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Re: Re: Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

How about the books by Siri Hustvedt (his wife)

Re: Re: Re: Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

Now that’s a great suggestion. What better influence than his wife, right? thanks

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

Mmmh Interesting. Never heard of her (as a writer) before. I will surely check her out! worse to the worse she's probably re-read and checked by her husband... I'm investigating right now. any other suggestions anyone ?

Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

Haruki Murakami: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World, A Wild Sheep Chase, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Kafka on the Shore (in that order).

Orhan Pamuk: The New Life, Snow.

Borges (early stories): The Library of Babel, The Garden of Forking Paths, Funes the Memorious (or Funes, His Memory), Death and the Compass, The South, The Aleph.

And a handful of recent French writers (of the last 50 years) who I can't immediately recall. If you like crime stories, find Jean-Patrick Manchette - he's fantastic. Georges Perec. Raymond Queneau. Emmanuel Carrere (La Moustache). Experiment with the French: sometimes an obscure name turns up gold. While Auster writes about America and American literature, his style and philosophical foundation is perfectly un-american. It was his study of French in college, and then following college, his translation work, that determined and started his career. Unless it really grabs you, I wouldn't waste my time on Melville and Thoreau (the former is fantastic, granted: you must read "Bartlby the Scrivner" and "Benito Cereno", and if you're determined, Moby Dick) (by the way, while in 19th century america, find Hawthorne's "Wakefield," the prototype for 90% of Auster; then read Poe's "Man of the Crowd," which responds to "Wakefield").

don't bother with delillo. he's an interesting writer, sometimes, but entirely different. he and auster, i guess, are friends, but that doesn't mean theyre similar.

the fact is there aren't many authors like auster, as far as I've found. his books are like sex for the first time: he's the touchstone, an unforgetable moment in the past. Was it "The Locked Room"? "Ghosts"? "In the Country of Last Things"? the only remedy is to very slowly reread his books.

There's also W.G. Sebald, a superb German-English writer. Sadly, he died in a car accident a few years ago. His work is sublime.

Re: Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

Hi M. And thanks for the many directions which will no doubt bring me a long time of reading enjoyment. Very useful. I am French myself and so can clearly see your point about Auster's obvious influence from France. I think you are right about his European side, but, he also has this very contemporary american style in the way he chooses his subject or themes (deriva, sense of loss) as well of style (economical and ultra concise, yet richly meaningful / intense). I guess this duality is part of what makes him rather unique. I do not entirely agree with you about the similaritis with Queneau or Perec, who are part of a very precise movement in France that had to deal with writing style exclusively, rather than themes and substance. Almost like an exercise. Auster has a depth which seems like coming from meaning rather than style (while his style is impeccable). but i can conceive the influence of them. Again thanks you very much for all your leads which I will explore. And you;re not the first one to have put Borges and Auster in parallel. there must be something there indeed! I have a couple of questions for you if you don't mind. a) The only auster fictional work I haven't enjoyed particularly was timbuctu. What's your view? b) I was VERY disappointed with murakami's Kafka on the shore. While I can clearly see the parallel, especially with the deriva theme, it felt a bit empty, sometimes contrived to stay "cool", or just simply not enough of a story-telling or depth of characters to write this amount of pages. One of the big style differences with Auster was also these endless descriptions of trivial stuff. Another was the fantasy (johnny walker, the cats, the raining frogs), which i don't particularly dislike, but that creates a distance with your abbility to engage (as murakami makes one bluntly aware of it). Added to the other flaws, it didn;t work for me at all and so i decided not to read him again for now, but maybe you could advise as another one to read whcih would be better? I'm quite willing to give it another shot, but this will be the last one. It would be great if you could let me know. Thanks again for your directions. Hope to hear from you. regards, G.

Re: Re: Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

You should try the most recent book from Siri Hustvedt (his wife) which is very "Austerian" in my opinion. Title in french: Tout ce que j'aimais.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

Merci Claire. Effectivement, another member of the forum made that recommendation too. I will order her book immediately. thanks for that. G.

Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

guillaume-

Yes on both counts. "Timbuktu" was a disaster. (Strangely, in america, some people think this is auster's best. ??) And Murakami's "Kafka" was disappointing; I agree with your reasons; still, I find myself remembering parts of that book - years now since I've read it - there's more to it than its apparently contrived characters.

The first Murakami I read was "Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World." I read this again recently and still think it's fantastic. "A Wild Sheep Chase" is very good; "The Wind Up Bird Chronicle" is more challenging, but still superb. "Dance Dance Dance" is not bad.

