Rating: 
Summary: Love, Loss, Regret and Redemption
Review: Great love is a blessing. How, then, can we deal with its loss when the person we love dies? Circumstances are made more difficult if the loss is unexpected . . . and we harbor regret concerning the death. That's the overriding theme of The Book of Illusions. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has known grief, and is still in its throes. You may find ways to overcome your grief in healthier ways.I listened to the unabridged audiocassette version, which is read by the author. I found that his reading enhanced the story, for he played the role of the narrator, David Zimmer, in a realistic way that made me feel like this was a work of nonfiction rather than fiction. David Zimmer was a college professor whose life dissolved in grief and guilt after his wife and two children died in a plane accident. He would like to have been on that plane with them. Life's meaning has disappeared for him until he happens to see a bit of a slapstick routine from a silent movie comic, Hector Mann. He laughs aloud, and finds himself coming back to life. Fascinated by how this could have happened, Zimmer compulsively reviews every inch of Mann's work . . . and writes a book about what he saw. He concludes that Mann would probably have not made it into the talkies era due to a strong Spanish accent. He thinks little more about Mann, having moved on to writing a translation of Chateaubriand, until a letter comes from Mann's "wife" claiming that he is alive. That's exceedingly strange because Mann disappeared mysteriously in 1929. Is this a hoax? Is it for real? The rest of the book unveils the mystery of what happened to Hector Mann, and brings Zimmer face-to-face with his own demons in new ways. The story will grow on you. Why, then, did I rate the book at three stars rather than five? For me, the book's story is too extreme for me to closely identify with it. The circumstances are so unusual and the characters' reactions are so drastic that the book is more like listening to a nightmare than to a story that seems like it could have been true. I think the main theme would have worked better using circumstances that are closer to being universal. In addition, the story could have been streamlined quite a bit. If it had, the action would have hit harder and been more compelling. The book will be most appealing to those who like to imagine the lives of those who are much different from themselves, and are interested in the price of loving. After you finish the book, ask yourself what you can do today so that you would have fewer regrets if a loved one were to die tomorrow. Then do those things! Your loved ones and you will both benefit from your thoughtfulness.
Rating: 
Summary: Auster does it again!!
Review: I just finished an awesome book called "The Book Of Illusions" by Paul Auster. Its all about Identity and what it means to lose one and remain anonymous. David Zimmer is a wreck. His world is shattered when the flight on which is wife and kids travel crashes, taking their lives. He is living a life that is totally meaningless - drinking himself away to glory, till he stumbles on Hector Mann - the legendary silent movie comic actor who one fine day mysteriously disappears never to return to the movies, presumably dead. David is intrigued by this and heads to write a book on his life. After the book is published, one fine day a lady appears at his doorstep inviting him to meet Hector Mann. He is baffled, surprised and then decides to go with her to New Mexico. What happens thereon is a joyride of a book!! The ending is a bad one!! Don't expect this to be a happy book because it isn't. I am just just waiting to get my hands on The New York Trilogy and Timbuktuby the same man!! Paul auster writes so well - with such quick turns and twists, he is too good!!
Rating: 
Summary: A radical exploration of subjectivity
Review: Auster explores the sharp sides of the subjectivity through the story of a beaten man. The perfect balance between the hypnotic storytelling and the philosophical thinking accomplished makes this book enjoyable. Some readers would prefer the permanent intensity of other Auster's books. This one comes and goes from the deepest existential struggle to the irrelevant details of daily life. A matter of rythm, of course. The Auster reader will probably breathe through those details but will probably demand more time in the under or higher world of anthropological exploration.
This intermittent reading experience gives the book a great balance.
Rating: 
Summary: Fast Gallop That Comes To A Dull Stop
Review: David Zimmer is a Vermont professor who loses his wife and two children in a plane crash. Overcome with sorrow he retreats from the world until watching television one night he sees a silent film starring a virtually unknown comedian named Hector Mann. The performers' comic genius causes Zimmer to feel the first glimmer of emotion, and he sets out to discover more on this man who disappeared at the onset of talkies.
What started for me as engaging soon became dull and meandering, and it was a struggle to slog through the last thirty or so cliched pages. By the time I had finshed, I was actually hoping the book was an illusion and I could've regained my lost time back. Three stars for the first 150 pages, minus one star for the remainder equals two.
