Abby's review
The Book of Illusions: A Novel
by Paul Auster
i think, like you, this was the second auster book i read and really liked it too. um...watch out for all the rest. they are still good, but never as good as what you've already read. i like to parcel them out about once a year, much like murakami. otherwise, i get fed up with the repetition and derivativeness.
Abby's review
The Book of Illusions: A Novel by Paul Auster
Abby's review
rating:
recommended for: Readers of contemporary post-modern fiction
Oh the beauty of jury duty...lots of uninterrupted reading time! This is only the second book of Paul Auster's I've read (after The New York Trilogy, which I absolutely loved). It's written in a more straightforward style than The New York Trilogy, in that it has one main plot and character and for the most part, you do not question the reliability of the narrator. But, as I've come to like about Auster, the story does not unfold in a linear way. There are actually multiple stories wrapped up in each other and each story and its corresponding set of characters is compelling and engaging. There are many recurring themes that show up in the different stories (the main one of which involves stories from people who have already died). Auster makes his stories and characters so realistic and their feelings so compelling, the reader is just sucked in. So while it might seem as though a shot-by-shot description of a silent film or a list of desert plants might not be of interest, they ...more
i think, like you, this was the second auster book i read and really liked it too. um...watch out for all the rest. they are still good, but never as good as what you've already read. i like to parcel them out about once a year, much like murakami. otherwise, i get fed up with the repetition and derivativeness.