Find and read Hawthorne's and Poe's stories; also, read Wells's "The Time Machine" and Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon" - THEN go back to "Oracle Night," which after the background texts is an entirely new book - which might be, i think, his best.

Re: Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

Hi M.

Thanks for that. that's really useful. I agree with you regarding Oracle Night. It's a great one. Glad to have another view on Timbuktu. It was so bad that when it came out, I was worried that Auster might just not be the great writer I thought he was. Of course, thankfully, history has demonstrated otherwise. Speculating, I put it down to some sort of contract he had to fulfill when he wasn't in the best moment in his life, and he just had to finish a book for his publisher, that would be really interesting to know... :) If anyone has a clue... RE Poe, Well's and Hammet, have read quite a few a long time ago! Will buy a couple of Hawthorne, though. I'm glad Murakami is still an option and I will definitely read "HBW...". It would be a shame if I had just read his "Timbuktu "

On another note, I have just watched The music of chance on DVD, with James spader and a cameo appearance from Paul Auster. Not bad, nowhere near as good as the book but not bad. Not as good as Brooklyn stories / Blue in the face, though. Anybody know about other adapted features from Auster ?

Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

There's a curious movie, "The Center of the World" by Wayne Wang (dir. of Smoke and Blue in the Face):

In the opening credits, I think, it says that Auster (and his wife, at the time, Hustvedt?) wrote the story: but watch carefully in the closing credits - Auster is not mentioned.

I don't know the history of this production. Somewhere in this site there's a discussion of movies and Auster. I think I remember seeing somewhere that the original concept of Cente of the World was based on an unpublished story of Auster's - something about a room in a hotel - but after the movie was made he chose not to be too closely tied - maybe because Wang's vision was something far off of Auster's.

See the movie, though; it's interesting, Austerian, and, in subtle tones, very american.

Re: Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

Hi. Does Paul Auster himself ever answer questions? I don´t intend to be a corner of his soul. I´d be grateful if someone could tell me if he ever does.I do have some questions for him.

Thanks.Pilar(Madrid,Spain)

Re: Re: Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

Hi there,
Sorry to be a tad abrupt, but please could you open another forum thread if you are changing subject? This thread is trying to answer the question about similar recommended writers and will be screened by many accordingly. Thanks. Regards, G.

Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

pilar -
i don't think auster ever comes around. the question is a) does he, and if so, has he decided not to participate in the forum; b) does he, and if so, his silence is only because he has nothing to say - maybe because he doesn't know the answer or because he's just not interested; c) does he not, and if so, why, maybe because this site, as a friend of mine informed me, is simply ghastly, a kind of mausoleum to the living; d) does he not (come around) because he's technologically handicapped or ignorant, maybe he doesn't want to participate in internet hyper-reality, which is everyone's prerogative?

I'm a little glad auster doesn't visit. I kind of like the mausoleum to the living feeling - makes us committed and maniacal fans. It would all be different if god sat among us.

Re: Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

HI M,

Hi there,
Sorry to be a tad abrupt, but please could you open another forum thread if you are changing subject? This thread is trying to answer the question about similar recommended writers and will be screened by many accordingly Otherwise people will be lost and confused. Thanks. Regards, G.

Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

Hi, I have one book to recommend that immediately popped to mind, if you haven't read it already- Cannery Row by John Steinbeck has that same sense of a wonderous glow to the most ordinary, odd and unexpected turns, and extraordinary ordinary characters. The book has a touch of magic realism that I don't find in other works by Steinbeck.

Re: Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

thanks very much for this. This is useful. Indeed the universe you describe seems close to the ones JA would use. I will buy this book indeed! Again, thanks, really helps

Regards,

G.O.

Re: Re: Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

I find it difficult to mention any authors that directly remind me of Auster. I think that's a good thing. I purposely look for it in books, and hope to find it, but on the other hand, I really enjoy Bob Dylan's music, and rarely like the works of those who copy or mimic him.

That said, I find that the great J.M. Coetzee has some Austerian touches from time to time. By that I mean, that fans of Austers work, will probably enjoy the book "Slow Man". They may also like "Waiting For The Barbarians" and "Disgrace". I rate all 3 books very highly.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

Thanks for this. I have taken note of it and will investigate. A reader on the forum recommended me his wife: Siri Hustvedt. There is definitely something very Austerian about her, to the point it makes me wonder whether he corrects her. I am currently reading "What I Loved" and it is quite good but not as good as Mr Auster. She has written a couple of other books though and has attracted critical acclaim... I'll have to read one other books of hers to make myself a definitive opinion on her work. Will post it then.

