A graphic novel classic with a new introduction by Art Spiegelman
Quinn writes mysteries. The Washington Post has described h... read full description
Quinn writes mysteries. The Washington Post has described h... read full description
reviews
Sep 26, 2011
Sam
rated it: 
the original City of Glass, by paul auster, was a book that i enjoyed greatly when i first read it. i thought it was really unique, a thoughtful, stylish blend of raymond chandler, kafka, and borges. i still like it, but it hasn't aged that well for me. a lot of what i thought was playfulness now seems precious, facile. the prose is polished, but by the same token oddly eroded, flat, sanded down. often it feels like auster doesn't actually inhabit the english language--he reads like he's al
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Sep 26, 2011
Núria
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'La ciudad de cristal' es mi favorita de todas las cosas que ha escrito Paul Auster. Es también lo primero que leí de este escritor. Es la primera parte de la 'Trilogía de Nueva York' que a día de hoy me sigue pareciendo la única obra de Auster realmente conseguida. Es por esto que me animé a leer esta adaptación en forma de cómic (o novela gráfica, lo que ustedes prefieran). Una parte de mí no era muy optimista. Una parte de mí sólo quería leerlo para ver como este noble intento fracasaba. Sin
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Jan 10, 2012
Shannon
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This graphic novel was based on a novella by the same author and Comic Journals voted this in the top 100 for the 20th century. It's about a writer who takes on the role of his detective character to investigate a mystery but this choice sends him down a path of obsessive madness. It blurs the line between reality and fantasy and even identity as the author of this tale finds himself changing roles, stories and overall identities. The voices coming out of objects and gradual changes and pullback
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Sep 26, 2011
sunny
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this is an adaptation of a paul auster novel by the same name. the novel is very good and the comic might be even awesomer but in a different way. it's kind of amazing actually how well done the comic is considering how totally verbal and cerebral the novel is. it's not a story that easily lends itself to a graphic rendering. but render it they did!
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Sep 26, 2011
Penelope
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I thought this was a pretty amazing graphic novel, and I definitely plan on reading the original City of Glass next. Concepts of identity, the role of the author in creating meaning, and the blurred line between fiction and reality are all present here, and explored in quite an intriguing way. I don't know how I felt about the ending, though. Maybe I just haven't thought about it enough, but it seemed too open-ended to me. In a way it makes sense, since this story is not a traditional narrat
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Sep 26, 2011
Jason
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City of Glass is a tough novella to read, because it is about defying expectations and disrupting narrative and form. I loved it though, and so when I saw the graphic form drawn by David Mazzucchelli (whose recent book Asterios Polyp was fantastic) I was immediately intrigued.
It turns out to be a perfect adaptation. Which is to say that it feels free to change, quite liberally, what was on the page, so as to better preserve the idea. And that same disruption of storytelling is still in More...
It turns out to be a perfect adaptation. Which is to say that it feels free to change, quite liberally, what was on the page, so as to better preserve the idea. And that same disruption of storytelling is still in More...
Sep 26, 2011
Artur
rated it:
Um solitário escritor de inconsequentes romances policiais recebe uma chamada a meio da noite, a pedir-lhe para investigar um caso policial. Envolvido numa trama de meias palavras e labirintos conceptuais, o escritor acaba por desvanecer-se nas ruas da cidade, deixando um caderninho cheio de notas que nos permite reconstituir a sua queda no esquecimento.
Se olharmos para as profundezas de um texto, descobrimos sempre cadas vez mais níveis de complexidade sempre que mergulhamos mais a More...
Se olharmos para as profundezas de um texto, descobrimos sempre cadas vez mais níveis de complexidade sempre que mergulhamos mais a More...
Sep 26, 2011
Bob
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Auster's first novel proves exponentially more risky and rewarding than almost anything he's written since. A tightly-wound postmodern detective story, its subject is language itself.
