This novel is probably one of Modiano's most accomplished and poignant works. Haunting, deeply moving without being sentimental, beautifully written, atmospheric and dreamy, Quartier Perdu is a slow ballad through an almost surreal Paris, a city of broken destinies that is caught between an uncertain past and a present filled with ghosts. Here's a book that leaves the reader with bittersweet emotions which will resonate long after the last page has been read. As with all of Modiano's novels, nothing much happens, and as usual, it's all about trying to reconstruct, in a vague way, events that happened a long time ago, the loss of youth, and finding back mysterious people from a faraway past. But the past can never be recaptured, and what survives are merely fugitive traces, as heartbreaking as evanescent clouds of perfume that suddenly bring back imprecise memories, before disappearing forever. Modiano's elegant, discreet prose perfectly evokes the poignancy of what's lost and yet keeps living within us. Under his pen, Paris becomes a dreamlike city, where past and present collide tenderly and sadly, and a strange romanticism emanates from his pages. It's intensely visual, in a cinematic way, and yet no movie could quite do justice to this book. Modiano remains one of the few real masters of contemporary French literature.