Summary

Part I is called “Like a Burning House”. It opens with the protagonist, Korin, surrounded by seven children on a railway bridge in Hungary. The passage is told in retrospect from both the perspective of Korin and the perspective of the boys, who recount to other people what happened. The children had planned to rob Korin before he convinced them that he had no money and nothing of value for them to steal. Nervous, Korin embarked on a rambling stream of consciousness monologue in which he told the children about the events that had led to him being on the railway bridge. The children were waiting for a specific train to pass which they planned to attack with rocks and decided to stay put and listen to Korin’s mad speech until the train arrived. Korin did not know that was why they...