Why did I title this text Before? Normally, I should have named it After. But few things happen here. Now and then, we hear the metro passing by: it is our main entertainment. We hear it very faintly. At what distance does it pass? At one hundred and fifty meters? At five hundred meters? How long will it take us to open a tunnel of such length? We often discuss this topic. We distinguish day from night thanks to the sound of the metro. When we don't hear it for a long time, we assume it is night or that the drivers are on strike. We also hear the opening and closing of the cemetery gate.

In Alexakis's hell, vivid memories flourish, episodes often comical and so true unfold that the author manages to forget from time to time what mainly torments him, the illness and death of his mother. One of his amazing ideas, which provokes laughter, is this incredible solitaire he plays in the dark, without cards, with the help of his memory.

Le Monde