Many thoughts. First off, the elements that can be offputting. The many flashbacks, mixing of timelines and perspectives was sometimes somewhat confusing, but generally worked well. There isn't much plot, simply a lot of thinking, which is fine, but it's not for everyone. At the end, I felt like the conflict the book had been building up to kind of ended up sizzling out, it seemed like an easy way out. Now, the positive elements. The characters are intriguing, they are well characterised, directly and indirectly. Erneste's mental journey is very interesting, as well as Klingler's. The hotel setting makes for an interesting dynamic between personal and professional, emotional and emotionless. Though I was a bit underwhelmed with the final plot twists concerning Jakob, they still fit with the rest of the story, so that despite it, the journey the characters had went on was not for nothing. All in all, I quite enjoyed it, despite it's few faults. It's very similar the Der Klavierschüler, by Lea Singer, which I also enjoyed.

(This is not the edition I read, this review is meant solely for the "Letters of Chion", though I have also read "Callirhoe" and "Daphnis and Chloe")

"Letters of Chion" is a short collection of letters, supposedly written by Chion of Heraclea, in the form of an epistolary novel. "Chion" in his letters to his father, his friend Bion, the tyrant of Heraclea Clearchus, and Plato, describes his journey to philosophy, which started upon meeting Xenophon (the historian) during the March of the Ten Thousand. He decideds to stay in Athens to study under Plato. However, upon hearing that Clearchus has become a tyrant in Heraclea, his hometown, "Chion" decides that it is his duty, to return home and kill Clearchus.

While I didn't find it particularly interesting, the philosophical elements certainly did interest me. At the beginning of the novel, one has no idea where it will lead one: it simply starts out with the letters of a son to his father. The ending, therefore, comes as a surprise, but is welcome. Stylistically, it isn't particularly well or badly written. The form of the epistolary novel is especially interesting, seeing as it is the only one we have preserved. Interesting is also that the letters are all only from the perspective of "Chion", meaning we only get one perspective of the story, and have to deduce what has happened in between letters. All in all, I'm reading this to hold a presentation on it, and it's fine. It's nothing exceptionnal, but it's not as boring as some people make it out to be.

Daphnis and Chloe is one of the five Ancient Greek novels to have been preserved in their completion. It tells of the love story between two sheperd children, Daphnis and Chloe, and how they unite in their love. This novel is lovely. I was smiling the whole time while reading it: it's funny, it's cute, it's romantic, it's dramatic, it's bucolic. The simpleness of the setting and of the characters is very tasteful, the stripped down style is easy to read and understand. Frankly, it's just an incredibly enjoyable read. I 100% recommend reading it just for fun, you'll have a great time, and it's also not very long.