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The explosion at the start of this book ends the life of its hero, Benjamin Sachs, and brings two FBI agents to the home of one of Sachs's oldest friends, the writer Peter Aaron. What follows is Aaron's story, an investigation of another man's life.

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39 Reviews

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
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4.3 out of 5 stars (39 customer reviews)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A man in search of his own liberation, 13 Jan 2004

By	www.bibliofemme.com - See all my reviews

Benjamin Sachs story is "conveyed through the eyes of his friend Peter Aaron, a novelist who discovers in the book's opening pages that Sachs has died in a mysterious bomb explosion. Aaron sets out to write the definitive version of Sachs's story before the FBI can formulate theirs." Benjamin Sachs is a writer, a philosopher, a man with loyalties and passions. But more than that Benjamin Sachs is a questioner - he questions his own nature and psychosocial make up, he tests himself and probes deeper to understand who he is and also the nature of humanity, fate, destiny and chance. He is willing to give up his wife, career and practical reason in his search. Many incidents in this book can be criticised as unreal - the seemingly simple triggering of Sachs "series of fateful events" and the many coincidence that pop up to escalate these events, however far from building a sense of unreality I feel they render a state of hyper reality - how many times have you said "if I told you, you wouldn't believe it". Here Auster has told it and in a manner in which we can see this mans wrenching search into himself. Indeed many of the events are based autobiographically on Auster's own life. I particularly love the passages outlining Sachs efforts to alienate his wife - to get her to leave him rather than the other way around, Sachs attempts to "innocently" touch Maria and the deepening of Aaron's friendship with Sachs to the extent that he wishes to slip into his skin - to sleep with Sachs wife, oh these and many more threads I found wonderfully and unnervingly real.
This book has been much read due to its "anti-establishment" content, yet I feel this book is less to do with the macrocosm of the American nation and more to do with the microcosm of mans struggle with his self and of the freedom imparted by the near death experience. Auster himself has quoted the Greek saying. `Judge no man's happiness until he is dead' in relation to this work. Sachs bombings of Statue of Liberty replicas can be on the surface seen as anti-establishment statements but what is more then can be seen as Sachs blowing up fear - stultifying fear, as first witnessed in his mothers experience on climbing the stature of liberty. 'The Phantom of Liberty' being less a terrorist of the state and more a man in search of his own liberation.
This book should also be read by fans of contemporary art in particular the Artist Sophie Calle - whose works Auster weaves into the story through the character of Maria.
In my reading so far I find this book to be a rare gem - a psychological narrative with action. I'm off to buy the rest of his works.
The Artist

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vintage Auster, 10 Sep 2006

By	Barca 82 (UK) - See all my reviews

I'm a big Auster fan and this is probably my favourite book of his. It grips from the start as the story of Ben Sachs told through the eyes of his friend Peter Aaron. Its a great story and the characters are well drawn. The terrorism theme is unusual for him, and has echoes of American Pastoral by Philip Roth- both books have friends and family struggling to come to terms with a radical acquaintance.
Auster uses the statue of liberty as a fitting allegory for the establishment and for the way people settle for less, in a world bereft of truth, meaning or ideology. Ben Sachs is an unforgettable character, but what lingers is the compromised muddied realtionship between Aaron and Sachs, and the things left unsaid and undone.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Mixed Bag, 20 Nov 2006

By	Adam Kelly (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Having recently read Leviathan and The Music of Chance, I can't help but fear that anything Auster has done or will do after 1987 will always be dwarfed by The New York Trilogy. There is nothing wrong with Leviathan as entertainment - it is a fast-paced page turner with an interesting plot and enjoyable (if incomplete) characterisation. The problem is it feels like an early work by a writer of potential, not one by a great writer coming after such a masterpiece as NYT. The thematics go in too many different directions - philosophical, political and sensational - and the second half of the novel feels rushed, heading towards a conclusion that contains only a half-hearted version of the metafictive brilliance that we know Auster is capable of. Too many of the plot-lines go nowhere in the end, and the book is finally too many things at once to make a real mark.

Auster is a highly skilled and thought-provoking writer who can hold the attention like few others with the pace and punch of his sentences. He should be capable of more than is on show here, and I shall continue to read his later work with the hope that he lives up to his promise.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Paul Auster's best
This was the second book by Auster that I read, having read "The New York Trilogy" first and being suitably impressed. Read more

Published on 26 Jan 2005 by A reader

2.0 out of 5 stars A ponderous bore
I couldn't wait to get into this; the first twenty pages were captivating and promised the musings on identity and life that Auster is so expert at. Read more

Published on 3 Jun 2004 by M. Crowder

5.0 out of 5 stars Explosive - literally
From the opening page to the final word, this novel grips you like a half nelson by Hulk Hogan in his pomp. Read more

Published on 20 Jan 2004 by jimconnor9

2.0 out of 5 stars Unconvincing, eminently forgettable novel
Eminently forgettable and useless; pointless and superfluous. A waste of writing talent. Based on this novel alone, Auster comes across as a man who writes well but to no purpose... Read more

Published on 18 Oct 2001 by Nina Davis

4.0 out of 5 stars interesting thought provoking reading
Paul Auster first caught my attention when I read New York Trilogy and since then I have sought out the rest of his fictional work. Read more

Published on 10 Oct 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, original and unexpected
I loved this book, it did not match what I though ti was going to be (an Arlignton Road type story of the film). Read more

Published on 23 Aug 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars His best
I have read almost all of Paul Auster's books and this is the one that I enjoyed the most. It was a greatly enjoyable read that left me with something to think about.

Published on 19 Feb 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars Rich diverse complex tale of Monster preportions.
Leviathan - "A very large powerful thing" - Is exactly what this book is about.

Paul Auster is often criticised for too often introducing elements of chance in his... Read more

Published on 18 Aug 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Another surreal stunner from Mr Auster
A very stylish tale which begins with a bang. A man with Paul Auster's initials announces that this book is going to be the story of his best friend, another novelist. Read more

Published on 26 May 1999

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and valuable reading material
I read Paul Auster's Leviathan at school and I very much liked the novel. It's full of interesting characters and contains a remarkable net of relationships. Read more

Published on 13 April 1999

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	69% buy the item featured on this page: Leviathan (Faber Fiction Classics) 4.3 out of 5 stars (39) �4.79
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