The New York Trilogy
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Book Description
Beautiful new paperback Faber Firsts edition to commemorate Faber's 80th Anniversary
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
The New York Trilogy is an astonishing and original book: three cleverly interconnected novels that exploit the elements of standard detective fiction and achieve a new genre that is all the more gripping for its starkness. In each story the search for clues leads to remarkable coincidences in the universe as the simple act of trailing a man ultimately becomes a startling investigation of what it means to be human. Auster's book is modern fiction at its finest: bold, arresting and unputdownable.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this several months ago and am still thinking about it. It's a book for anyone who has ever wanted to write, or who loves reading novels that don't have answers. Auster doesn't lead us by the hand to the answers; he throws us in a dark room and leaves us to figure it out ourselves. As he says, it isn't the outcome of the story that counts but the telling of the story itself (ok Paul, whatever). That said, it isn't indulgent and is as accessible a book as something this experiemental can be. One to read if you want to open your mind and challenge your brain. Not an easy read but a beautiful, interesting, haunting one that gets under your skin and stays there.
40 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
NY Trilogy is certainly an entertaining and perplexing work of fiction, each story a variation on the theme of identity (lost and found), rootlessness, insecurity, what makes us human and individual , and other heavy themes.
However in this bleak, urban look at the impersonality of modern society, Auster is also having fun playing games with us, demonstrating (his) the writer's ability to create fictional characters - exploring how much of the characters are invention and how much autobiographical. Even the narrator - is that the writer's voice or an imposter? We, the readers, become the detective, encountering a trail of red herrings, unreliable witnesses and dead ends to try to discover the motives of author, narrator and characters. Can we find out the truth? Is that the message?
Each is a puzzling case, inter-related by characters who turn up repeatedly (including Auster himself - described in the third person). You're never sure whether it is the same person each time or another invention by the author. Confused? That's part of the charm of the book - I'm not sure there is a tidy solution - it is certainly an unsettling experience as the narrator in each case seems to be unreliable and more than a bit unstable, but it gets your brain working and that's got to be a good thing.
I enjoyed it - i don't really know why. I can't even decide whether it's well written. Certainly it's funny at times (in a nervous twitchy way) and if you're the sort who enjoys this sort of multi-layered mind game I can whole-heartedly recommend two English alternatives - Charles Palliser's "Unburied" or James Lasdun's "The Horned Man"
However in this bleak, urban look at the impersonality of modern society, Auster is also having fun playing games with us, demonstrating (his) the writer's ability to create fictional characters - exploring how much of the characters are invention and how much autobiographical. Even the narrator - is that the writer's voice or an imposter? We, the readers, become the detective, encountering a trail of red herrings, unreliable witnesses and dead ends to try to discover the motives of author, narrator and characters. Can we find out the truth? Is that the message?
Each is a puzzling case, inter-related by characters who turn up repeatedly (including Auster himself - described in the third person). You're never sure whether it is the same person each time or another invention by the author. Confused? That's part of the charm of the book - I'm not sure there is a tidy solution - it is certainly an unsettling experience as the narrator in each case seems to be unreliable and more than a bit unstable, but it gets your brain working and that's got to be a good thing.
I enjoyed it - i don't really know why. I can't even decide whether it's well written. Certainly it's funny at times (in a nervous twitchy way) and if you're the sort who enjoys this sort of multi-layered mind game I can whole-heartedly recommend two English alternatives - Charles Palliser's "Unburied" or James Lasdun's "The Horned Man"
27 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The NewYork Trilogy is that rare thing, a book that will continue to haunt you long after you put it down. Though the three stories it contains are structured and inspired by thriller novels, the work is essentially a meditation on the art of writing. It draws a parallel between a private investigator having to watch the person he has been hired to spy on and a writer attempting to create and capture a life on the page. All the central characters in the three stories hit a black wall at some point, where they feel unable to penetrate through to the subject under their observation. Auster captures this limitation of writing beautifully. This is a gripping, dark and completely original piece of work. Certainly a twentieth century classic. I shudder to think that I was nearly going to pass it over.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Answers are not of the essence in this haunting trilogy
I suppose a way of validating an original novel is seeing how many people are divided in their opinions about it. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Annie J.
Weird story, but ineresting style
It is by far the most weird book, or maybe you called it innovative, I have ever read. I have only read the city f glass (being no interested to march on the other two), and as far... Read more
Published 2 months ago by sojourner
Oh dear
I have just endured City of Glass.
I feel it was very much like a piece of abstract art, say, for example, a single rectangle of solid colour. Read more
I feel it was very much like a piece of abstract art, say, for example, a single rectangle of solid colour. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Neil Mc
Is it innovative or is it pretentious?
The New York Trilogy isn't a trilogy in the sense that Steig Larsson's Millenium Trilogy is a trilogy or The Lord Of Rings is a trilogy, it's three extended short stories 'City Of... Read more
Published 3 months ago by R. A. Davison
Lonely journeys to one's mind
Paul Auster brings us in the most inner point of New York, the mind of lonely characters decomposing themselves while trying to solve a case. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Antoine
Quite simply the best
Paul Auster's novels are quite simply the best one can find in English literature today. I re-read all of his books and since the early 90'ties I have admired his prose as well as... Read more
Published 4 months ago by krira
Haunting Trio of Mysterious Tales
I read this book a while back now but still think about it from time to time as it has a great capacity to leave you wondering as to what it could all mean. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Lesley Tingle
Haunting
Nothing is ever quite what it seems. There are moments of realisation and you think you figured out the mystery only to be intrigued again further down the line. Read more
Published 7 months ago by maximus
A dog juggling.
Clever stuff, soulless, plotless, pointless and ultimately irrational. Like watching a dog juggle, interesting for a while but ultimately goes nowhere.
Published 8 months ago by Swains
Fantastic
3 stories, all set in New York. One of the best examples of the post mordern genre of writing. One of my all time favourite reads, buy it and read it then read it again.
Published 8 months ago by Mr. M. J. Payne
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