Rating:
Summary: Stories within Impossible stories
Review: I've been reading Paul Auster for years. I like his novels, though I'm a bit less crazy about his poetry. Auster's a smart guy. He knows how to weave a story, an impossible story, that makes perfect sense. And since he's a really smart guy, he also knows how to weave the impossible story (or stories) within the story. He always does that, and he does it well. But The Book of Illusions shows that Auster's a really really smart guy, featuring not only the story within the story, but, since this is a book about movies and the people who love to make them (and live larger-than-life, fit-for-the-screen complex lives) also the filmography within. And somehow, he manages to really capture the cinematic essence in the story. This is truly a book capturing the cinematic illusion. A book of illusions. Between the stories and films, there's a love story, intertwined with the stories surrounding it, and threfore, destined to be a desperate, tragic love story (as one would, by now, expect Auster to write). I'm not sure this is Auster's best book to date, but even as one of his lesser books (which it is not either), The Book of Illusions is very close to being a masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Deft, layered and BORING
Review: First off, "City of Glass" is in my "top 10 of the century" books. This novel starts thus: 1.) A sudden death in the narrator's family leaves him suddenly rich and free to do anything he wants (a la Music of Chance). 2.) He's a literary type with antisocial hangups and an isolated book-surrounded existence (Music of Chance, NY Trilogy), and with nothing better to do, he devotes himself to bringing out some unknown dead artist's work (Locked Room). 3.) But surprise! He receives a mysterious message that the artist is not really dead (Locked Room). At first he ignores the message (City of Glass), but puts aside everything else to solve the mystery, albeit in an emotionally messed-up, reluctant fashion (City of Glass, Moon Palace, etc.). 4.) The message bearer is a mysterious loner woman (NY Trilogy, etc.) with whom he promptly hooks up in a dysfunctional but apparently gratifying way, 5.) Knowing he has to travel to the desert to get the facts (Moon Palace), 6.) And noting all sorts of snazzy literary and historical parallels between his life and the subject's, and some French book he's translating ... etc. (add your classic Auster cliche here). And so on. Auster's days of taut spellbinders appears to be over. Once the story kicks off in a way you feel as though you've already read, it goes onto the back burner and the book drags on for 30, 40 pages at a time, describing plots and stories for movies and books that never actually existed. In this case, it's a silent screen star who "never added anything" to the genre. No matter, you get to read dozens of pages of what are basically Charlie Chaplin movies with subtle, but uncompelling twists. Skim the first 50+ pages to see if the story ever comes back. It does briefly, but then it's back to an A-to-Z biography of the star that our narrator is seeking. We know way in advance that he'll find the guy, so the buildup gets tedious. And we know he'll be banging the female message bringer, true to form, but even the sex scenes are like dorky Penthouse paraphrases. Then there are the draining asides about some Chateaubriande's autobiography to further slow the pace, and occasional mawkish descriptions of the narrator's family going down in a plane crash. I have to say here that I put this book down about 60 pages from the end. I don't often do this, but there's nothing I want to know from this point. I might read the last couple pages to find out what happens, but I'm not interested in any of the characters, and I dread any more banal belabored movie abstracts. I just don't care about this book. There's no suspense, no resolution to motivate me. Do they all die? No one dies? The movies get destroyed? Famous? Doesn't matter. Hey Paul, how about a good story? This book has several stories described instead of shown. How about ditching all the spooky troubled narrators and lay a story out raw like in the old days?
Rating:
Summary: Deft, layered, clever and BORING
Review: First off, "New York Trilogy" is in my top 5 ALL TIME books. That said: This novel starts thus:
1.) A personal tragedy befalls the narrator, which leaves him suddenly rich and able to do whatever he wants (a la Music of Chance).
2.) He's a writer, with some emotional trouble that forces him into an isolated, book-surrounded existence (New York Trilogy, Moon Palace), but for no real reason, he is particularly taken with bringing to light the forgotten works of a dead artist (Locked Room), so he creates a work on this person,
3.) But he receives a mysterious phone call (or letter in this book) that indicates this artist isn't really dead! (City of Glass), so he's surprised, because it...
3.) Leads him to uncover the mystery in the desert (Moon Palace),
4.) Led by a mysterious loner women who acts as a spokesperson for the mystery man, with whom he promptly hooks up (City of Glass, Moon Palace, etc....)
