A farcical detective story and a profoundly refractive tale about a Russian émigré living in prewar Berlin who commits suicide after being humiliated by a jealous husband, only to suffer even greater indiginities in the afterlife. • A wonderfully layered exploration of the vicissitudes of identity, appearance, and the loss of self.
Smurov, a lovelorn and excruciatingly self-conscious Russian tutor, shoots himself after a beating by his mistress' husband. Unsure whether his suicide has been successful or not, Smurov drifts around Berlin, observing his acquaintances, but finds he can discover very little about his own life from the opinions of his distracted, confused fellow-émigrés.