Audition

Audition

As the end of the year approaches, I seem to reach for complicated literary stories that have a distinct breaking point – something like McEwan’s What We Can Know or Benjamin Wood’s Seascraper. Audition by Katie Kitamura fits right into this habit. It is likewise a book that requires your full attention and willingness to leave your thinking comfort zone. If you can do so and let it get to you, it has plenty to offer. Exactly what that is, though, I am not yet sure.

We meet our main protagonist, a hopeful, though nameless actress sitting at a café with a younger man named Xavier. Seemingly innocent dialogue soon slips into an unrelenting anxiety-inducing trap. When Thomas, the husband of said actress, comes into the room, conflict appears imminent. But no! The tension fizzles out leaving a faint sense of dissatisfaction. Moreover, the ‘lover’ claims he’s the actresses’ long-lost son. The problem? She says she’s never been pregnant. What?

The wheels of possible scenarios are set into motion in the reader’s head. Is Xavier really who he claims to be? Is he just trying to outfox Thomas and get into the actresses’ orbit? Is he a madman? A creep? We have no way of knowing, and the book lends no hand in finding it out.

Passing the halfway mark, the author starts to retell the story from the beginning, but from a different perspective (At least, I think?). This time, Xavier is, as a matter of fact, the son of the pair, who even moved his girlfriend into his parent’s home. Another bizarre play is in the making, but this time, the actress is simply an observer asking questions. Why is Thomas so close to Xavier and his girlfriend? Is there something more? Matters complicate further when she sees them engaged in something resembling some kind of a depraved sexual foreplay.

Audition

Kitamura Katie

AngličtinaPevná vazba

Vintage Publishing

ISBN: 9781911717324

Na objednávku

Předpokládané dodání v pondělí, 20. července 2026

461 Kč

Bežná cena: 512 Kč

Sleva 10 %

(-10 %)

Koupit

Na objednávku

Předpokládané dodání v pondělí, 20. července 2026

461 Kč

512 Kč -10 %

The rest of the book follows suit. The author often gives us hints through brilliantly crafted but uncomfortable dialogues and thoughts. She gives readers just enough information to develop their own worst-case scenarios. And she leaves the final verdict to them, too. Reading it, I felt like I was trying to hold onto a wet bar of soap. Just when I thought I had it in my grasp, it slipped through my fingers yet again.

Katie Kitamura is undoubtedly a storyteller. The book, though perhaps too open to interpretation, flows easily, making it difficult to put it down. However, something about it is just always out of reach. You know it’s there, but you can never get close enough. There were moments when I thought I was witnessing two completely different interpretations of the same play. In fact, critics are suggesting that that might actually be the case. Maybe that’s why the main protagonist remains nameless. After all, it’ up to you to find out.