Summary

In Chapter 7, after returning home, Krug spends time with Ember. Their evening together creates "a complex mixture of past, present, and future, with Olga's monstrous absence causing dreadful embarrassment" (94). Because neither man wants to talk about her death, they discuss their writing projects. For some time, they have wanted to rewrite Shakespearean plays in a way that they can claim authorship over Shakespeare’s work. They spend the evening sharing ideas and riffing off of one another. They discuss Hamlet at length, posing different approaches to the work. Their conversation is filled with wordplay and word games. Amidst the conversation, Krug "cannot help marveling at the strangeness of the day" (106). He muses on all that has happened, is happening, and will happen. He wonders about politics, and about literature and writing.

Suddenly, someone enters the house. Ember tells Krug to tell them he...