The topic of this book is a bold claim: Alexandros Papadiamantis does not write standalone short stories, but rather a large serialized novel, a work that is essentially open and unfinished, composed of relatively autonomous narratives (let's say: episodes or chapters), which are organic parts of a broader and singular novelistic composition.

Although this claim may seem outrageous, it does not seek accolades for originality, it has no trace of imagination, and it is not driven by any provocative intention; on the contrary: what I attempt to illuminate in this essay feels almost self-evident to me, and that is why I dare to present it, hoping to slightly enrich our understanding of the Skianthian, and thus the enjoyment that his work offers us.

This (the work of Papadiamantis) is also the sole argument of my presentation. I believe it to be sufficient; I believe it to be strong like fate. I mean: like the Revelation.