Book Four, Chapter 1 Summary

Van is fifty two years of age in 1922. He explains that he wrote his second book because he wanted to investigate the essence of time. He discusses the concepts of time and space and views the past and present as two points in the same place. The distance between the two points cannot be measured. The past consists of images of linked events that an individual can browse through. Reality consists of the present since the past no longer exists and the future has not yet occurred. The present is measured in a fraction of a second.

Van is driving to Mont Roux. He has spent the last two months in Europe and then receives news of Andrey's death. Arriving in Mont Roux, he checks in at the Three Swans and waits for Ada to arrive. Ada arrives without...