Suicidio. (Suicide)

Frenchman Leve was a conceptual artist as well as a writer whose works included a collection of 533 projects titled Oeuvre. This novel, his final work, was delivered to his publisher six days before he took his own life. One of Leve's main preoccupations dealt with doubles and doubling. Here, he seems to mirror this obsession and neatly closes his life, as well as his work. Although the novel focuses on a childhood friend's suicide 20 years before, it also serves as a much broader canvas for Leve to reflect on a multitude of aspects regarding living in this world. Despite the certainty of the outcome of the narrator's decision and the grimness of his final act, the author manages to engage the reader through his taut prose. Suicidio is short and dense, with reflections and observations on the minutiae of the ordinary, so much so that the quotidian seemingly takes on a greater power and things we take for granted acquire a new status. Leve is aware of the impact suicide has on those nearest and dearest but offers the suicide's perspective. There is no sentimentality in the sober text, yet it is not morbidly compelling either because of the knowledge of his subsequent suicide. A splendid translation. Recommended for all libraries and discerning readers.—Catherine Rendón, Savannah, GA