Paul Auster and me.
During the last few months, I have read four books by Paul Auster, watched one of his movies and seen him twice. Might sound a bit obsessed. The reading part was because I figured New York City would be the best place to really immerse myself in his books, although the fourth one (Book of Illusions, 2002) I got as a Christmas present when already in Finland. In September I began with Brooklyn Follies (2005), on sale for 4 dollars at the Strand Bookstore at the Union Square in New York. Then I continued with his latest novel, The Man in the Dark (2008) which I bought for 20 dollars at the UN: the benefits of the sold books, donated by Auster's publisher, went for the UN staff Development Fund to build a library (hopefully to get some books in it, also!) in Uganda. When I moved from Manhattan to the Brooklyn side, I finished his most famous piece, New York Trilogy (1985) - Auster's breakthrough book which is composed of three mini novels.
Coincidences, double lives, obsessions for incredulous missions, stories inside stories - that is Paul Auster as a writer. As a speaker he is enchanting, annoying and incredibly witty. He began by telling how he was invited to this event for UN staff, flattering us a bit: "I remember when I was asked already in January if I would like to come and read at the UN - I leapt, although I usually always say 'no' to everything, but this is very special." After that he just started to read extracts from his book, first a lengthy part from the beginning, then a few pages from two other parts of the book. Later on when I opened the book myself, I couldn't help hearing his voice in my head when reading it. It felt weird, as if I was carrying his voice inside me wherever I went.
The most interesting part began after the reading: discussion and the possibility to ask questions, which the audience, mostly composed of Paul Auster fans, had plenty of. Auster was asked about the exception in his production, Brooklyn Follies, which is more humorous and perhaps more 'normal' than the rest of his books. Auster noted that it was the time of Bush's re-election and he was furious because of the state of his country: "Normally, when you are depressed, you want to write comedy, and when you're happy, tragedy". He was also asked about his youth, his writing process and how it feels like to read one's own text to an audience. All of his answers were perfect sentences, full of intelligence, humor and self-awareness.
After the reading and a Q&A session, we were allowed to rush downstairs of the UN library auditorium, buy his new book and get it autographed. Initially I was hesitant but decided to use my money for a good cause. Having the author's inscription on the first page might have had some influence in my decision, too. We had an exchange of words lasting for a few seconds (my small talk skills might still need some improvement):
"Riikka - isn't it a Finnish name?"
"Yes it is, you guessed well!"
"It's a lovely language, Finnish."
"Yes, it's a wonderful language - as are all languages, of course..."
"Yes..."
And then I ran happily off with a new book under my arm, back to my office across the street again.
I did some simple google research and found out interesting little facts: Auster has the honour of being "the most shop-lifted writer with William S. Burroughs and Charles Bukowski" (from an interview in Financial Times in 2005). He still writes all of his manuscripts in little notebooks by hand. And of course, he is not 'only' a writer, but also a translator (from French, especially in his youth), a movie manuscripter for and a director for Smoke (1995) and The Inner Life of Martin Frost (2007). Mediocracy of the latter movie somewhat reduced my admiration - or rather brought it to a more realistic level. At least he is not perfect in everything he does!
Luckily I am not alone with my Paul Auster folly. Besides the enchanted critics in several American, Finnish and British newspapers, also readers worship him. I somehow want to savour his literary production, to have these Auster-periods. The first one was in 2005 when I decided to acquaint myself with this writer I had heard only good things about. I bought Leviathan (1992) from a used-books shop in Helsinki and had hard time reading the first 100 pages - it took months to get it started. After those 100 pages I couldn't drop the book out of my hands. I was impressed. I began to read another novel, Timbuktu (2000) in Finnish, but somehow got stuck again and had to return it unfinished to the library at some point.
And the second time I saw a glimpse of Paul Auster? It was, suitably enough, a mere coincidence. I was waiting for Otto to come through the security and customs at the JFK airport in November when I saw a tall, blond woman together with a shorter, grey-haired man hurrying past me at the arrival area: it was the writer-couple Siri Hustvedt and Paul Auster. I could not but smile.
