The novels of Paul Auster are only a new thing to me. I am a huge fan of Jim Jarmusch and have been following his work for about ten years now and will continue to do so with enthusiasm. More recently, i began to explore movies that Jim appeared in as cameo roles or minor roles in a much larger plot and or movie. This led me to the movie Blue in the Face, written by Auster and at the time, this meant nothing to me. I enjoyed the script and somehow never took notice of the fact that Auster may have been a very real reason to my enjoyment of such an unusual but interesting script! My ignorance continued and as a Irish person I was brought to the attention of a new singer songwriter, his son 'put a penny in the slot' makes reference to Paul Auster with the lines 'For the loneliness you foster,
I suggest Paul Auster, A book called Timbuktu.' Once again I registered this name Auster and thought I recognise that name, maybe he is some old writer from the past and for some reason I connected with Albert Camus 'The Outsider' or 'The Stranger' as it is more literally known. I read that book and thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the idea that we are free, and that destiny doesnt control us, we make our own choices and by being true to ourselves and perhaps that destiny is not what i thought it was. Perhaps, i just live my life truthfully and see where it takes me, if i dont it takes me places where i dont want to be or shouldn't be. If life is controlled by my actions and not by what i am destined to do then I end up where I am somehow by my own choice. While I travel through this life, i can't help coincidence which is often mistaken for things that are predestined. While going to the bookshop to buy another Camus book. Now, i am person that loves to investigate, I dont enjoy using the internet to order a book, i like the experience of going to the shop and letting the books somehow dictate what i buy, i could intend on buying Camus and leave the shop with something entirely different in my hand. And that exactly what happened, I arrived in the shop to discover that the only book that was there was the one i already had, this usually happens so i continued to search for whatever book I would would end up in my end based on logic or literary knowledge. I browsed through countless books and I have no memory where I saw the reference, it was on a book i looked at, it said the three greatest living authors over sixty were Paul Auster, John Updike and Saul Bellow. This was an interesting sign as I knew Saul Bellow died a few years ago, and had read in The Irish Times that day that John Updike died, so who was Paul Auster. The name sounded so familiar, i looked at the books and noticed Timbuktu and remembered it from the song, i would have bought it but I prefer hardcover books and noticed a nice looking book called The Book of illusions. I bought it along with one Updike book which i still havent read (but will). I took the book home and read it over a few days and now I am hooked, so if you check the dates of Updikes departure you will see that I am reading these books for a very short amount of time. I have researched Auster since noticing his various works and eventually noticed the Blue in the Face connection. Isn't life full of coincidences?