Select language, opens an overlay

Comment

Oct 19, 2017SkokieStaff_Steven rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Even when I like a book, I seldom wish it were longer. I certainly would have welcomed more pages in Daniel Kehlmann’s genuinely frightening novella "You Should Have Left." A screenwriter, his wife, and their toddler daughter head off on a working vacation to a surprisingly inexpensive rental house perched alone on mountainside. One would think that a screenwriter, of all people, would realize he’s just asking for trouble, but he compounds his error by installing a baby monitor (a baby monitor!) in his daughter’s room. Needless to say, he doesn’t get much writing done before he starts noticing odd things going on. As his wife says, “I do find myself thinking of that movie sometimes. That good movie based on that not-so-good book.” I love the tropes of horror movies and fiction, and Kehlmann manipulates them skillfully.