It is symbolic that the most ruthless book of the past century was written shortly before its end, in 1986. It is no less symbolic that it was written by a woman. Even the comical similarity of the name Agotha Christophe with the name of Agatha Christie (also, by the way, a very ruthless lady) is quite symbolic. Agatha spent her entire life inventing entertaining stories about mercantile poisoners; Agota did it simpler: she tried to retell life “close to the text”, to write the truth and only the truth. Her stories cannot be called entertaining: they are too true (disgustingly true) to be entertaining. The book is based on a diary written by twin brothers Klaus and Lucas, but throughout the novel the brothers merge into one character, and the narrative, already saturated with cruelty and fear, is also supplemented by guilt towards their brother, real or perhaps fictional.