Cees Nooteboom masterfully masters the art of allowing great world questions to flicker behind small things. For instance, a chance encounter on the beach leads to the question of whether a small boy can be the mirror in which one's own age fades away. The plants in the author's Mediterranean garden, on the other hand, are little concerned with this; they lead their own lives. And the agave, which presumably speaks with a Mexican accent, is pursuing a mission known only to itself. Nooteboom's correspondence with the sea god is enchanting: playful yet deeply serious, laconic and poetic, it presents the narrative in a clear, warm light.