Again, this starts out as a mystery story - an intriguing tale about a guy disappearing and leaving instructions for his wife to contact his childhood friend if anything untoward happened to him. The story progresses in a reasonable manner, but then, once again, it diverges off into a study of the main character's obsession and self-destructive behaviour.
It is odd that the "missing" guy is called just Fanshawe - no first name is ever mentioned. Why not?
The story is written in the first person and there are hints that the narrator is Auster himself. He mentions having written City of Glass and Gihosts. There are various backwards references: a detective called Quinn [the main character in City of Glass]; a man called Walden [a book mentioned in Ghosts]; Peter Stillman and Henry Dark are mentioned; there is a red notebook just like Quinn's.
Some aspects of the story seem almost autobiographical - like the time spent in France. But again these are just hints.
For me, the whole story was just confusing. I am unable to see the overall message in my mind. Maybe it's just too intellectual for me. Suffice it to say that I won't be seeking any more of Paul Auster's books in the near future.
No comments:
Post a Comment