Léon and Cullen are an interesting pair – I dived into the book not noting its translator until about fifteen pages in, thinking that both the translator and author in this case were at the beginning of their careers. Realizing that it was Cullen, the prose was exposed as not tentative, but unworked. Was there an attempt to mimic the author’s inexperience? But this stilt works on a thematic level, for the conversations between Lenny and Herman follow certain conventions: a) do not pry too much, b) do not reveal too much, and c) have poetry and music speak for you (e.g., Verlaine’s Sagesse, Aragon’s Le Roman inachevé, Jacques Drillon, and Schubert of course.) The references to music seem to comprise the essence of their bond; the struggle to speak to things beyond music confounds them. In her response to Lucas Debargue, Léon acknowledges this strange contrast between the expressiveness of Lenny’s music and the silence that otherwise permeates the way they communicate.