5.) Then there are strange parallels to the narrator's own life, along with snazzy literary and historical coincidences (any Auster book) that make him connect everything back to his own life and some French book he's translating ... etc. (Add your classic Auster cliche here -- probably more from the books I haven't read). And so on. You can see where it's going. But the days of Auster's taut spellbinders appear to be over. The story kicks off with the standard mysterious contact from a dead person, then drag on for 30, 40 pages at a time describing plots and stories for movies and books that never actually existed. In this case, it's a silent screen star who "never added anything" to the genre. Too bad, you get 25 or more pages of description of basically Charlie Chaplin movies that never actually existed. Skim through as best you can to see if the story starts up again. And it does, except the hero is emotionally messed up (but, of course, with insanely perceptive intellectual abilities intact), and then it's back to an A-to-Z biography of the guy that our guy is studying, although he still has to go find the guy, which we already know he will, and we know way in advande that he'll be banging the spokesgirl who shows up to convince him to uncover the mystery (even the sex scenes are like dorky Penthouse paraphrases). Between the draining 10 or 30 page asides about Chateaubriande's autobiography (huh? relevance?) and unconvincing feelings about the hero's family going down in a plane crash, there is a story. Now I have to say, I put this down 80 pages from the end. I don't often do this, but from this point, there's nothing I really want to know. I'm not interested in any of the characters, I dread any more labored movie abstracts that are not only non-existent, but totally banal, I just ... I just don't care about this book. There is no suspense, no resolution to motivate me. Do they all die? No one dies? Just don't care. Hey Paul, how 'bout a good story? This book has so many stories described, instead of shown. Ditch all the spooky, troubled narrators and bust out a good yarn like in the old days!
Rating:
Summary: Illusion of Depth
Review: This is a well-plotted, tightly written book that keeps you reading because you're not sure where the author is taking you. On the other hand, I kept thinking there would be more depth, more meaning to it than there was. I felt cheated by the time the book was over due to its pretension to philosophy (perhaps in part because of the way it was advertised to me when I bought it), when it was only a very good ride. If taken in that vein--just an adventure--it probably will not prove a disappointment to a different reader, because it does have some nice twists and turns in it and an interesting, if not always sympathetic, narrator.
Rating:
Summary: The best Auster by now
Review: This is the best Auster that I've read by now. Paul is one of the contemporary authors I like the most, and this novel is good, very good. A personal dramma tied to a mistery about an ancien actor, some very extreme -violent- situations near to love experiences.
I reccomend it absolutely. I've read the Catalan translation.
Rating:
Summary: A Palimpsest of Art and Hope
Review: This novel is not so much a 'book of illusions', but a layered text of allusions to other stories, other tales. In a word, it is a palimpsest - a text upon which many stories are written, one on top of the other - and the task of the reader is to decipher its multifaceted, mysterious content and meaning. This great novel takes the reader by the hand and steers them through a labyrinth of emotions and ideas which all appear to contradict one another: love/violence; hope/destruction; death/humor...and still, in the end, at the book's tragic yet hopeful end, manages to bring these ideas and emotions together in a strange, organic whole. Reading this novel was an uncanny experience. Auster has a gift for doing this: representing the mundane as something uncanny. The protagonist, David Zimmer, a teacher of literature, finds himself confronted by the most tragic of circumstances, and his life takes a drastic turn. He withdraws into his mind. One day he comes across a silent film on the television by a virtually unknown actor that changes something inside him and provides a reason to continue existing. He begins to investigate the actor/filmmaker and discovers the man suddenly disappears at the height of his career. Zimmer's research and eventual writing of a book about the man and his films, begins a set of happenings in truly Auster-synchronistic style, that takes us on an incredible journey about love, art, the nature of art and its relation to life. This text asks many important questions: What is the purpose of art? Is it simply created to entertain? Or is the process of creation worthwhile and necessary in itself? At the book's climax, I was reminded of Jack Kerouec in 'The Vanity of Dulouz', rising early in the morning, writing frantically into the night, to only destroy the work by fire, page by page, to then begin again the following day. What was old Jack attempting to prove? Was he trying to prove the turn of the century adage, 'Art for Art's sake', that school of European Decadence? This of course begs another question, why write or create at all if no one can experience it? It was the French writer, Albert Camus, who once said that writers write to be read, and if they say otherwise, they're lying. The message in ~Illusions~ is quite clear: Art can and does give hope to the world full of sorrow and tragedy - and the work must be shared with others. Art provides, however small, hope for humankind. I've attempted to describe one of the major themes in this extraordinary novel, but there are many others. I believe this is one of Paul Auster's best.
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