![]() He looks almost surprised to see himself: he gives that stranger a glance that is as objective and compassionless as any glance in the street. ![]() It presages a breakdown of some kind which is only staved off by a random encounter with a painting by L – a self portrait in which the artists appearsĪt about the distance you might keep between yourself and a stranger. Our narrator is M – and I have never liked the use of letters for names as if to grant anonymity to fictional characters – who is a writer and claims to have met the devil on a train in Paris. ![]() This was my first Rachel Cusk and, oh boy, it was a challenging read, make no mistake! With its examination of the possibility that art can both save and destroy us, Second Place is deeply affirming of the human soul, while grappling with its darkest demons. Over the course of one hot summer, his provocative presence provides the frame for a study of female fate and male privilege, of the geometries of human relationships, and of the struggle to live morally between our internal and external worlds. Rachel Cusk SynopsisĪ woman invites a famed artist to visit the remote coastal region where she lives, in the belief that his vision will penetrate the mystery of her life and landscape. ![]() True art means seeking to capture the unreal. The truth lies not in any claim to reality, but in the place where what is real moves beyond our interpretation of it. ![]()
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