In short, a wrong number leads to writer Daniel Quinn taking on a case as a private eye. The subject of his investigation is a doddering old man who has threatened to kill his son. The old man, Peter Stillman, Sr., is a philosopher, and impresses Quinn to the point where he gets overly subsumed in the More...
In short, a wrong number leads to writer Daniel Quinn taking on a case as a private eye. The subject of his investigation is a doddering old man who has threatened to kill his son. The old man, Peter Stillman, Sr., is a philosopher, and impresses Quinn to the point where he gets overly subsumed in the More...
Sep 26, 2011
Jil
rated it:
I've been intending to exploit my roommate's stash of graphic novels for a class she's taking all semester, but this is (with the exception of reading McCloud's Understanding Comics) the first time I'd taken advantage of it.
I feel like I definitely would have appreciated this more had I read it for a class, or moreso, had I read the book on which it's based. Though I admired the visual style and layout, it was hard for me to truly understand what an accomplishment this is without havin More...
I feel like I definitely would have appreciated this more had I read it for a class, or moreso, had I read the book on which it's based. Though I admired the visual style and layout, it was hard for me to truly understand what an accomplishment this is without havin More...
Sep 26, 2011
Paul
rated it: 
I first read this years ago, and my memory of it was as a 4 or 5 star book, but this time I'm going to drop it to 2. My thoughts on this reading was that it read a lot like reading Alan Moore's Watchmen, which most people would think is a compliment, but I don't.
Like Watchmen, this book spends an inordinate amount of time being clever, and that cleverness is an impediment to the story. There are only so many clever things to do with the art before a reader starts to look to the clev More...
Like Watchmen, this book spends an inordinate amount of time being clever, and that cleverness is an impediment to the story. There are only so many clever things to do with the art before a reader starts to look to the clev More...
Sep 26, 2011
Jace
rated it:
I was a little surprised to see this on the "Graphic Novel" bookcase at the library--because I'm still not convinced it needed to be re-writeen in comic form--but as thin as it is, I decided to check it out. I liked Auster's original City of Glass, but looking back that may have been because I was reading it for a class on Post-Modernism and was going to have to discuss it for 3 weeks anyway so I figured I might as well try and enjoy it.
This book was a fine read; my only r More...
This book was a fine read; my only r More...
Sep 26, 2011
Andrea
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Having never read Paul Auster's City of Glass in bare text, it is hard to imagine it related more compellingly than it is here in his collaboration with artist Paul Karasik. The noir-ish narrative is built on acts of happenstance; intersections of personal losses, accidents and a search for answers that spin off into new configurations, like watching balls in a game of billiards.
In his introduction, Art Spiegelman, creator of Maus and ten-year contributor to the New Yorker, explains More...
In his introduction, Art Spiegelman, creator of Maus and ten-year contributor to the New Yorker, explains More...
Sep 26, 2011
Zen
rated it:
I think this is more of a graphic novel than a comic book, but I am so not creating separate shelves for graphic novels and comics, so suck it, invisible fairy advocates for a divide between high art and low entertainment. Anyway Art Spiegelman goes on a bit of a spiel in his introduction to this about graphic novels and how the term is a silly bid for respectability for books with pictures in, so I don't think he'd object.
I read this before I read the text-only version, because a) i More...
I read this before I read the text-only version, because a) i More...
Nov 10, 2011
Vivid Scribe
rated it:
1994′s City of Glass, by Paul Auster, Paul Karasik and David Mazzuchelli, is not only a brilliant adaptation from a novel to a comic, it is also one of the best English-language graphic novels that has been made. In my opinion it is the best work of fiction in western comics period. It is the work I show to people who are not really sure about graphic novels, the people who think it is not a proper art form....
Read More on http://www.vividscribe.com/review-city-o...
(review by J Marc More...
Read More on http://www.vividscribe.com/review-city-o...
(review by J Marc More...
Jan 23, 2012
Peacegal
rated it:
I didn't like all the themes of this book (I could have done without the heavy-handed idealization of parenthood, for instance), but overall, I appreciated the story. I particularly found intriguing the exploration of the effects of loss and obsession upon the human mind.
