Auster this World: Another Great Read

"Reading was my escape, my comfort, my consolation, my stimulant of choice: reading for the pure pleasure of it, for the beautiful stillness that surrounds you when you hear an author's words reverberating in your head," writes Auster in The Brooklyn Follies.  What I realized about Auster is that you ever know what to expect in his stories from one page to the next, or whose backstory he will choose to focus on as he tends to shift protagonists.  This is what makes his books nearly impossible to put down.  There are so many interesting characters and subplots in this book.  So as not to give anything away, I'll just say that this is a story about an ordinary man named Nathan Glass who decides to live out his retirement years in Brooklyn.  Yet, everything that happens to Nathan once he makes this decision is far from ordinary, from the people he meets, to the places he travels, to the range of emotions he feels and the memories he conjures up.  I highly recommend Auster, and The Brooklyn Follies in particular.  

(Auster)ity

  

By page 1, I was irritated by the obscure literary references and seemingly pretentious writing.  By page 3, I could not put Invisible down.  This was my first foray into Auster's world, and it reminded me in a certain sense of Carlos Ruiz Zafon's Angel's Game.  Both books tell the story of a young writer brimming with promise who is unexpectedly sought out by a mysterious supposed benefactor.  Things quickly go awry and spin out of control.  Invisible is absorbing, shocking, disturbing even.  I didn't feel particularly fond of his characters, but I was intrigued enough by the plot to read this book in two sittings.  While this adds another tick mark on the list of depressing books I've read this year, I'll be reading more Auster very soon.  The writing is simple and straightforward - Auster picks every word carefully, creating a sparse but palpable read.