I am so glad I spent time with this novel. It is beautifully written in all its bleakness and squalor. A doomed love affair with the backdrop of a failing state and Erpenbeck does a great job of pairing the two and showing the similarities. There were two themes which stood out to me. One is the presence of Kairos, the god of fortunate moments, and how difficult it is to grasp and hold onto those moments, and the absence or opposite of Kairos and how those moments seem more prevalent than the fortunate. The other theme that I felt was handled exceptionally well was the spinning of the truth, our own or the one presented to us. Running throughout the text is the line “The truth must be properly engineered for it to be believed” and later morphed into “Even a lie must be properly engineered for it to be believed.” Helpful in understanding the era she writes about but also applicable to what we are seeing on a daily basis. Wonderful book and highly recommended.