defector to the "other side." The Third Lie, which closes the trilogy, is a biting parable of Eastern and Western Europe today and a deep exploration into the nature of identity, storytelling, and the truths and untruths that lie at the heart of them all. "Stark and haunting." - The San Francisco Chronicle; "A vision of considerable depth and complexity, a powerful portrait of the nobility and perversity of the human heart." - The Christian Science Monitor.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (June 23, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802135064
• ISBN-13: 978-0802135063
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #146,649 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond Postmodern: Kristof's "The Notebook", October 20, 1998

By 

Daniel A. Brockman (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Notebook, The Proof, The Third Lie: Three Novels (Paperback)

"the Notebook" is one of the most powerful books I have ever read, and it is written the way books should be: easy to read, engaging, to the point, short, and thoroughly thought-provoking. When you are done with "The Notebook", it forces you to sit and ponder what you have just read. The book really twists the conventions of the first person narrative, so that even though the narrator(s) are thoroughly convincing, you are not sure what to believe. This convention also makes the narrators' often immoral and reprehensible acts believable and understandable. This only adds to the moral conundrum of this story, a cunundrum that is at the heart of war-time life.

I first read this in 1994; I'm extremely happy to see it finally in print again, and with the two sequels thrown in as well. A terrific and engaging novel!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterful achievement, January 23, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Notebook, The Proof, The Third Lie: Three Novels (Paperback)

Uncanny. How can such simple, methodical prose achieve suchpoetry? How can such bare-bones�@descriptions and lists of nouns provoke such emotion? Kristof (a Hungarian who writes in French) writes like a dream--and begs comparison with Samuel Beckett and Vladimir Nabokov. The Notebook is a black comedy of the war years written in the first person plural by inseparable twin boys. Brought up by a filthy, illiterate old woman, they learn life's most precious skills--to lie, steal, fight, beg and blackmail. In The Proof, one twin flees across the border and the one left behind never recovers. He spins a heartbreaking tale of loneliness despite raising a family and pursuing an affair among totalitarian drabness.�@The Third Lie contains two versions of the exile's return 50 years later. In the first half, the exile wanders around in search of his brother, and in the process, reinventing his own life. In the second half, the twin who stayed spins another heartrending version of the boys' past. Read in succession, the trilogy enchants with its facts and fables, its onion-layer structure, and its icy prose.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Changing perspectives, March 9, 2002

By 

Linda Oskam "dutch-traveller" (Amsterdam Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Notebook, The Proof, The Third Lie: Three Novels (Paperback)

The Notebook (by far the best of the 3 books) describes the lives of a nameless twins that grow up in a Hungarian border village during the second world war. The are raised by their grandmother, or maybe it is better to say that they grow up despite the presence of their grandmother. The children find ways to survive the war: on the one hand they can be extremely friendly and caring, for example for the girl next door, on the other hand they are 2 extremely awful boys who steal, deceive, betray and even murder whenever they think this is necessary. A beautiful, oppressive book about what war does to children, but also about the capacity of children to survive under extreme conditions.

The Proof describes the life of Lucas, who remains in the Hungarian village after the war. He tries to get a decent life, but every time he seems to have some luck something awful happens which brings him back to square one. At the end of the book a German appears in the village who may or may not be his brother Claus.

The Third Lie consists of 3 parts: one in which Claus describes the search for his brother after his return to the capital. Finally he finds an old, misanthropist poet whose name is also Klaus and who denies to be his brother. In the second part this Klaus describes why he does not want to recognize his brother.

It is fairly difficult to write one review of 3 books, even when these books are a logical sequel of each other. In every new book the perspective changes and the reader is left in doubt. Did this twin brother really exist? Who is Lucas and who is Claus? In the end the common denominator of the three books is the notion that real friendship does not exist, that nobody can be trusted and that every story can be told in different ways, depending on the perspective.