Suzanne’s Comments (group member since Jan 13, 2021)

Suzanne’s comments from the 2021 challenge : Falling in Love with Books Again ! group.

hi everyone! i read paul auster's 'leviathan', having read and really enjoyed the new york trilogy a few years ago. this is the story of a man named ben sachs, who is the narrator's best friend and who is found dead at the beginning of the novel: they are both writers, and the narrator attempts to put in writing his account of his friend's life and of what led to his death.

i liked the way this premise made room for suspense to be built and sustained, because the main element driving the narrative is that the narrator wants to give a fair and balanced account of the story, out of admiration and love for his friend, and as a reader you have to accept that he refuses to rush things, which i think is a pretty good in-story justification for suspense

if you're like me and you've read the new york trilogy, i think this is a way less cerebral take on the genre of the detective story, and much more character-oriented: i found that there was a couple of really good, moving, and even inspiring characters, but the downside to this focus on the characters' psychological evolution is that a lot of it ends up revolving around middle-aged people's marital issues, which i don't find particularly exciting

but again, the main thing i'm taking out of this novel is its way of slowly and respectfully approaching someone's life story and secrets: in the end, the way the narrator presents his own writing throughout the novel seems to tell us that literature can be an exploration that's almost an act of devotion - one has to write, and write well, because one owes it to one's characters

i'm just back from the library, and it'll be either 'le principe' by jérôme ferrari, or paul auster's 'leviathan' for me! i'll make my choice tomorrow.. @Shiro good luck with dorian gray!