Helmut Eisendle - A Piece of Blue Sky.

Once a year, on their wedding anniversary, Estes and Sophie meet in Venice for a revival of a marriage which is no longer a marriage. "As a man, one loves memories," says Estes – and after all, they did spend twenty years together. Sophie has already travelled to Venice with Schubert – not really a lovers' trip, since they do not even use the intimate "du" form to each other, but they still see themselves as a couple. Sophie had saved Schubert's life after his first suicide attempt. Months later, he gets up, showers, shaves and combs his hair, dresses in his black suit, takes his Winchester, reloads it, puts on a record of Rachmaninov's 3rd Symphony, drinks a triple cognac, lies down on his bed with the rifle at his side, takes an overdose of veronal and suffocates in a fit of hiccups. A strange and sad story. Estes feels responsible for the death of Schubert, of whose existential suffering he was aware; he ought to have done something about it. Whereas others are all too ready to reject blame, Estes is almost manic in his attempt to take it upon himself. He can and will not resign himself to the inevitability of his friend's action, until he himself comes alarmingly close to death.