Part 1, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 Summary

This thematically complex novel is equal parts psychological study and mystery thriller, using the narrative structure of the latter as a framework for the former. It tells the story of a self-centered young Briton, Nicholas Urfe, who over the course of a magical summer in Greece discovers at times frightening truths about himself and about the nature of life. Vivid imagery, dense language, and intriguingly-layered characterizations thread and collide and intertwine throughout the narrative until the reader, like Nicholas, is unsure of what's true and what's fabricated by the characters. Only on the novel's very last page are protagonist and reader alike assured that the carefully-woven mystery is over ... and the free-flowing mystery of life is now ready to begin.

These first chapters introduce the novel's protagonist, Nicholas Urfe - self-involved child of uninvolved parents, user of women, disinterested...