“Apsiche” - Elżbieta Latėnaitė’s debut book, which includes a novel of the same name and five short stories closely related to the novel psychologically and stylistically, was published in Lithuanian in 2009 and immediately aroused great interest and conflicting assessments from the readership. and critics. The heroine of the novel Apsyche (and - absence, denial, psyche - the embodiment of the human soul) is an artist who has abandoned art, tests the limits of the capabilities of her body, feelings, mind, without avoiding sharp extremes: from prostitution to quiet “fossilization”, which, according to the author, “there is something in between extraordinary humility and very purposeful, strong-willed preparation for who knows what and at the same time for death.” In her world, which exists outside the laws of nature, society, and language, eternal questions are heard: what is love? what is a person? does man exist?

Translation: Natalia Arlauskaite, Taisiya Laukkonen