An new twist to and old gag

So, how could I add a new twist to the old gag of the "found manuscript"? Because I wanted to "hear" the main character's voice, his thoughts and ideas, the found manuscript was not enough: if the narrator somehow communicates with the main character, then he could transcribe the main character's comments and ideas. Well, that is not Jame Joyce's rambling inner-voice but it is better than nothing.

OK, then the premise was shaping up to be this: the narrator finds a manuscript, decides it is so interesting he wants to publish it, looks for the author, finds him but in a detached, disembodied way (through a chat on the Internet), the author gives his permission for the narrator to publish the thing but wants to comment and give the narrator some insights into his writings.

I thought a good guide to this form might be Conrad's "The Secret Sharer", in which the inexperienced captain of a ship takes on board and hides a murderer who is very much like the captain himself. Leggat is the dark side of the captain's good-orderly side.

Thus, I hit on the idea that the "anonymous" author might be only the inner self of the narrator talking to him about the found manuscript, or he might be a real person. Let's leave it ambiguous.

Right, now I have the premise and the form. How about the story? Why is this man "Lost in France"? What made him come here? What is he looking for?

Well, mid-life crisis is also a hackneyed theme. How about the exact opposite, that is, he doesn't know why he is here. He had no particular reason to come and just got on a plane on a whim. And worse, he can't find a reason to go back home either.

Our man is in a limbo-a nether-land of the undesired, of inaction, of lassitude toward Life. He is "lost" because he had no direction, no purpose in Life. Like the caterpillar says in "Alice in Wonderland", if you don't care where you are going then it doesn't matter which way you go. In this man's case, it doesn't matter if you don't go at all.

Uff, so now I have to go back and read Camus and Sartre. I'll let you know what I get out of that.

Regards,
El Escritor