I loved The New York Trilogy and have been wanting to follow up with more of his works for a while. This resparks that initiative. Also glad to learn more about him and his perspective.
For once, I’m at a loss for words! It’s always been hard for me to figure out why Auster’s writing appeals to me so much. I burned out on him after reading six or seven books, but he was my favorite modern writer for a while there.
The burnout was on my end, not his; I’m usually drawn to short stories and I struggle to finish novels, and it occurs to me that this didn’t keep me from reading a bunch of Auster’s.
You touched on a lot of what’s good about him here; the wisdom and the hard work on words to get them lined up to create the Auster effect. His ability with translation is also important, and I suspect you’re right about the French influence having crept into him.
I like Stephen Crane a lot too, although he’s another writer I can’t quite analyze. Maybe the problem is that I read both of them back before I thought much about analyzing writers. I just enjoyed their work. I should go back and check them out again; maybe I’ve learned something since reading them.
Thank you for this Kate, I have to confess that I haven't read anything by Auster! So I will have to go and remedy that - he sounds like a fascinating writer.
I loved The New York Trilogy and have been wanting to follow up with more of his works for a while. This resparks that initiative. Also glad to learn more about him and his perspective.
For once, I’m at a loss for words! It’s always been hard for me to figure out why Auster’s writing appeals to me so much. I burned out on him after reading six or seven books, but he was my favorite modern writer for a while there.
The burnout was on my end, not his; I’m usually drawn to short stories and I struggle to finish novels, and it occurs to me that this didn’t keep me from reading a bunch of Auster’s.
You touched on a lot of what’s good about him here; the wisdom and the hard work on words to get them lined up to create the Auster effect. His ability with translation is also important, and I suspect you’re right about the French influence having crept into him.
I like Stephen Crane a lot too, although he’s another writer I can’t quite analyze. Maybe the problem is that I read both of them back before I thought much about analyzing writers. I just enjoyed their work. I should go back and check them out again; maybe I’ve learned something since reading them.
I very sadly did not know him before your article! So inspiring, thank you for this beautiful insight. The interview was also totally worth of!
I'd never heard of Auster before, so it's interesting to be introduced to his writings.
Also...just read your link on "Why do we spend time writing?" and it really resonated! Thanks for sharing : )
Thank you for this Kate, I have to confess that I haven't read anything by Auster! So I will have to go and remedy that - he sounds like a fascinating writer.