Moon Palace
by
Paul Auster
Marco Stanley Fogg is an orphan, a child of the sixties, a quester tirelessly seeking the key to his past, the answers to the ultimate riddle of his fate. As Marco journeys from the canyons of Manhattan to the deserts of Utah, he encounters a gallery of characters and a series of events as rich and surprising as any in modern fiction.
Beginning during the summer that men fi...more
Beginning during the summer that men fi...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
April 1st 1990
by Penguin Books
(first published 1989)
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Mar 20, 2012
Duc
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
living-library,
the-best
This book is about writing and observations and hardship. This book is my first introduction to Auster. After reading this book, I went to the university library to look up obscure writers. One of the writers is Giordano Bruno who believed that there was a parallel universe back in medieval times. There is the theme of journey, travel and exploration into other worlds. The narrator has a name inspired by Phileas Fogg, the fictional character in Jules Verns ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’.
The...more
The...more
Zadie Smith, in an introduction for a Nonrequired Reading Anthology brought a James Joyce quote to my attention
"That ideal reader suffering from an ideal insomnia" -Joyce
"The ideal reader cannot sleep when holding the writer he was meant to be with." - Smith
This is how I feel about Paul Auster, especially concerning Moon Palace. An odd series of events lead me to read this book at the perfect time. I was on a road trip in which the route of my companions and I followed a route traced by the prot...more
"That ideal reader suffering from an ideal insomnia" -Joyce
"The ideal reader cannot sleep when holding the writer he was meant to be with." - Smith
This is how I feel about Paul Auster, especially concerning Moon Palace. An odd series of events lead me to read this book at the perfect time. I was on a road trip in which the route of my companions and I followed a route traced by the prot...more
Това е първата ми среща с Остър, тъй че не мога да правя сравнение с другите му романи. Като цяло ми хареса, но имам и доста негативни наблюдения върху текста.
Някъде до към средата на книгата бях почти очарована от повествованието и стила на писане. Главният герой е млад особняк, който няма как да не ти стане симпатичен. Малко ала този в "Спасителят в ръжта", сирак, на когото се случват невероятни неща. След като изхарчва и последните си пари,остава на улицата, почти умира, но тъкмо тогава го сп...more
Някъде до към средата на книгата бях почти очарована от повествованието и стила на писане. Главният герой е млад особняк, който няма как да не ти стане симпатичен. Малко ала този в "Спасителят в ръжта", сирак, на когото се случват невероятни неща. След като изхарчва и последните си пари,остава на улицата, почти умира, но тъкмо тогава го сп...more
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Apr 06, 2010
Candice
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone
Recommended to Candice by:
Skud
Shelves:
2009,
read-in-french,
favorites,
2010,
american-litterature,
read-in-english,
re-read,
books-i-own
I loved it. I loved reading this book, but I wish I hadn't read it so fast. I read it because of someone, and I can't thank him enough.
I put myself in M.S's shoes, and I cried, I laughed, I dreamt.
Paul has a poetic use of language, that's sure.
I put myself in M.S's shoes, and I cried, I laughed, I dreamt.
Paul has a poetic use of language, that's sure.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I read this book because it was mentioned as a favorite of one of the creators of my favorite show, "The Venture Brothers."
Paul Auster writes an interesting book, and commits a few of the sins with which I am most disappointed in books. The twists are foreseeable, and only the characters pivotal to the plot are paid any attention to.
However the characters he does pay attention to are very well developed, almost to the point of distraction. Which, to me, made a lot of sense in relation to the nat...more
Paul Auster writes an interesting book, and commits a few of the sins with which I am most disappointed in books. The twists are foreseeable, and only the characters pivotal to the plot are paid any attention to.
However the characters he does pay attention to are very well developed, almost to the point of distraction. Which, to me, made a lot of sense in relation to the nat...more
Jan 30, 2008
Geoff
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people who paint their nails black and write bad poetry
Shelves:
overrated-nonsense
What on earth?
