"A Foreign Body" from We're Flying by Peter Stamm

If he'd been very concentrated and managed to focus his attention on the group, then surely it would be possible to get by without slides, and finally even without words, and just be in the dark and allow time to elapse for an hour or two.

Stamm's collection of short stories includes "A Foreign Body," a story about cave explorer Christoph and, in a way, about how his changed relationship to the caves he loves and explores reflects his relationships with other people.

What makes the sentence above so effective is its placement before we learn of the presentation he is about to give. Once we learn that the slides are pictures taken within the least accessible caves, the caves where even the paying public extreme athletes aren't allowed to go, we can imagine that he means that he could express the nature of the caves, the sense of darkness, stillness, and quiet, just by sitting with his audience in the dark.

However, that is what the sentence means only after we read about the stalactites, the cave floor, and the still air. Its placement before that description allows another reading. Christoph is also expressing both his own isolation in society as well as his desire for shared experience. There is an implied pessimism about this experience, however, as it is one that would be defined by darkness, silence, and the sense of isolation even within a group.

By the end of the short story, Christoph's changed relationship to the caves that are his passion is revealed. Returning to this sentence upon completing the story reinforces this reading that focuses on human relationships rather than on the presentation of the cave itself. 

Stamm, Peter. "A Foreign Body." We're Flying. Trans., Michael Hoffman. New York: Other Pr, 2008.