THE BOOK OF ILLUSIONS

by Paul Auster



"Six months after losing his wife and two young sons in an airplane crash, Vermont professor David Zimmer spends his waking hours mired in a blur of alcoholic grief and self-pity. Then, watching television one night, he stumbles upon a clip from a lost film by silent comedian Hector Mann. Zimmer's interest is piqued, and he soon finds himself embarking on a journey around the world to research a book on this mysterious figure, who vanished from sight in 1929 and has been presumed dead for sixty years.

When the book is published the following year, a letter turns up in Zimmer's mailbox bearing a return address from a small town in New Mexico inviting him to meet Hector. Torn between doubt and belief, Zimmer hesitates, until one night a strange woman appears on his doorstep and makes the decision for him, changing his life forever." (From the back of the Picador edition.)

People may say what they will about the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list, but if it weren't for that list I may never have discovered Paul Auster and that would have been a shame. No matter his topic or how odd his presentation, he engages me so deeply that I inevitably get to the end and either yearn for more, or, as in the case of Timbuktu, I'm so emotionally wrung out that I couldn't take anymore even if it was offered.

By the end of The Book of Illusions, I was all set to find some DVDs of Hector Mann's films until I remembered he's not real. I wanted to experience for myself the magic of the works described so vividly in the book and to suddenly realize that wasn't possible was almost like a slap in the face. The book deeply explores the many people we are inside, the person we choose to present to the world at different times and who those personae belong to, so the need to come to terms with the fiction of all the creations in their entirety was an odd sensation. I could have sworn I knew them for real! Which, I believe, was part of the point. Who, including ourselves, do we know for real? And do we need to really know someone for that particular relationship to be meaningful to us or to be a force that shapes our lives?

I said when I read Auster's Travels In The Scriptorium that it made me want to go back and read his older work because many previous characters found their way into that novel. The Book of Illusions has only further encouraged me because I believe I recognize a couple of characters and the title of Travels In The Scriptorium is mentioned specifically. I still feel like Auster is playing games with me. And I like it!



Other reviews:

Books Please

TRAVELS IN THE SCRIPTORIUM

by Paul Auster



Margaret at Books Please recently read this also and wrote such a great review that I thought I'd start by saying you all should read that first to find out what this is all about. Go ahead. I'll wait. . .

I really liked Travels in the Scriptorium. True, if ambiguity is not your thing, you may want to pass this one by, but even though I have only read one other book by this author, I was transfixed from the first page to the last. Since many or all of the characters are from his previous novels, reading this has made me itch to pick up more of his work and find out who these people are. I'm not at all convinced that this particular story will make any more sense if I gather further knowledge of the players, but it's too late. I'm hooked.

As I was reading Travels, I kept thinking that the work felt like an immensely talented author working his way through a case of writer's block, jotting down a hodge podge of disconnected ideas and attempting to weave them together just to see what would happen. When I found out that these seemingly random people were from earlier books, it made sense to me. I also thought it could have been a clever way to introduce new readers to old books, even if they don't realize that is what is happening. I could see myself eventually reading another Auster book and thinking, "Hmmmmm. . . Where have I heard this name before. . ." Knowing where the characters came from, now I'll be searching them out. I can't help it. I'm a sucker. I played right into his hands. I know it, and I don't care. It's like I've found clues to a mystery that I need to investigate. Then later I'll return to Travels and see if maybe I found a treasure map or possibly a treasure.

Lezlie

Other Paul Auster books I have reviewed:

Timbuktu
The Book of Illusions

TIMBUKTU by Paul Auster

When I first began investigating the list of "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" to see if it was really something I wanted to make a project out of, I randomly started looking up books I'd never heard of before on Amazon. Timbuktu was the first one I selected. With my love of dogs, it was absolutely fate which made that decision for me. It is about a dog. In fact, it's told from the point of view of said dog, Mr. Bones. Mr. Bones is owned by a homeless man, Willy Christmas, who is dying, and they both know that Mr. Bones needs to find a new master before Willy's time runs out.

As Willy and Mr. Bones travel their final days together searching for one of Willy's former high school teachers, Mr. Bones thinks about the years they have spent together and when the end for Willy finally comes, Mr. Bones takes all the lessons he's learned and sets out for his uncertain future.

That's all the specifics I'll tell you about the story. All I'll say further is that isn't the end. There's more. And it's worth every single Kleenex you'll use getting to the end. It's been a long, long time since a book got me that emotional. I tend to shy away from animal books, because, quite frankly, I can't handle it. But I'm very glad I took the chance with this one. It's not happy, but it's not completely sad either. I can't describe it properly. I laughed, I had moments of deep introspection, and I had a great soul-cleansing sob-fest with our dogs when it was all over. I would absolutely recommend this book, but don't forget to have that hanky handy.

And don't forget that things aren't always what they seem to be on the outside . . .

Lezlie