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Paul Auster
Faber 2008
An odd one this – just as you’d expect from Paul Auster. August Brill, a seventy-two year old writer and critic, is recovering from a car accident. During a sleepless night he imagines the story of Brick, an ordinary American (well, sort of: he’s a professional magician) who finds himself in a dream world where 9/11 hasn’t happened and instead the US is in the midst of a civil war following the 2000 election fiasco. His mission – which he has no choice but to accept – is to kill the man who is imagining all this (i.e. Brill) and thus end the war. All good meta-fictional stuff which, as usual, although it sounds like pretentious guff, is actually fairly engrossing. Auster is, after all, as I said when I wrote about The Brooklyn Follies, a brilliant story-teller. However, this plot fizzles out (or rather goes out with a bang) when Brick is killed in an explosion back in the real world. We then learn more about Brill himself: his relationship with his recently deceased wife, his daughter’s writing, and the horrific death of his granddaughter’s ex-boyfriend as a hostage in Iraq. This last is the key incident I feel; Auster appears to be saying that whatever reality Brill (and, ultimately of course, Auster himself) imagines, it cannot be as grim as the unimagined variety. However, I feel that this idea could be explored in more detail, and there’s certainly a lot more to be said about Brill and his family. I’d also have liked to see how he managed to resolve the Brick story line. Coming in at less than 200 largish print pages, this novel thus leaves you wanting more. For a quick, engrossing, thought-provoking read, start here; for Auster at his best, try Leviathan or Moon Palace instead.
13th September 2008
http://www.paulauster.co.uk
See also: Invisible Sunset Park
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