I interact with a lot of mentally ill people in my workplace (a public library), and the ways in which I've seen the human mind can turn inward and attack itself has made me ponder my own mental state at times.
I interact with a lot of mentally ill people in my workplace (a public library), and the ways in which I've seen the human mind can turn inward and attack itself has made me ponder my own mental state at times.
Nov 24, 2011
Violet
rated it:
I haven't read the original book, but the story seems so unbelievable that I doubt I would enjoy it as a novel.
The visuals of this graphic novel told the most interesting story, despite the loosely held together strings that are the existential plot. I didn't see the deconstruction of language in the story at all.
I woudl describe the adaption of City of Glass (and possible the novel itself) as Film Noir for 13 year-olds.
The visuals of this graphic novel told the most interesting story, despite the loosely held together strings that are the existential plot. I didn't see the deconstruction of language in the story at all.
I woudl describe the adaption of City of Glass (and possible the novel itself) as Film Noir for 13 year-olds.
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Sep 26, 2011
Mark
rated it:
I serendipitously picked this newer edition (which is worth getting for the new Spiegelman Introduction) up from a dollar pile in a used bookshop this morning, and took a few hours this afternoon to re-read it--coming back to it 15 years after its publication.
The book has aged well--and I may have appreciated it more on a second reading. Auster's meditation on meaning (both language and life) is brilliantly captured via Karasik and Mazzuchelli's graphic "adaptation," a p More...
The book has aged well--and I may have appreciated it more on a second reading. Auster's meditation on meaning (both language and life) is brilliantly captured via Karasik and Mazzuchelli's graphic "adaptation," a p More...
Sep 26, 2011
Jason
rated it:
In hindsight, it would have been more wise to read the actual novel first. While the story is thoroughly engaging, the adaptation relies heavily on a more antiquated comic form, using much of the panel space for captions to advance the story. But I honestly don't see Karasik and Mazzucchelli able to get around this with Auster's narration, theological theorizing, and what I think are long detours into metaphysics. And actually, there may be an argument made that their artistic approach was purpo
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Sep 26, 2011
Chrissy
rated it:
I just read this is one sitting...I'm honestly not trying to brag - it's a really short book. I haven't read the original novel, so I can't say how it compares, but I loved this graphic adaptation. The drawings are so abstract but ground the story at the same time. There is a great deal of character development for such a short book, and the images perfectly reflect the fears, goals, and reservations of all the characters. I am looking forward to reading Paul Auster's novel and the rest of the N
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Dec 20, 2011
Geoffrey
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Love the original novel(la). I wasn't sure the graphic adaptation of it was going to work -- it isn't really a visual story (in the sense that there isn't a lot of action that you can "see"). It works surprisingly well, though. Read the Auster book first and this second.
Sep 26, 2011
Josh
rated it:
Paul Karasik and David Mazzuchelli's adaptation of Auster's novella is 138 pages of pure gold. Working from a nine-panel grid, City of Glass tells the haunting, lonely tale of writer Daniel Quinn. Mistaken for a private detective, Quinn finds himself assigned to protect a man from his own father. In the course of the story, Quinn assumes more names and personae, eventually losing his own identity. The comic progressively reflects this deterioration: the panels tumble and shift, Mazzuchelli's bru
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Sep 26, 2011
W.B.
rated it:
I read this one bored Saturday afternoon without moving from my spot in the center of the bed. I imagine I looked like a really lazy Saint Bernard. I thought it was pretty nifty...as graphic novels go it's definitely in the "superior" category. I never read the novel so maybe Auster fans were pissed by the abridged nature of this or something. One of those books that outdoes Kafka on paranoia...it doesn't get more "meta" than this one...the twists take this story back and for
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Sep 26, 2011
Blue
rated it:
As a graphic mystery/detective short novel, this book is very well done. What Karasik and Mazzucchelli have achieved here is no small feat. The abstract thoughts and intricate stories intertwined in the book are delicately interpreted into the visual with striking compositions within each panel as well as on each page. The story is a page turner at times, so I had to go back to re-examine the drawings and composition of the pages. And yes, Auster is not your average thriller/mystery writer, so m
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Oct 02, 2011
Izzy
rated it:
Though it was a bit confusing at times, the book is marvelously put together in a way that makes the characters seems almost like a real person.
