Running Away

Alienation and solitude have long been a focus for European literature, and the loneliness of the individual in a fractured society is as relevant today as it was in the 1950s in these two books.

Dalkey Archive's new translation of the award-winning Running Away marks the first time it has been available to English readers since being originally published in 2005. It tells the story of an unnamed man (therefore literally without an identity) in Shanghai and without an obvious purpose; in a place where he is denied language his wanderings bring him into a loosely defined possible love triangle, tinged with potential but ultimately unrealised threat. His journey is largely directionless until a death in the family prompts him to return home and care for his wife, suggesting that although life is often without obvious direction, we have an emotional responsibility to those around us to be present and to care.

The book is beautifully written in a clean and sparse style, yet still evokes a tremendous sensuality and tenderness; like Sartre and Camus, Toussaint seems to recognise the absurdity and loneliness of existence, but knows that salvation lies in the comfort of others.