I received a free copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads program.

Despite the fact that he has won the 2014 Nobel Prize for Literature, I have never heard of Patrick Modiano. Judging from the reactions of quite a few other people who are much better read than I am, neither have they. After reading this book, I'm puzzled by why he won. Modiano is not a bad writer by any means. He writes descriptions beautifully:

"Behind me a jukebox was playing an Italian song. The stench of burning tires floated in the air. A girl was walking under the leaves of the trees along Boulevard Jourdan. Her blond bangs, cheekbones and green dress were the only note of freshness on that early August afternoon. Why bother chasing ghosts and trying to solve insoluble mysteries when life was there, in all its simplicity beneath the sun."

That's a lovely quote and "Suspended Sentences" is full of them. The characters are often interesting and intriguing. However, nothing really seems to happen even when it does. I know that sounds odd, but it's the best description I can come up with. In "Afterimage," a man investigated a mysterious photographer he once knew, but his quest really doesn't seem to go anywhere. In "Suspended Sentences," a young boy and his brother live with some women who have less than savory connections. However, you're never really sure what is going on or what happens to the women (or the boys for that matter). The last story, "Flowers of Ruin," concerns a man's investigation in the double suicide of a married couple in 1933. He basically wanders the city and does not really accomplish much of anything.

I really don't see the point of the stories. If Modiano's other work is like this, I have doubts about the Nobel committee. Surely they could have found something better than this. I'm certainly not about to read anything else by Modiano.