Rating: 
Summary: A voice for silent movies
Review: The strength of this book lies in the passionate description of silent movies as they are seen in the eyes of the protagonist, David Zimmer. The protagonist's blooming interest in silent movies, and in particular, in actor Hector Mann, is quite contagious, and the reader quickly gains an appreciation for their simplistic sophistication and the brilliant acting abilities of the actor. The story also incorporates elements of tragedy, mystery, and romance, all of which are related in one way or another to Zimmer's quest in exploring the life of Hector Mann.
Rating: 
Summary: The inner life of Martin Frost
Review: I believe this is the best we've seen from Paul Auster, and I've read (and mostly loved) almost everything he did. It's a book that's written with elegancy and emotion and that -I believe-, wether you like it or not, won't leave you completely cold.The protagonist, David Zimmer, lives the life of a dead man. His wife and kids have died in a plane crash and he watches life go by getting drunk alone and contemplating the possibility of suicide. One day, by watching a clip on T.V. from silent argentine film comedian Hector Mann, he laughs, and that laugh saves his life. To fill his days and to keep himself alive, he writes a book about Mann and about his mysterious disappearance in 1929. When that book is over, he struggles to find another thing to work on, when all of a sudden he receives a letter claiming that Hector Mann is still alive and wants to speak to him. One of the things a lot of readers dislike about this novel is the way in which a plot is aborted giving place to a completely different one, the way chance seems to rule the game. I think this is the proof that Auster's style has finally matured and established in a solid position. Whether you like that meandering style or not is a totally different matter. I also discard the possibility that he's repeating himself: in tone this is an entirely novel work, with typical Auster trademarks. "The book of illusions" is a masterpiece and a book I will be rereading many times. Its title is misleading and perfect.
Rating:
Summary: strange, but attractive
Review: Auster has a way with developing characters. In this novel, a somewhat psychotic author, a mesmorizing and eccentric movie star, and many other characters full of suprises grips the reader with an intensity that pulls the them into the story. Recursive plots, peculiar characters, morbid but appealing satire...I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating, layered, compelling
Review: It is not often that I rush to gush about a book that I just read. "The Book of Illusions" is a spellbinding book, with many subtle layers hidden through it, that plays with classical, yet haunting themes across the two covers. The author's style is magnificent, at the same time precise and elegant, never detached but close enough to the story and the reader that it keeps even descriptive passages taut and dramatic. The style never takes away from the story, nor the story from the style: you can read this book for the story only, although you cannot help but be won over by the style as you go! The story itself is original, although reminiscent of several classical themes. The presence of these themes, I think, makes the story more rather than less interesting, by echoing other books into this one in a way that makes this story richer by its associations. The two male characters are well designed, although sometimes a bit "easy" (in the sense that some aspects of the character predict other aspects a bit too easily), yet attractive and very easy to identify with. The themes are haunting enough that you will think about them and need to read the book again - like food that you just must come back to. In the end, this book is one that is difficult to put down, easy to come back to, and memorable. It is satisfying at many levels, be they sheer enjoyment, style, or psychological complexity. If you read for fun and require quality in the style of your authors you will not regret this book - unless there is an urgent task waiting while you are reading it:-)
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular
Review: I see that there are a lot of mixed reviews of The Book of Illusions, as well as some people who outright hated the novel. I don't blame them. As is true of any literature, Paul Auster's work is not for everybody. Before reading The Book of Illusions, I was also skeptical that his work would be for me. However, I found myself drawn into the novel from shortly after the first sentence. By the time I was halfway through, the experience of following the characters and plot was so intense that I couldn't stand to put it down to do things as simple as eat or socialize with other people. It had been a long time since a novel had affected me to so deeply. Usually I read intellectual fiction with my head, hoping to learn something about life, or a particular culture or language, but The Book of Illusions brought my head and my heart together, combining post-modern passages, a fast-paced plot, and characters that are so well-developed that you feel like you have a genuine stake in what happens to them. It's like a pop novel for the intellectual: thought-provoking, occasionally pretentious (in all the right ways), but also exciting. Some other reviewers have given away the main plot points, but I think it's best to read The Book of Illusions without knowing what exactly is going to happen (beyond what's written on the inside flap or back cover, anyway). I have read very few books in my life that I would consider re-reading. They include Don Quijote, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Corelli's Mandolin, The Human Stain, and The Book of Illusions.
