Paris, late nineteenth century. Modernization is changing the consciousness of Western man. The big cities are packed to bursting with new goods; they have just demolished the last vestiges of the Middle Ages. Artificial lighting shines on the streets and arcades, allowing one to explore the night. The petty bourgeoisie is growing, and surplus cash gives citizens the illusion of freedom of choice. Western democracies create and market a deception to us: "We are free." They tell us that our destiny is in our hands, that we can realize our aspirations according to our abilities and on the basis of equal opportunities. And in an unknown Parisian corner, a man gradually withdraws into himself. Crouched, frustrated, neurotic and sad, carrying an existential unease that he is unable to put into words. With the Current, one of the favorite novellas of Georges Perec, Valéry, Maupassant, and Michel Houellebecq, offers us a wonderfully existential and topical literary experience, as if it were addressed directly to us – the descendants of the generation that saw science, technology, and automation as the redemption of humanity. The novella With the Current was first published in Brussels in 1882, and this is its first translation into Hebrew. This book is the fifth book in the "Reserve" collectors' series.