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Book Review: Oracle Night by Paul Auster
May. 23rd, 2006 11:40 pmTitle: Oracle Night
Author: Paul Auster
Published: New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2003
Page Count: 243
Total Page Count: 17,483
Text Number: 49
Read For: My own enjoyment (checked out from the library)
Short review: Sidnee Orr is a small-time writer recovering from a serious illness. On a constitutional after being released from the hospital he stops by a small stationary store and there buys a particular, attractive blue-bound notebook. As soon as he begins writing in the notebook his life begins to change: his wife breaks down sobbing in the car for no apparent reason, the stationary store closes suddenly, and a number of coincides occur that seem too curious to be natural. Meanwhile, he fills the blue notebook with a story about a man in the book industry who is reading an unpublished posthumous manuscript that leaves his old life behind. In a complex book of stories within stories, all of which relate back to Sidnee Orr's life, Auster writes about love, human frailty, and the power of words to predict, create, and explain. The book is engrossing but somewhat teasing, hinting at depth that doesn't quite exist. I prefer Auster's City of Glass and its sequels, but the novel is enjoyable and engrossing, reads quickly, and the lack of actual depth is acceptable given the fact that the book does have a theme: the power of writing.
( Long review. )
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
Author: Paul Auster
Published: New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2003
Page Count: 243
Total Page Count: 17,483
Text Number: 49
Read For: My own enjoyment (checked out from the library)
Short review: Sidnee Orr is a small-time writer recovering from a serious illness. On a constitutional after being released from the hospital he stops by a small stationary store and there buys a particular, attractive blue-bound notebook. As soon as he begins writing in the notebook his life begins to change: his wife breaks down sobbing in the car for no apparent reason, the stationary store closes suddenly, and a number of coincides occur that seem too curious to be natural. Meanwhile, he fills the blue notebook with a story about a man in the book industry who is reading an unpublished posthumous manuscript that leaves his old life behind. In a complex book of stories within stories, all of which relate back to Sidnee Orr's life, Auster writes about love, human frailty, and the power of words to predict, create, and explain. The book is engrossing but somewhat teasing, hinting at depth that doesn't quite exist. I prefer Auster's City of Glass and its sequels, but the novel is enjoyable and engrossing, reads quickly, and the lack of actual depth is acceptable given the fact that the book does have a theme: the power of writing.
( Long review. )
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
