Gabriel Josipovici - Infinity - The Story of a Moment

He was silent.

I waited for him to continue.

When it became clear that he was not going to, I said: Go on.

— I have nothing more to say, sir, he said.

— Would you like to rest? I asked him.

— No, sir, he said.

— Would you like us to go on tomorrow?

— No, sir, he said. I have nothing more to say.

— Are you quite sure?

— Yes, sir, he said.

— Then all that remains is for me to thank you, I said.

— Yes, sir, he said. Thank you, sir.

THE END

The protagonist of this novel is loosely based on the Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi (1905–1988). The author would like to thank the Fondazione Isabella Scelsi, Rome, for permission to incorporate fragments from Scelsi’s own writings into the narrative.

GABRIEL JOSIPOVICI was born in Nice in 1940 of Russo-Italian, Romano-Levantine parents. He lived in Egypt from 1945 to 1956, when he came to Britain. After graduating from Oxford he joined the faculty of the University of Sussex in 1963, where he remained till he took early retirement in 1998. He is the author of sixteen novels, three volumes of short stories, eight critical works, a memoir of his mother, the poet and translator Sacha Rabinovitch, and numerous stage and radio plays, and is a regular contributor to the Times Literary Supplement . His work has been translated into the major European languages and Arabic. Visit www.gabrieljosipovici.org for further information.