Summary

in section i of chapter 1, the main character – scared, physically ill, and self-imprisoned in his hotel room in Amsterdam at Christmastime – hides from the as-yet-undisclosed details of an unknown murder reported in the Dutch newspapers. His anxiety escalates at the benign noises of church bells tolling (de Westertoren and de Krijtberg); at his inability to understand the Dutch language in the newspapers and on television; and at the nightmares he suffers during sleep. The main character studies two small oil paintings in his hotel room, and he dreams of his dead mother for the first time in years, as he lies feverish in bed.

In section ii, the main character remembers vivid details of his now-dead mother. He writes them down. Because he had gotten suspended from school when he was thirteen years old, he and his...