Re: Re: Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

I quite enjoyed Everyday Life by Lydie Salvayre. The storyline quite reminds me of Paul Auster. It is about a woman who becomes somewhat paranoid by a new secretary in the office. It reminded me of Auster because his writing style is so that the reader gets inside his head and knows the details of what he is thinking of mundane and trivial things. I'm sure you have enough to read from everyone' s suggestions and maybe you have read Everyday Life as the author is French. I read the English translation.

Poe Ballantine's works are also quite interesting if you are looking for something new to read.

I don't recommend Siri Ustdvedt, his wife

Hi there and thanks for this.

I have to report on his wife's, Siri Ustdvedt's book: 'What I Loved' whcih was recommende to me on this site. While it started well, and thought the setting could have allowed for a great narrative and characterisation, S.H's book is disapointing on both (if not more) accounts. I'm half way through it and find it really difficult to carry on to the point where I'm thinking of switching book. The narrative is soapy, with 'adultere' and the death of a loved child. The style is not bad but there's great work needed on the architecture of the narrative, and the sequences of intense XIX's century-style description of physical items such as the friend's Art seem very artificial and not integrating. their presence seem to exist just so that the writer gets a chance to show off her (average) writing style. All and all there's no way you can feel the daunting implacable immersing universes from Auster's books, nor the complexity of the introspection and behaviour of his characters. That's unfortunate, but I thought Auster fans should be aware of it.

Yet this is a book that some people might like, it's not bad. But its really nowhere near as good as an Auster novel, and it is simply very different and remote from one.

Hope this can help readers.

Re: I don't recommend Siri Ustdvedt, his wife

I have read Siri's books and I agree. I think you get only the initial excitement of reading it because you know it is Paul Auster's wife, but if there were no relation, I would never bother reading her book. I can't remember what the book was about, but did remember feeling disappointed at the end.

Re: Re: I don't recommend Siri Ustdvedt, his wife

GOSH! And is there anything worse than ending a book with this feeling. Especially when time is scarce in our era? I'm glad you let me know. I'm shelving it big right away and moving on.

I have read 3 Don de Lillo's (an influence on Auster) and while they were much better tha SH, they still didn't take me where an Auster books takes me either. And in anticipation of the remark: I am not trying to find another Auster. I'm quite happy to find something radically different. I just want something as good.

Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

Hello - I have an author for you!!

W.G. Sebald - a German expat who lived in UK and wrote in German. His work is BRILLIANT - and somewhat Auster-esque. Sebald too writes about memory, existance, reality, illusion, history. I'm so excited that none of these posts mention him, because I am deep into reading everything he's ever written and I must say he comes so close.

A couple points regarding this thread:

Timbucktu is not a failure. It is an incredible alagory about consciousness that succeeds completely.

Murikami's Wind-Up Bird Chronicles is a masterwork - challenging but still cohesive. I think it's agreat and treads some of the same Austerian ground, but is much more Japanese and modern (closer to Delillo).

Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

Sorry - forgot to mention some W.G. Sebald titles.

I started with Vertigo. Perhaps better to start with Rings of Saturn. Austerlitz is a towering slab of genius. After Nature is a rumination on art, artists and nature. Just read it all.

Re: Re: Help! Life after Paul Auster ?

Well thank you very much for sharing your great enthusiasm about this author. But we seem (and that's a good thing) to have very different tastes since I found timbuktu was a real let down (the only one for the whole of Paul Auster's writings) and disliked Murakami (the book I read, kafka on the shore, was rather quite bad (the one with the cat-language-speaking-mentally-ill character meeting a character dressed as the Johnnny Walker Whisky Logo - , very MTV, but not really insightful). But hey, maybe I should try another one as, after all, had I started Auster with timbuktu I wouldn't have carried on, and what a mistake that would have been...)

Still, I've checked up on WG Sebald, and while he seems to receive a lot of praise and I have little doubt he's an outstanding writer, the themes he's writing about are (once again) post WWII and the Holocaust and post nazi germany trauma, or some immediate after war travels around Europe. Very grounded in reality and yes, about memory, but actual collective memory, to the point his work his often described as as social history. Just not the fictional all created imaginay environment I'm longing for from auster's books. Indeed I fail to see the connection with Auster. Or if there's one I'm affraid it's too remote for me.

I'm sure WG seblad is a fantastic writer, but I must seek and try to find someone closer, which is the object of this thread.