Travels in the Scriptorium
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Review
"'... as much a novel about the semantics of storytelling; Mr Blank remains a perfect study of confusion and memory that says everything about Auster's brilliance.' Metro"
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Irish Times
'Draws both reader and writer into the protagonist's desperate search to make sense of his existence ... intriguing.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Paul Auster is capable of exquisite storytelling, but I found this one hard work.
Mr Blank finds himself in a locked room, unable to remember how he got there - or much else. Some of the objects in the room have written labels to indicate what they are called. (For those of you who don't recall their Philosophy of Language 101 we're being told to explore the relationship between the physical world and words - and blow me down, it gets even cleverer - occurring in a fictional universe, a construct of language and the author's imagination!)
The cast of characters that visit Blank in his room are drawn from Auster's previous works. Reviewers elsewhere with far more patience and application than me have listed the novels from whence they've all sprung. But essentially, we've got an exercise in self-referencing that may tickle the obsessive pedants amongst you, but will leave those hoping for a good yarn cold.
This should appeal to Auster readers that would list `The New York Trilogy' as his best work (I wouldn't). For me, various goings-on in a locked room have limited appeal, but the book is as well-crafted and readable as one expects from Auster. It also has the redeeming quality of being short: those who enjoy it may re-read it all the sooner and those who do not have little cause to rue too much misspent reading time.
(Anyone utterly captivated by the central conceit of this novel should try the work of John Barth, especially his doorstep-sized offering `Letters'.)
This one wasn't quite my cup of tea, but I'll still give Auster's next novel a go - I just hope he'll be letting his characters get out more.
Mr Blank finds himself in a locked room, unable to remember how he got there - or much else. Some of the objects in the room have written labels to indicate what they are called. (For those of you who don't recall their Philosophy of Language 101 we're being told to explore the relationship between the physical world and words - and blow me down, it gets even cleverer - occurring in a fictional universe, a construct of language and the author's imagination!)
The cast of characters that visit Blank in his room are drawn from Auster's previous works. Reviewers elsewhere with far more patience and application than me have listed the novels from whence they've all sprung. But essentially, we've got an exercise in self-referencing that may tickle the obsessive pedants amongst you, but will leave those hoping for a good yarn cold.
This should appeal to Auster readers that would list `The New York Trilogy' as his best work (I wouldn't). For me, various goings-on in a locked room have limited appeal, but the book is as well-crafted and readable as one expects from Auster. It also has the redeeming quality of being short: those who enjoy it may re-read it all the sooner and those who do not have little cause to rue too much misspent reading time.
(Anyone utterly captivated by the central conceit of this novel should try the work of John Barth, especially his doorstep-sized offering `Letters'.)
This one wasn't quite my cup of tea, but I'll still give Auster's next novel a go - I just hope he'll be letting his characters get out more.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Unlike previous Amazon reviewers, this was my first encounter with Paul Auster. To others in the same situation my advice would be: try something else. This is dreadful. There may well be clever self-referencing to other parts of the Auster canon; I wouldn't know. But as a stand alone story, it just doesn't stand up. Auster doesn't know how to write this sort of thing, which might more usually be found in the Science Fiction section, by writers who understand their craft. The narrative voice is a serious problem, with its incongruous mix of knowledge and ignorance. And at no point did I ever feel involved or have any interest in what would happen next, much less care about the characters.
21 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Paul Auster is capable of exquisite storytelling, but I found this one hard work.
Mr Blank finds himself in a locked room, unable to remember how he got there - or much else. Some of the objects in the room have written labels to indicate what they are called. (For those of you who don't recall their Philosophy of Language 101 we're being told to explore the relationship between the physical world and language - and blow me down, it gets even cleverer - occurring in a fictional universe, a construct of language and the author's imagination!)