This book was recommended to me by a person whose taste in literature I hold in high regard. That's why I was surprised to discover, halfway through the book, that it's a really terrible piece of pretentious writing. I felt no empathy with the main character -- a really spoiled, pretentiously "eccentric" kid with an Asian fetish trying to revel in the black aethetic of his free-fall into poverty. He's saved by Kitty Wu, the sexually precocious daughter of Chinese royalty or some su...more
This book was recommended to me by a person whose taste in literature I hold in high regard. That's why I was surprised to discover, halfway through the book, that it's a really terrible piece of pretentious writing. I felt no empathy with the main character -- a really spoiled, pretentiously "eccentric" kid with an Asian fetish trying to revel in the black aethetic of his free-fall into poverty. He's saved by Kitty Wu, the sexually precocious daughter of Chinese royalty or some su...more
Auster's poetic use of language and the supremely convincing characterization of his protagonist made this novel one that I remember not so much by plot arches [though the plot is faultless], but in very vivid images of moments or point-surveys of MS Fogg's life.
Living in an apartment furnished only with boxes of books that for his bed, chairs, table, and entertainment.
Living in a shrub-cave in Central Park.
Outlaw cave hideouts in the desert, covered in obscure paintings.
Handing out money to pe...more
Living in an apartment furnished only with boxes of books that for his bed, chairs, table, and entertainment.
Living in a shrub-cave in Central Park.
Outlaw cave hideouts in the desert, covered in obscure paintings.
Handing out money to pe...more
Standard-issue Auster novel that explores the same themes as his debut, 'The New York Trilogy', with the same conclusions. The novel isn't particularly good; the protagonist, unambitious and at the will of inertia, steps into a series of coincidences that lead him to a profound universal truth while robbing him of people, money and other beloved things. This is a story as old as the hills that eventually get explored at the novel's conclusion.[return][return]While this is a blip in Auster's cata...more
Toward the end of The Brooklyn Follies, Auster's 2005 novel, he states; "Eventually, we would all die, and when our bodies were carried off and buried in the ground, only our friends and families would know we were gone. Our deaths wouldn't be announced on radio or television. There wouldn't be any obituaries in the New York Times. No books would be written about us. That is an honor reserved for the powerful and famous, for the exceptionally talented, but who bothers to publish biographies of t...more
Estos días, leyendo El Palacio de la Luna, de Paul Auster, he pensado más de una vez que su protagonista tenía mucho que ver con el de El guardián entre el centeno. Ayer murió J. D. Salinger, padre de la criatura, y vuelvo a pensar que las casualidades existen, o que, sin llamarlas necesariamente así, el mundo está hecho de las conexiones entre el sinfín de cosas que nos rodean, los millones de sensaciones que nos asaltan a todos a la vez, y el cruce de nuestros pensamientos y su producción impa...more
I'd give this book one star only, but I feel maybe (though I'm not thoroughly convinced) that somewhere under all the awful, pretentious drivel there's a kernel of something interesting. I mean - by itself - the plot elements have the makings of something to pique the interest of even a casual reader; curious characters, strange happenings, wordplay and symbolism. And maybe I'm missing something others can see in this book. Apparently it's pretty well received overall. I feel, however, that this...more
Después de acabar la universidad Marco Stanley Fogg va dejándose caer, sin ningún motivo especial, en una especie de apatía absoluta quelo lleva a perder el contacto con todos sus amigos ya no intentar tansiquiera encontrar un trabajo que le permita vivir, por lo que pronto termina desahuciado y viviendo en Central Park de lo que encuentra y delo que le da alguna gente que se apiada de él.
Gravemente enfermo, lo encuentran y lo salvan de la muerte y de su estado de apatía su antiguo compañero de
I made a mistake with this book - not a theoretical mistake, a concrete mistake. After finishing a third of Moon Palace, I accidentally left it in my brother's apartment (in New York, fittingly). The mistake, though, turned out to be a blessing because, when I finished MP, I had to go back and skim that first third in order to figure out what I'd forgotten.
