Reading: Paul Auster

It's been a long time, baby, and boy, was it good.

I haven't read any new Auster for maybe four or five years: I went through a phase of collecting his novels after adoring his New York Trilogy when I read it for a college course. I went onto to do that as part of my dissertation, New York Trilogy and Muriel Spark's Memento Mori. Anyway, after a while I felt I was reading the same book over and over: he reworks similar themes and motifs. He does it very well, don't get me wrong, but I had acquired five or six of his novels, and came to a natural halt. I re-read his stuff once in a while, but hadn't actively looked for anything new from him in a long while. At this stage of my life, with plots involving the male protagonist walking away from his life, often leaving a child behind, it wasn't the sort of theme I was too patient with: I was more wanting to kick the arses of his characters! :D

Anyway, the dear old library had a couple of his in: The Brooklyn Follies is the one I've read so far. In this case, the characters are re-connecting with life, with family, rather than disconnecting. So that was interesting and unexpected.

I'm looking forward to trying Oracle Night. :)