Read more on Paul Auster:
* List of interviews at Auster's official homepage: http://www.paulauster.co.uk/interviews.htm
* Interview in the Gothamist and in the Guardian in October 2008
* review of the Man in the Dark (2008) in San Francisco Chronicle
* Interview in the Times in 2004, before Bush's re-election
* summary of the UN staff event at the UN radio
Coincidences, double lives, obsessions for incredulous missions, stories inside stories - that is Paul Auster as a writer. As a speaker he is enchanting, annoying and incredibly witty. He began by telling how he was invited to this event for UN staff, flattering us a bit: "I remember when I was asked already in January if I would like to come and read at the UN - I leapt, although I usually always say 'no' to everything, but this is very special." After that he just started to read extracts from his book, first a lengthy part from the beginning, then a few pages from two other parts of the book. Later on when I opened the book myself, I couldn't help hearing his voice in my head when reading it. It felt weird, as if I was carrying his voice inside me wherever I went.
The most interesting part began after the reading: discussion and the possibility to ask questions, which the audience, mostly composed of Paul Auster fans, had plenty of. Auster was asked about the exception in his production, Brooklyn Follies, which is more humorous and perhaps more 'normal' than the rest of his books. Auster noted that it was the time of Bush's re-election and he was furious because of the state of his country: "Normally, when you are depressed, you want to write comedy, and when you're happy, tragedy". He was also asked about his youth, his writing process and how it feels like to read one's own text to an audience. All of his answers were perfect sentences, full of intelligence, humor and self-awareness.
After the reading and a Q&A session, we were allowed to rush downstairs of the UN library auditorium, buy his new book and get it autographed. Initially I was hesitant but decided to use my money for a good cause. Having the author's inscription on the first page might have had some influence in my decision, too. We had an exchange of words lasting for a few seconds (my small talk skills might still need some improvement):
"Riikka - isn't it a Finnish name?"
"Yes it is, you guessed well!"
"It's a lovely language, Finnish."
"Yes, it's a wonderful language - as are all languages, of course..."
"Yes..."
And then I ran happily off with a new book under my arm, back to my office across the street again.
I did some simple google research and found out interesting little facts: Auster has the honour of being "the most shop-lifted writer with William S. Burroughs and Charles Bukowski" (from an interview in Financial Times in 2005). He still writes all of his manuscripts in little notebooks by hand. And of course, he is not 'only' a writer, but also a translator (from French, especially in his youth), a movie manuscripter for and a director for Smoke (1995) and The Inner Life of Martin Frost (2007). Mediocracy of the latter movie somewhat reduced my admiration - or rather brought it to a more realistic level. At least he is not perfect in everything he does!
Luckily I am not alone with my Paul Auster folly. Besides the enchanted critics in several American, Finnish and British newspapers, also readers worship him. I somehow want to savour his literary production, to have these Auster-periods. The first one was in 2005 when I decided to acquaint myself with this writer I had heard only good things about. I bought Leviathan (1992) from a used-books shop in Helsinki and had hard time reading the first 100 pages - it took months to get it started. After those 100 pages I couldn't drop the book out of my hands. I was impressed. I began to read another novel, Timbuktu (2000) in Finnish, but somehow got stuck again and had to return it unfinished to the library at some point.
And the second time I saw a glimpse of Paul Auster? It was, suitably enough, a mere coincidence. I was waiting for Otto to come through the security and customs at the JFK airport in November when I saw a tall, blond woman together with a shorter, grey-haired man hurrying past me at the arrival area: it was the writer-couple Siri Hustvedt and Paul Auster. I could not but smile.
Read more on Paul Auster:
* List of interviews at Auster's official homepage: http://www.paulauster.co.uk/interviews.htm
* Interview in the Gothamist and in the Guardian in October 2008
* review of the Man in the Dark (2008) in San Francisco Chronicle
* Interview in the Times in 2004, before Bush's re-election
* summary of the UN staff event at the UN radio
Comments
Ehdottomasti myös tutustumisen arvoinen kirjailija, josset ole jo hänen tuotantoaan lukenut. Luin viime kesänä Illuusioiden kirjan ja siihen perään Kaikki mitä rakastin. Oli hyvin vaikea olla vertaamatta niitä toisiinsa - kumpikin käsittelee hyvin omaperäisellä tavalla surua ja menetystä...No, haastatteluiden mukaanhan he lukevat ja kommentoivat toistensa töitä, joten varmasti on vaikea välttyä vaikutteilta :)