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Alan Sheridan

Agota Kristof

The Notebook, The Proof, The Third Lie: Three Novels Paperback – June 23, 1997

by Agota Kristof (Author), Alan Sheridan (Translator), David Watson (Translator),

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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.

Print length

480 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Grove Press
Publication date

June 23, 1997
Dimensions

5.56 x 1.33 x 8.21 inches
ISBN-10

0802135064
ISBN-13

978-0802135063
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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

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 for 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 challenged 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.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Grove Press; Reissue edition (June 23, 1997)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0802135064
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0802135063
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.25 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.56 x 1.33 x 8.21 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #85,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,059 in Short Stories (Books)
- #4,368 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- #17,975 in Genre Literature & Fiction

Customer Reviews:
142 ratings

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Alan Sheridan
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Alan Sheridan (1934 - 2015) was the author of Andrée Gide: A Life in the Present. He translated works by Jean-Paul Sartre, Jacques Lacan, Michel Foucault, Jean Lacouture and Alain Robbe-Grillet.
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Agota Kristof
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5 star		80%
4 star		13%
3 star		6%
2 star		1%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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V

Heart-wrenching

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 3, 2022

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Finally got this book after eyeing it for a while. I love the Mother/EarthBound series, and hearing about how this inspired Shigesato Itoi's Mother 3, my favourite game of the series, I just had to check it out. It was a constant gut-punch after another, but it's anything other than bad. This is an extremely emotional book that had some twists I legitimately didn't expect, and as much as it hurt, I loved it too. Highly recommend

3 people found this helpful

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whj

All judgments suspended...captivating

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 9, 2015

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First of all, although each novel by itself is a great story, it is an excellent choice to publish all three in one book. The book is written in simple and direct prose, and brilliantly portrays--by the actions of the twins and other characters--the time of the confusion during the war when evil is triumphant and all morality and ethics are in chaos, very fragile, and subject to the brutality or mercy of the occupying force. The exercises of the twins--of cruelty, immobility, begging, fasting--are what is needed for survival. Nevertheless, there are also the tenacious, ever present human affairs and frailties--love of all kinds, sexuality, hypocrisy, atonement, hope and despair, violence and destruction. Because the twins see the world through the facts and descriptions in verbs, rather than emotions and judgment, the characters are very complex and unpredictable, no characters are romanticized or one dimensional. The book has many stories within the book, and there are numerous, surprising, scary turns in this book, I screamed a few times. (so stay away from the reviews with spoilers.) I had a little bit of resistance to the part III, and it took a few pages to reorient myself, but in the end, the part III works to provide explanation and ending. Some people may not like the explanation and would rather like an open or more allegorical ending, regardless, this is an exciting, captivating book which makes you think about it for a long time.

11 people found this helpful

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R. Hartounian

Simply Magnificent

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 24, 2022

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Mesmerizing. I can't think of any book like this. Very new experience for me at 60. (And I read literature in three languages.)

6 people found this helpful

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pidhajnyk

Agotha Kristof...not Agatha Christie!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 21, 2013

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I can't believe I never heard of Agota Kristof before (I think much of the problems is that her name sounds like an Eastern European translation of Agatha Christie?), she is an absolutely astounding writer and nothing even remotely approaching Agatha Christie, so dot worry.

The first book in her trilogy: The Notebook (not to be confused with that Nicholas Sparks crap!) is an absolutely stunning example of, what appears to be minimalist writing; but is really a highly detailed, though extremely and thoroughly fact based reporting of two twins boys who narrator the book (both of them) in a first person plural narrative-"we went to grandmother's house...we listened to grandmother talk...etc. It tells the story of these two growing up in a war torn environment and their very unique, yet ethically sound methods of living and dealing in that extreme environment.

The Proof is almost a different book entirely. Only one of the brothers is discussed and the narration has become third person.

The last book in the series The Third Lie, deals with the other twins story which had up to that point been neglected in the second book. I would absolutely recommend everyone pick up this trilogy and read it-I can't imagine anyone disliking this particular piece of narrative fiction.

7 people found this helpful

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Britta Derington

Great novel!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 9, 2021

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I'm reading this book for the second time. That's how good it is.

One person found this helpful

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Erik

a mixed bag

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 9, 2015

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The film, The Notebook, was outstanding. In a five star rating system, it warrents 5 stars. It inspired me to get this trilogy. The first book, The Notebook, matched perfectly with the film and was 5 stars in my rating both in print and in film. The second book, The Proof, was enjoyable. I would rate it alone with 4 stars. The third book, The Third Lie, was for me the least fulfilling. I would rate it with 3 stars. Thus the entire trilogy is rated by me with 4 stars. For me, the story development diminished as the entire trilogy enfolded. Nevertheless, it was still a good read. I hope the last two books of the trilogy also get made into film.

