Review S4: The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster

          Auster tends to tell more than show, but his narrative is incredible—it is captivating, enticing, and effective. The entire book seemed to be a mystery in and of itself—each sentence was written in a way that made me believe that just maybe it was important to the story, maybe I should remember it and try to fit it in the the puzzle. This, and the interesting material, kept me engaged throughout the entire collection. There was minor crossover between the stories, with more solid thematic crossover between them—at times I found myself wondering if there was not more crossover that I hadn't connected. The three novellas all have references to things that truly happened, facts. I found myself pausing and putting the book down, when these interesting facts came up, to check to see if what was said in the book held any truth. Each time I checked, I was shown that the facts were true and the stories as interesting as they were portrayed in the book.

City Of Glass

          At times the story dives into the thoughts of the protagonist, or into the text of the book he is reading, and I would become absorbed in this secondary story, momentarily forgetting the larger story at play. While some may feel that this technique distracts from the story, Auster manages to do this in a way that, I feel, strengthens the story as a whole. This story may be disappointing for those who prefer a typical plot structure—the story builds up and the reader is given hints about what might be coming, but then the main story is pulled out from under the reader and the story just seems to flatten out. Then, the story ends without any real resolution, leaving the reader with many questions. One thing that I found to be really interesting and effective was that there is a story that sits on the surface, but there are many stories beneath that. Similarly, there are many things you could take from the reading, whether they are intentionally there or not. These elements are what, to me, brings the story to the level of exceptional.

3^rd person.

Ghost

         Never before has stagnancy been so entertaining and engaging. As a reader I felt, like the protagonist, stuck in a position—feeling trapped even though nothing has changed, waiting desperately for a change and for some momentous something. I was carried along with the story, and easily identified with the protagonist because the story caused me to feel so much of what he was feeling. Much of the protagonist's situation is the his own doing, which makes him a little less sympathetic, but a lot more interesting, in my opinion. He seems stubborn to a fault and relatively one dimensional, as he seems to have not before spent time with himself alone nor does he really seem to have many hobbies or interests that might be able to sustain him through the story. While the protagonist seemed somewhat one dimensional, I felt as though it worked in the story because the character was one dimensional in a way that I feel like many real people are—where they haven't spent enough time with themselves to know who they are and when they are forced to be alone without anyone telling them what to do, they are at a loss. Overall, for me, the author's ability to draw a reader in makes up for the character's downfalls.

3^rd person

The Locked Room

          This story begins in a way that makes it seem like it is the most like an actual mystery, or at least closer to what a person would normally recognize as a mystery. At some point the mystery seems to be solved, or maybe just forgotten and ignored; however, when everything seems settled, it then jumps up again with an answer, as well as more questions, and these things then command the reader's attention. There are themes of obsession and desperation. This last story gives a new way of looking at the story itself, as well as each story before it. With this last story, the book becomes whole and vibrant.

1^st person.

Trigger Warning: violent sexual thoughts and interaction. (Please email me if you would like more information.)

You might like this book if you like: Italo Calvino, Jorge Luis Borges, Kurt Vonnegut