Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
An intriguing curio of a book. This little post-modern detective novel didn't necessarily light up my life, and the "dissolution" towards the ending was pretty predictable if you're familiar with this kind of fiction, but the book as a whole was still a pretty weird, interesting little thing with some fun stuff to say about identity and language. I actually thought the mystery plot itself was pretty cool and almost wish this was a Focault's Pendulum-esque weird thriller about language and The Tower of Babel and whatever. It was also a very quick read for this sort of thing, which was nice. So, not a favorite in terms of post-modern metafiction, but a neat read and I'm definitely gonna check out the rest of the trilogy.
City of Glass | Paul Auster | 04May2016
Published/Pages : 1985 | 203 pages
Location : New York City (New York)
Time Frame/Season : 1980s | Spring
Genre : Mystery, Literary Fiction, Contemporary
Characters : Daniel Quinn, Peter Stillman (Jr.), Peter Stillman (Sr.), Virginia Stillman, Paul Auster
-------------------------------
Rating Analysis
Premise : 6/10
Introduction : 7/10
Number of Characters : 8/10
Character Development : 7/10
Backup history for the story : 6/10
Fiction Quality : 6/10
Pace of the Story : 8/10
Dramatic Effect : 6/10
Climax : 6/10
Impact it made : 6/10
TOTAL : 66/100 (6.6 Stars = 3.3 Stars ~ ★★★)
--------------------------------
Review
WEIRD! Everything about this book was weird, good weird, but weird nonetheless. The same people talk about people with same names who have different identities but do the same things but also are donning to be different people who have an identity which is similar to the original people! What?! Now you see? WEIRD!
Plus the narrator (who uses the name of the actual author to work as a detective, while the actual author is also present with his actual name) goes on some amazing tangents trying to co-relate what seem like some really absurd ideas to the proceedings of the story. WEIRDER!
The novel starts with Daniel Quinn receiving a phone call asking for Paul Auster, the detective. Daniel Quinn is a writer whose wife and son died, which has caused him to distance himself from his friends and career. Quinn writes under a pseudonym, William Wilson, about a detective named Max Work. Quinn identifies with Max Work, but only through the separate identity of Wilson, his pseudonym. Without Wilson, he would be unable to Work. After getting the call again, Quinn takes on the case and becomes Paul Auster. Everything that happens after that is so convoluted and odd that I am not even going to bother deciphering it, as that would mean that I would have to analyze all of that again and my small brain may not survive post that.
What is amazing about the book is that the plot of the story is crystal clear and it is very easy to tell what is happening. It gets confusing because the author gives you so many things to think about on every page, that you tend to get overwhelmed and lost. The author seems to have a lot of ideas in his brain and this was his only chance of sharing them all to his audience. What resulted was a rich, smart book but with extremely patchy and disjointed narrative.
Honestly, if only I was more adept with Don Quixote and Cervantes and all the other interesting (intellectual?) concepts that Paul Auster presents in the novel, I would have probably enjoyed it much more. As of now the book 'literally' went around in circles, having a dizzying effect.
Reaction Section
Published/Pages : 1985 | 203 pages
Location : New York City (New York)
Time Frame/Season : 1980s | Spring
Genre : Mystery, Literary Fiction, Contemporary
Characters : Daniel Quinn, Peter Stillman (Jr.), Peter Stillman (Sr.), Virginia Stillman, Paul Auster
-------------------------------
Rating Analysis
Premise : 6/10
Introduction : 7/10
Number of Characters : 8/10
Character Development : 7/10
Backup history for the story : 6/10
Fiction Quality : 6/10
Pace of the Story : 8/10
Dramatic Effect : 6/10
Climax : 6/10
Impact it made : 6/10
TOTAL : 66/100 (6.6 Stars = 3.3 Stars ~ ★★★)
--------------------------------
Review
WEIRD! Everything about this book was weird, good weird, but weird nonetheless. The same people talk about people with same names who have different identities but do the same things but also are donning to be different people who have an identity which is similar to the original people! What?! Now you see? WEIRD!
Plus the narrator (who uses the name of the actual author to work as a detective, while the actual author is also present with his actual name) goes on some amazing tangents trying to co-relate what seem like some really absurd ideas to the proceedings of the story. WEIRDER!
The novel starts with Daniel Quinn receiving a phone call asking for Paul Auster, the detective. Daniel Quinn is a writer whose wife and son died, which has caused him to distance himself from his friends and career. Quinn writes under a pseudonym, William Wilson, about a detective named Max Work. Quinn identifies with Max Work, but only through the separate identity of Wilson, his pseudonym. Without Wilson, he would be unable to Work. After getting the call again, Quinn takes on the case and becomes Paul Auster. Everything that happens after that is so convoluted and odd that I am not even going to bother deciphering it, as that would mean that I would have to analyze all of that again and my small brain may not survive post that.
What is amazing about the book is that the plot of the story is crystal clear and it is very easy to tell what is happening. It gets confusing because the author gives you so many things to think about on every page, that you tend to get overwhelmed and lost. The author seems to have a lot of ideas in his brain and this was his only chance of sharing them all to his audience. What resulted was a rich, smart book but with extremely patchy and disjointed narrative.
Honestly, if only I was more adept with Don Quixote and Cervantes and all the other interesting (intellectual?) concepts that Paul Auster presents in the novel, I would have probably enjoyed it much more. As of now the book 'literally' went around in circles, having a dizzying effect.
Reaction Section
City of Glass was a really confusing graphic novel to read. Even after my professor explained it, I was pretty lost. Some interesting symbolism, once it was explained, but it's still not my cup of tea.
This is very metaphysical, and I, being pretentious, love it.