... can't speak for Beckett but the only thing the other three have in common (their prose styles and themes are all wildly different) is their virulent anti-semitism. Auster is a very complicated man...
I didn´t know that Cervantes disliked the jews,but sure enough, Hamsun(probably) and Dostoevsky(definately) did.
I think it speaks in Austers favour that he can disregard the political views of the authors and appreciate their eminent authorship.
It speaks in his favor! I see, his impartiality... well that's a fresh take. Forgot to mention his admiration for Celine, who Auster even named a character after. (Celine was imprisoned in France for publishing anti-semitic tracts and nazi sympathies during WWII.)
C'mon Joel, these authors have *nothing* else in common. If I professed an admiration for authors who all shared a belief in pink-striped elephants, I could say I admire their narrative force and 'eminent authorship' in spite of the pink-striped elephants; but who in good conscience would believe me?
As that old anti-semite Ezra Pound once said, "content counts for *something*."
