Once again, Jason issues a challenge like hint fiction and I can think of little else.

Those little exercises are harder than you might think.

Reading, now that's the easy part.

I'm a bit behind on sharing what I've been reading - or perhaps I've just been reading more than usual. I had a three book weekend, but haven't been able to pick up anything new since the work week began. Sigh.

On to the works.

"Unforgivable" by Philippe Djian (translated from French by Euan Cameron)poses interesting questions about what exactly is unforgivable.

"Where does that feeling one sometimes gets that life is mocking you come from?" ponders Francis, the novel's central character. Francis is remarried after the accidental deaths of his first wife and one daughter and has a complicated (to say the least) relationship with his surviving daughter.

But who hasn't shared that wonder at one point or another?

Among the issues readers are asked to consider as "unforgivable" are marital infidelty and abandonment by parent or child. Can people truly move beyond such events?

"I had made the mistake of believing that certain terrains remained firm and solid, and could withstand wind and tide," Francis admits.

There were enough such observations to keep me turning the pages, nodding my head and asking myself those questions.

Generally I have an easier time connecting with a female lead character, especially in a novel focused on relationships, but Djian's Francis pens a diary that allows for that intimate connection despite the gender difference.


- Tricia Ambrose