The Notebook, the Proof, the Third Lie: Three Novels

With all the stark simplicity of a fractured fairy tale, the trilogy tells the story of twin brothers with anagrammatic names, Claus and Lucas, locked in an agonizing bond that becomes a gripping allegory of the forces that have divided "brothers" in much of Europe since World War II.

Kristof's postmodern saga begins with The Notebook, in which the 13-year-old brothers, living in a country torn apart by war, must learn every trick of evil and cruelty to survive. Sent to live with their alienated grandmother, a filthy, illiterate old woman, who didn't know of the boys' existence until they arrived at her front door, they learn life's most precious skills—to lie, steal, fight, beg, blackmail and kill. A beautiful, oppressive book about what war does to children, but also about the capacity of children to survive under extreme conditions.

In "The Proof", after the war, one twin flees across the border and the one left behind never recovers. He spins a heartbreaking tale of loneliness despite raising a family and pursuing an affair among totalitarian drabness. 

"The Third Lie" contains two versions of the exile's return 50 years later. In the first half, the exile wanders around in search of his brother, and in the process, reinventing his own life. In the second half, the twin who stayed spins another heartrending version of the boys' past. Read in succession, the trilogy enchants with its facts and fables, its onion-layer structure, and its icy prose.

In the end the common denominator of the three books is the notion that real friendship does not exist, that nobody can be trusted and that every story can be told in different ways, depending on the perspective.

The Notebook takes the first 185 pages of the trilogy's 480. It is divided into 64 short chapters, each written in very short but precise sentences narrated in first person plural by the twin boys.

 The Notebook is reminiscent of Jerzy Kosinski’s The Painted Bird, describing in stark, dispassionate prose a grim and brutal existence in World War Two Hungary, with scenes of self-preservation, hunger, violence, rape, sadism, masochism, pedophilia, and bestiality.

These three internationally acclaimed novels have confirmed Agota Kristof's reputation as one of the most provocative exponents of new-wave European fiction. With all the stark simplicity of a fractured fairy tale, the trilogy tells the story of twin brothers, Claus and Lucas, locked in an agonizing bond that becomes a gripping allegory of the forces that have divided "brothers" in much of Europe since World War II. Kristof's postmodern saga begins with The Notebook, in which the brothers are children, lost in a country torn apart by conflict, who must learn every trick of evil and cruelty merely to survive. In The Proof, Lucas is challenging to prove his own identity and the existence of his missing brother, a defector to the "other side." The Third Lie, which closes the trilogy, is a biting parable of Eastern and Western Europe today and a deep exploration into the nature of identity, storytelling, and the truths and untruths that lie at the heart of them all. "Stark and haunting." - The San Francisco Chronicle; "A vision of considerable depth and complexity, a powerful portrait of the nobility and perversity of the human heart." - The Christian Science Monitor.

These three internationally acclaimed novels have confirmed Agota Kristof's reputation as one of the most provocative exponents of new-wave European fiction. With all the stark simplicity of a fractured fairy tale, the trilogy tells the story of twin brothers, Claus and Lucas, locked in an agonizing bond that becomes a gripping allegory for the forces that have divided "brothers" in much of Europe since World War II. Kristof's postmodern saga begins with The Notebook, in which the brothers are children, lost in a country torn apart by conflict, who must learn every trick of evil and cruelty merely to survive. In The Proof, Lucas is challenged to prove his own identity and the existence of his missing brother, a defector to the "other side". The Third Lie, which closes the trilogy, is a biting parable of Eastern and Western Europe today and a deep exploration into the nature of identity, storytelling, and the truths and untruths that lie at the heart of them all.