3 people found this helpful

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Peter Seige

Best book I’ve read in a long time

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 8, 2021

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Best book I’ve read in a long time

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 30, 2017

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"The Notebook, The Proof, The Third Lie" by Agota Kristof are three novels in one story line by the author. They all concern the same family, with differences in memory, perception, and how they face the realities that life brings them. All three have sparse text, but complex, developed characters. The first two novels are truly fascinating, and the third, though I thought it stumbled a bit midstream, created new lines of thought and perception for the reader that challenged conclusions drawn in the earlier two novels. This a fascinating book, and well worth reading.

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Ralph Blumenau

The first book five stars, the second four, the third two.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 22, 2017

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Some novels that appear in the form of trilogies, though they share some material, can be read separately, and sometimes even in any order. But that is not the case here. Though the books were published at intervals, The Notebook in 1986, The Proof 1988 and The Third Lie 1991, they are really parts of one novel. This has been recognized when in 1997 they were republished together in one volume I am reviewing here. The separate volumes are now out of print and quite hard to come by second-hand – in fact the British Amazon does not stock The Third Lie as a separate book at all. But reviewing the three books in one single review would be something of a spoiler. I have therefore reviewed them separately (The Third Lie on amazon.com only); so that readers don’t learn what is in the third book when they are reading the first one.

The first one, “The Notebook”, supposedly written by inseparable twin brothers, from the ages of nine to fifteen, is brilliant, and I gave it five stars. It is obviously, though not explicitly, set in Hungary between 1943 and 1950 – i.e. during the Second World War and the communist period which followed it. That book could stand alone. It ends with one of the brothers, Claus, escaping abroad, leaving the other one, Lucas, behind.

The second one, “The Proof”, centres almost entirely on Lucas. It struck me as not being entirely organic, though, like the first one, very well written, and I gave it four stars, though Claus returns to Hungary in 1995.

The third one, “The Third Lie”, is radically different from the others. Seen mostly through the eyes of Claus, it almost completely subverts the stories told in the first two books as well as several times contradicting itself. It is “post-modern”, and thoroughly unsettling: you just don’t know where you are. I didn’t like it, and gave it only two stars. That pulls down the overall rating of the trilogy to three stars.

8 people found this helpful

chillbilly

mindblowing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 1, 2010

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This is one of those (unfortunately) rare books that keeps your mind buzzing long after the last page is read. I actually tried to start another book the next day but Kristof's amazing story kept interrupting. The Notebook starts in an unnamed European country during the second world war and tells the story of young twins who are placed with their Grandmother in the countryside to avoid the bombings.

It is simply written with very short chapters, but dont let this put you off there is so much squeezed into each, some of it funny, some sad and some so shocking, disturbing and/or bonkers that I frequently had to put the book down before guiltly picking it up again for another fix.

The next two installments follows them into adulthood and the writing changes as a result with longer more detailed chapters but it is still an easy and gripping read.

I don't want to say to much more as to much info will spoil what this amazing book has in store - but believe me this is a rollercoaster of a ride and is as entertaining as it is harrowing, this is definately a book I will be reading again. Agota Kristof has a brilliant talent and it is a huge frustration that this is the only one of her books translated into english - I need more!

19 people found this helpful

chez

Impressive!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 10, 2013

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This is the second time I've bought and read this book! I first came across this book 10 years ago, it was so mind blowing that I gave the book away as a gift.

10 years on, I read it again... I'm now in my early 30s, and reading this book again actually gave me a different angle of life!

Agota Kristof is so original, I was constantly surprised and shocked by how far she was pushing the boundary. In the "Third Lie", I was constantly trying to figure out which one was the truth and which was a lie... it was written in such a clever way that everything was so weird and awkward, but somehow it seems to make sense!

This is such a little gem... this book definitely deserves much more attention and positive reviews!

9 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

A Novel of poverty war and a miserable childhood

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 20, 2019

Verified Purchase

This is a diffrerent book, it is a compelling read but it leaves one very upset. I highly recommend it.
The story takes place in a poverty striken war torn country and reminds me somewhat of my early childhood after the war when conditions were quite tough with rationing and poverty in existence.

Auberon Quin

Three short novels glued together following the lives of twins ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 4, 2017

Verified Purchase

Three short novels glued together following the lives of twins (possibly - don't want to give too much away) in a country close to one where there is a war (obviously Hungary but never stated). The writing is tight, the characters sizzle, and the story unfolds terrifyingly.
You'll read this in one sitting or you're not a viable member of the human race.

One person found this helpful

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