Rating:
Summary: The Mysterious Twists of Redemption
Review: This novel, a moving allegory of love, loss and the surprising ways in which healing reveals itself, was written in such a way that I was tempted to believe that Hector Mann truly existed. Even though I know Mr. Mann is a fictional character created entirely in the phenomenal mind of Paul Auster, I was vaguely disappointed that I wouldn't be able to seek his films out and fall further in love with him as I have with Buster Keaton and various others. I highly recommend this book to film buffs, to people who enjoy a wonderfully-written story, and to anyone who is tired of the pablum passed off as "literature" as a general rule. You will be turning pages late into the night, and not regret a moment of missed sleep.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Though I haven't read all of Auster's novels, "The New York Trilogy" and "Leviathan" sucked me in and kept me up past my bedtime. I found "Book of Illusions" even more compelling than these two--and that's no small feat. It is certainly arguable, but I think it is the best of his work that I've read. The one facet of Auster's previous work that really got under my skin (and not in a good way) was his unrealistic dialogue. Now, before all you hard-core Austerites jump down my throat--I do understand that his dialogue has been, in the past, pleasantly and perhaps necessarily, pulpy. I found that, at least for me, it sometimes detracted and distracted from his original, suspenseful storylines. Not so in "Book of Illusions." The story progresses smoothly, without any distractions and is so good that it prompted exasperated comments from my husband like, "are you going to read that ALL night?"
Rating: 
Summary: very disappointing
Review: I am a fan of Paul Auster and I really loved some of his earlier novels, but that one was one of the worse books I have ever read. Nothing is credible, it is only a succession of unprobable events that are writen in a ridiculous way. DON'T BUY iT!!!
Rating:
Summary: Masterful novel
Review: The effects of this book are like the words of a hypnotist. Auster brings you into a new world and guides you along on a journey of discovery. There are connections between reality and the landscape of this novel, but they fade in and out. The truth about this novel is that it will make you question mortality, the role of art and creation in life, and the illusions we all hold about life and death. There is considerable death within, but that is offset by a river of life that flows through it. If you have ever loved someone on the silver screen, you will find resonance within this book. Likewise, if you have ever lost someone you truly loved, you will find comfort within this book.
Rating:
Summary: There's more to life...
Review: The Book of Illusions is an exploration into a different kind of world in which things don't work quite the way they do in real life. The creation of this new world is a surgical masterpiece, and it succeeds by relieving us of humdrumnity. In the world Auster creates, we are relieved of economic pressures, we are relieved of the necessity to find jobs, we are relieved of health problems. Instead, we can explore a world in which time, money, and professional success are completely abstracted from life's daily routine. What's the point? Instead, there is the certainty of our own deaths, and there is the need to live after death separates us from those that know us. In the Book of Illusions, Auster explores the life and emotions of a man whose life is forever changed by the deaths of members of his friends and family. Auster examines men, with creative talents who excel in creating, so that after their unavoidable deaths something of them is left to survive. However, that which survivies is a shadow of reality, and Auster makes in fact a powerful statement that what we create when we are alive is but an illusion of who we really are. Once separated from those that know us, we ourselves become nothing but an illusion, and we ourselves die even if this is long before our hearts stop beating. This Book of Illusions tells the untellable: regardless of copious amounts of time, money, professional success, or even the best of health, (all of them illusions) without our companions in life, our stories cannot ever truly be told. How many words would you need to tell your life's story so people knew who you really were? Can a million words ever substitute for the loss of tellers of our life's story? An interesting question that Auster pitches at us, in the form of the autobiography of Chateaubriand. Regardless, The Book of Illusions is not a depressing story. But still, a journey worth experiencing, and thinking about.
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