Sep 26, 2011
Sérgio
rated it:
Parece ser na base uma história de detectives privados mas é muito, muito mais do que isso. Trata bastante da relação entre a realidade e a ficção ou ainda do papel da linguagem. Ou seja, trata de alguns temas um bocado abstractos mas nunca de maneira aborrecida.
Visualmente também está bastante conseguido. Há uma grande riqueza de ideias a esse nível com os autores a usarem muitas soluções gráficas surpreendentes para traduzirem o livro para banda desenhada. De referir também que a art More...
Visualmente também está bastante conseguido. Há uma grande riqueza de ideias a esse nível com os autores a usarem muitas soluções gráficas surpreendentes para traduzirem o livro para banda desenhada. De referir também que a art More...
Sep 26, 2011
Schuyler
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I'm guessing this was really hard to adapt to the graphic novel medium. City of Glass (the orignal story) is just so bizarre and looping and metaphysical and mysterious. But David Mazzucchelli (and Paul Karasik) pull it off beautifully. I wouldn't use it as a substitute for Paul Auster's story but more as a sister-text. It enriches the original piece but I would imagine first time readers would be very confused. Mazzucchelli continues to kick illustrative ass.
"Night and d More...
"Night and d More...
Sep 26, 2011
Erik
rated it:
I read Auster’s book some years back, and found it intriguing in the same way I found Kafka’s The Trial. Captivating in its near absurd quizzicality. Karaisk and Mazzucchelli do his novel remarkable justice with their classically told graphic novel that pulls out many of the best aesthetic moves that Scott McCloud covers in his three volume masterpiece on the comics medium. I honestly don’t know what Mazzucchelli is up to these days, but if he has a hankering for conjuring up something in the cr
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Sep 26, 2011
Kariann
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I gather that the negative reviews of this book aren't for the Graphic Novel adaptation of Paul Auster's novella, but rather the novella itself. As a graphic novel adaptation, it is in a class all of its own. I loved every minute of reading this and as a fan of inventive takes on popular culture, I thought it was entirely derivative in the best possible way. You need to be patient with the weird theories and ur-languages and just let the art and story take you away. This is an imaginative journe
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Sep 26, 2011
Craig
rated it:
This book is a curse passed on from the hero to Auster, from Auster to the narrator, from the narrator to a friend of mine who suggested the book to me, and now I pass it on to you. Extremely haunting mystery novel in which the detective is not a detective, the author is not the author, and the reader-in my case at least-felt like the victim of the crime. Unlike any other book I've ever read. Astounding.
[Later]-Hey whoops! Didn't mean to put the graphic novel version in here. This More...
[Later]-Hey whoops! Didn't mean to put the graphic novel version in here. This More...
Sep 26, 2011
Ian
rated it:
So I've already decided I need to re-read this for a couple reasons.
To begin with, there is a lot going on here. I feel like there's several things, symbolically, that run throughout that would read better the second time.
The Don Quixote parallels are probably a little lost on me. Themes of perceiving yourself to be someone you are not, false reality... I understand the connections to Quixote superficially, but I'm not sure exactly how it all ties together. Maybe I should giv More...
To begin with, there is a lot going on here. I feel like there's several things, symbolically, that run throughout that would read better the second time.
The Don Quixote parallels are probably a little lost on me. Themes of perceiving yourself to be someone you are not, false reality... I understand the connections to Quixote superficially, but I'm not sure exactly how it all ties together. Maybe I should giv More...
