“I really enjoyed reading this book, and can say the same for the rest of Auster's books. The trilogy was hard to put down. I can see how some people might be disappointed, but that seems almost deliberate. ”
“Sorry, I just think it's hugely over-rated and unreadable - like a Brooklin Alain Robbe-Grillet, in fact.”
“I agree with the David Lynch analogy. I am a huge Lynch fan, so maybe that's why I liked this book so much or it could have been Auster's brilliant and imaginative usage and variation of usage of symbolism throughout the trilogy. I loved the way he took the three stories and told them through different lenses. Definitely not for your average person, but something that makes you think more abstractly. A great read.Also, I would definitely not recommend Timbuktu. If you want something straight forward by Auster, check out Brooklyn Follies. Timbuktu is kind of lame.”
“A lot of people (including my wife) seem to have problems with this book. But for me this is just like a good David Lynch movie. You might not really get what is going on, but just to see someone use the medium of novel writing with such skill to slowly turn the book inside out so that the borders between reader, writer and character becomes more and more fuzzy makes me in a good mood. As with most of his books, these ones are obsessed with identity, and what happens when you lose it, how much of yourself you actually lose once you are put out of your context. But sure, one has to like to think about those kind of things. Also, one should say that Paul Austers book are usually quite similar, no need to read all of them. For more of a straightforward story, I can recommend 'Timbuktu', which takes you into the head of a stray dog.”
“ Uurgh just rubbish! Pointless and clearly the author thinks he's being clever. There are loads of clever authors there who are also able to write a vaguely interesting story containing interesting characters as well though, so I would say don't waste your time...This was chosen as a book for a book club I'm in, otherwise I would never have even tried to wade through this. Really, words cannot describe how irritating this book really is. Quite what it is doing contained on the shelf of the group "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" is a mystery. Maybe they are books which will postpone death by boring you into never finishing them, thus remaining immortal while death awaits your completion of the 1001 books.”
“Typical Auster novel! Tricks, crashing identities, games etc... But no content at all! It is just reading for the sake of reading. I prefer Pamuk's "Black Book" or "White Castle". They have the same complexity but at least Pamuk's novels deliver some serious issues on East&West conflicts. ”
