I suppose if someone were to introduce a friend to the pleasures of reading Gene Wolfe, he could do worse than recommend this story. It is both a ghost story and not a ghost story, thanks to the author's playing to the genre's strength's of literalizing metaphors.
A lonely old man owns a bookshop, and finds a book in it that instructs the reader in the ways of a foreign language. Each phrase in the book is accompanied with English and French translations. The old man grows pretty good at it, to the extent that he wishes he had more people to talk to with it. But the few who do respond to his advertisement turn out to be frauds, or opportunists. The third responder, however, puts a whole new twist to the story...
...that isn't immediately evident. But look around and you'll come up with a few clues here and there that's guaranteed to enthrall.
A lonely old man owns a bookshop, and finds a book in it that instructs the reader in the ways of a foreign language. Each phrase in the book is accompanied with English and French translations. The old man grows pretty good at it, to the extent that he wishes he had more people to talk to with it. But the few who do respond to his advertisement turn out to be frauds, or opportunists. The third responder, however, puts a whole new twist to the story...
...that isn't immediately evident. But look around and you'll come up with a few clues here and there that's guaranteed to enthrall.
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