A lot, as it turns out. Auster pretty well sets out what he's going to do in the beginning - he's going to tell the story of how his protagon...more
A lot, as it turns out. Auster pretty well sets out what he's going to do in the beginning - he's going to tell the story of how his protagon...more
According to Auster, as a starving artist fresh out of college he dashed off a few formulaic mystery novels under a nom-de plume to bring in cash. I have reason to believe this, considering what Auster’s pictures looked like from when he was in his twenties. His face had a sunken and brooding quality to it, as if he’d not only learned how to skip a meal, but also how to get by on little sleep. To this day, Auster won’t reveal what those early books were called, nor what his pen name was.
When he...more
When he...more
I stumbled upon this book in my senior or junior year of high school and reread it about one year......and to my pleasant surprise it help up beautiful.
I do not want to give away the plot but I will say that when I read it for the 1st time 20 years ago, I felt it was a modern day Great Expectations. Now, I would say that it is a great example of metafiction. There is the story of Marco Stanley Fogg (the main character) and then there is the story of the man he winds up being caretaker for (Thoma...more
I do not want to give away the plot but I will say that when I read it for the 1st time 20 years ago, I felt it was a modern day Great Expectations. Now, I would say that it is a great example of metafiction. There is the story of Marco Stanley Fogg (the main character) and then there is the story of the man he winds up being caretaker for (Thoma...more
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click here.
Fantastische, in de eerste persoon vertelde roman over een jongen, die opgroeit bij zijn vreemde oom, al diens boeken erft, daar zijn meubels van maakt tot al zijn geld op is. (view spoiler)...more
Apr 03, 2009
Mcruz
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
sólo para acérrimos seguidores de Auster
Sinceramente, me esperaba mucho más de este libro. Hay demasiadas casualidades imposibles y creo que al final tanto forzar las cosas termina provocando en el lector la sensación de que, más que una novela coherente, hay tres o cuatro relatos cortos (el joven universitario-mendigo, el excéntrico millonario, la historia del obeso profesor de universidad...) unidos por un débil (debilísimo) hilo narrativo (se supone que la búsqueda de los orígenes familiares de M.S., tema que, dicho sea de paso, a...more
Auster is een van de weinige schrijvers die het voor elkaar krijgt om me met de eerste zinnen al direct een boek 'in te zuigen'. Normaal gesproken heb ik wat tijd nodig om in het verhaal te komen; soms geef ik me zelfs pas aan het eind gewonnen. Maar niet bij Auster, ook nu weer niet:
"It was the summer that men first walked on the moon. I was very young back then, but I did not believe there would be a future."
Twee zinnen en ik ben verloren. Ik kan niet uitleggen waarom dat zo is; het gebeurt. H...more
"It was the summer that men first walked on the moon. I was very young back then, but I did not believe there would be a future."
Twee zinnen en ik ben verloren. Ik kan niet uitleggen waarom dat zo is; het gebeurt. H...more
I love everything this man writes. Sometimes I take a break, thinking he's redundant.
Maybe he is. I don't give a damn. His characters are real inside their heads and inside the reader's heads. They are everyone's most heartbreaking anti-social impulses come to dream-life.
Like Grace Paley...only harder where she's soft, and softer where she's hard. Manhattan where she's Brooklyn. Brooklyn when she's Manhattan. And, of course, y'know, about dudes.
Maybe he is. I don't give a damn. His characters are real inside their heads and inside the reader's heads. They are everyone's most heartbreaking anti-social impulses come to dream-life.
Like Grace Paley...only harder where she's soft, and softer where she's hard. Manhattan where she's Brooklyn. Brooklyn when she's Manhattan. And, of course, y'know, about dudes.
