(I find it impossible to name this town, as I have done in previous books. Here it is not a geographical landmark on a map, lying somewhere between Rouen and Le Havre, cut across by the railroad tracks or highway N15. It is a nameless place of origin: as soon as I go back I succumb to a state of lethargy that prevents me from thinking or even remembering, as if the place were going to swallow me up once again.)
