Book cover of Suspended Sentences

Book description

"Elegant. Unpretentious. Approachable. . . . He is, all in all, quite an endearing Nobelist."-Michael Dirda, Washington Post

"Modiano is a pure original."-Adam Thirlwell, The Guardian

"A fine introduction to Modiano's later work."-The Economist

"These novellas have a mood. They cast a spell."-Dwight Garner, New York Times

In this essential…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Suspended Sentences as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I love the writing of Patrick Modiano.

Here, the lost world that is encountered is within the lives and beings of the characters of the three novellas that make up this book, lives and beings that are on one level from Modiano’s own biography but which, in his spare and beautiful prose become of universal moment.

The world in the book is that of the dark years of the Nazi occupation of Paris. That which is fleeting, easily lost, mysterious, and obscure haunts the pages of the book, reminding us of how evanescent and uncertain memory is but also how…

From Patrick's list on vanishing human worlds.

If you love Suspended Sentences...

Book cover of Mural

Mural by Stephen Downes,

Famed Australian literary critic Peter Craven has included Mural in his best books for 2024. He called it "dark and brilliant." Rod McLary in the Queensland Reviewers Collective says it's "breath-taking," a "tour de force of literary fiction." On her blog This Reading Life, Brona was "fascinated" by this confession…

Want books like Suspended Sentences?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Suspended Sentences.

Browse books like Suspended Sentences

Book cover of The Radetzky March
Book cover of Voices of the Old Sea
Book cover of Pig Earth

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,340

readers submitted
so far, will you?