Review from a Transgressive Fiction Fan
A surprising book that is riveting through to the final words. I say “surprising” because at first it’s not clear as to what kind of book this is going to be. As with some of Auster’s other work, the novel is told through a first-person narrator who happens to be a writer. We get long accounts of the book he is writing (about a silent filmmaker who went missing some years prior) and almost forget that there is a narrator involved, that we aren’t reading a third-person account of this filmmaker’s strange life. But the book takes several turns and we get our narrator back–with interest–as a series of events unfold in a haunting and devastating way. Auster is a master at seamlessly weaving complex themes into his prose without being heavy-handed or at the sacrifice of a good and entertaining story. Hats off to you, sir.
“Insightful” Review from a Mainstream Reader
Ugh, this book. Like 250 pages in I gave up and scanned to the end. This felt like just a series if concentric plot devices. The writing (mostly dialog) was flat and I could not have possibly cared less about any of the characters. I honestly can’t believe all the 5-star reviews.