Moon Palace is about a young man who orphaned at a young age. Throughout the novel, Marco Stanley Fogg, tries to find himself in the world. The events largely take place in the late 60's early 70's, but as the narrative bounces around the story expands to the early and mid 1900's. Much of the early novel is spent building Fogg up to be an unreliable narrator, so it's hard to say what happens and doesn't happen in this novel. If you believe, Fogg, then you buy into the entire convoluted story inv...more
Dec 26, 2012
Eileen
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
everyone
Recommended to Eileen by:
Richard
"Then the waitress came back and told me they were out of chicken pot pies. It was nothing at all, of course. In the large scheme of things, it was a mere speck of dust, an infinitesimal crumb of antimatter, and yet I suddenly felt as though the roof had caved in on me. There were no more chicken pot pies."
Moon Palace is so terribly elegant in its heartbreaking, humorous obscurity. I'm stuck in an emotional flux of enamourment, devastation, awe and horror. Art and reality, imagination and fictio...more
Moon Palace is so terribly elegant in its heartbreaking, humorous obscurity. I'm stuck in an emotional flux of enamourment, devastation, awe and horror. Art and reality, imagination and fictio...more
Here's a solid, old-school novel. A good writerly read. Funny how elements (even the fact) of this author's maturity and skill strike me as anachronisms. Auster showcases some great story-telling & long exposition, with relatively little dialogue (which dominates so much contemporary fiction & screenplay-influenced writing).
He likes foretelling events as a kind of hook--starting out, say, revealing for nothing that the NYC-based protagonist eventually crosses the Utah & Nevada wilde...more
He likes foretelling events as a kind of hook--starting out, say, revealing for nothing that the NYC-based protagonist eventually crosses the Utah & Nevada wilde...more
SPOILER ALERT
I loved this novel. Paul Auster has done it again, with remarkable depth and brilliance. As always, Auster's ideas are amazing, and make for an entertaining read as well as a study on identity.
Marco Stanley Fogg, or M.S. Fogg, is an orphan who seems to be spending the entire story searching for his identity, mostly, it appears, indirectly. The novel starts out in New York City, when M.S. is finishing up college at Columbia University. He begins by explaining about his relationship w...more
I loved this novel. Paul Auster has done it again, with remarkable depth and brilliance. As always, Auster's ideas are amazing, and make for an entertaining read as well as a study on identity.
Marco Stanley Fogg, or M.S. Fogg, is an orphan who seems to be spending the entire story searching for his identity, mostly, it appears, indirectly. The novel starts out in New York City, when M.S. is finishing up college at Columbia University. He begins by explaining about his relationship w...more
This was the first Paul Auster book I read, before I realized that he basically just writes variations of the same book. It's a good book, though, so I read all of the variations. He's got a couple of main themes--randomness, chance, coincidence, obsession--and some of the books play more strongly on some themes than on others. I think of this as the "coincidence" book.
Moon Palace follows the life of the narrator, Marco Stanley Fogg, through events in his life. His Uncle Victor died while Marco was in college, and his death led to a series of downfalls. Marco looses his apartment, coming close to death if not for the woman Kitty Wu whom he found by chance. He received a job from an old man, Thomas Effing, who turns out to be Marco's grandfather. Marco's father is also discovered, however shortly after he passes away. The book ends with Marco walking across the...more
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| Auster's spirituality | 5 | 45 | 16 de Ago 22:52 |
Paul Auster is the bestselling author of Sunset Park, Invisible, Man in the Dark, The Book of Illusions, The Brooklyn Follies, and The New York Triology, among many other works. His books have been translated into forty-three languages. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/paulau...
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“I had jumped off the edge, and then, at the very last moment, something reached out and caught me in midair. That something is what I define as love. It is the one thing that can stop a man from falling, powerful enough to negate the laws of gravity.”
—
289 people liked it
“No one was to blame for what happened, but that does not make it any less difficult to accept. It was all a matter of missed connections, bad timing, blundering in the dark. We were always in the right place at the wrong time, the wrong place at the right time, always just missing each other, always just a few inches from figuring the whole thing out. That's what the story boils down to, I think. A series of lost chances. All the pieces were there from the beginning, but no one knew how to put them together.”
—
55 people liked it
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12 de Jun 19:13