The cast of characters that visit Blank in his room are drawn from Auster's previous works. Reviewers elsewhere with far more patience and appreciation for attention to detail than me have listed the novels from whence they've all sprung. But essentially, we've got an exercise in self-referencing that may give tickle the obsessive pedants amongst you, but will leave anyone hoping for a good yarn cold.
This should appeal to Auster readers that would list `The New York Trilogy' as his best work (I wouldn't). For me, various goings-on in a locked room have limited appeal, but the book is as well-crafted and readable as one expects from Auster. It also has the redeeming quality of being short: those who enjoy it may re-read it all the sooner and those who do not have little cause to rue too much misspent reading time.
(Anyone utterly captivated by the central conceit of this novel should try the work of John Barth, especially his doorstep-sized offering `Letters'.)
This one wasn't quite my cup of tea, but I'll still give Auster's next novel a go - I just hope he'll be letting his characters get out more.
Mr Blank finds himself in a locked room, unable to remember how he got there - or much else. Some of the objects in the room have written labels to indicate what they are called. (For those of you who don't recall their Philosophy of Language 101 we're being told to explore the relationship between the physical world and language - and blow me down, it gets even cleverer - occurring in a fictional universe, a construct of language and the author's imagination!)
The cast of characters that visit Blank in his room are drawn from Auster's previous works. Reviewers elsewhere with far more patience and appreciation for attention to detail than me have listed the novels from whence they've all sprung. But essentially, we've got an exercise in self-referencing that may give tickle the obsessive pedants amongst you, but will leave anyone hoping for a good yarn cold.
This should appeal to Auster readers that would list `The New York Trilogy' as his best work (I wouldn't). For me, various goings-on in a locked room have limited appeal, but the book is as well-crafted and readable as one expects from Auster. It also has the redeeming quality of being short: those who enjoy it may re-read it all the sooner and those who do not have little cause to rue too much misspent reading time.
(Anyone utterly captivated by the central conceit of this novel should try the work of John Barth, especially his doorstep-sized offering `Letters'.)
This one wasn't quite my cup of tea, but I'll still give Auster's next novel a go - I just hope he'll be letting his characters get out more.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Never read Auster? Don't make this your first.
Never read Auster? Don't make this your first. One of my favourite authors but this sadly is very poor. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Mr. M. J. Payne
Travels in the Scriptorium
This is the second book I've read by Paul Auster, the first being 'The Book of Illusions'. On starting 'Travels in the Scriptorium' the first comparison with another novel that... Read more
Published 19 months ago by N. A. Spencer
The poorest book of an overrated writer
This is a truly awful book. Auster is in my view the most consistently overrated contemporary American literary writer, and here the full poverty of his gift is nakedly displayed. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Paul Bowes
Low point in a career
The reviewer that mentioned the twilight zone was spot on. This may have been written as a script for tales of the unexpected... Read more
Published on 24 Sep 2009 by I. Perry
Not a great introduction to Auster
Amnesiac mr. Blank is exploring the room he lives in and reading the papers on the desk, as various people come to nurse him or have a chat. Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2009 by Christian Jongeneel
Oh dear.
Please give this a wide berth.
It's about a writer who's produced some great books in the past but now seems to have run out of ideas. Read more
It's about a writer who's produced some great books in the past but now seems to have run out of ideas. Read more
Published on 15 Sep 2008 by D. Weare
Great concept
This book had me gripped with its opening pages but somewhere in the middle I began to get bogged down by it. Read more
Published on 5 Aug 2008 by kehs
Great concept
This book had me gripped with its opening pages but somewhere in the middle I began to get bogged down by it. Read more
Published on 5 Aug 2008 by kehs
It's only a Papermoon.
'The New-York trilogy' and 'The music of chance' are a part of the best novels I ever read. In these novels imagination becomes reality, leading to psychological chaos and loss of... Read more
Published on 30 July 2008 by Jan Dierckx
Not that entertaining
I was so excited at the prospect of this book but was left wondering if my time could have been better spent doing something else .... Read more
Published on 22 Jun 2008 by SJSmith
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