Rating: 
Summary: ¿To live in a blur of accelerated motion¿
Review: I found it hard to categorize this novel. Oracle Night is certainly a beautifully written piece of work, but is it a thriller, a sinister account of the life of a struggling writer, a symbolic treatise on the nature of cause and effect, or a study of a relationship in transition? Maybe it is all of these or any one of them. The novel certainly works well, as a novel within a novel, and the narrative is full of mysterious portents, omens and signs. Symbolism is paramount as Sidney Orr; the main protagonist wonders the streets of Manhattan ruminating on his life, his marriage to his wife Grace, his health, and his talent as a writer. A mysterious notebook bought at a stationery shop in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn forms the symbolic core of the novel, as Sidney, recovering from a near fatal illness purchases the book, and for the next nine days lives almost under its spell. Eerie premonitions and a series of bewildering and mystifying events surround him, as he maniacally begins a novel about the life of Nick Bowen, who has inexplicably deserted his wife Eva, and is trying to start a new life for himself in Kansas City. As the story progresses, Sidney is forced to confront certain circumstances in his own life that demand an explanation. Is Sidney like Nick and "in search of indifference, a tranquil affirmation of things-as-they-are" or is he like Eva, "at war with those things, a victim of circumstances" his mind " a storm field of conflicting emotions: panic, and fear, sorrow, anger and despair." As the novel progresses, Nick's journey of self-discovery culminates in the revealing of secrets, and the realization that there is more to his relationship with his wife Grace and with the enigmatic author John Trause than meets the eye. Auster beautifully and cogently weaves so many different themes into the narrative: The connection between imagination and reality, the cause and effect "between the words in a poem and the events in our lives", the nature of time, and the manifestation of bad luck in its "most cruel and perverse form." The acceptance of the power of random, and purely accidental forces that mold our destinies is at the thematic heart of this novel. Oracle Night is an original and quite innovative work of fiction.
Michael
Rating: 
Summary: Claiming you meant for your story to tank doesn't make it OK
Review: I have read everything Auster has published, including his poetry; I guess you could call me a fan, or a fanatic. This time around I was disappointed. All the signature intertextuality was there (as already alluded to by other reviewers) but the degree to which the stories successfully commented upon the central narrative fell far, far short of what Auster has achieved in works like The New York Trilogy. Perhaps that earlier book succeeded so well because it was his first and most challenging treatment of the man-walks-out-of-his-life premise, and its subtle and brilliant resolution rested on telling romps through canonical works like Don Quixote and Walden. This time, as in The Book of Illusions, the oeuvre is an invented one, and while diverting for awhile, it leads Auster into a very familiar narrative trap; the surprise is that this time our Houdini imagines no escape. I kept reading because I hoped that Auster's revisitation of so many old scenes meant he had something new left to make of them, and because the presence of a new device (footnotes) seemed to bolster these hopes. It was a bummer to get to the part where the narrator invariably pauses and tells you that all of that was nothing compared to how it all ended, because this time there was nothing behind the curtain I hadn't already surmised. My brother suggests I write Paul an e-mail telling him he's not allowed to write this book anymore, but I'm afraid until I track down his address these comments will have to suffice.
Rating: 
Summary: A bit too obvious
Review: I have to say that Oracle Night left me more conflicted than any other Auster book I've read so far (and I'm pretty sure I've read them all).
On the one hand, the mini-stories within the story are excellent, and so is their subtle value as metaphors or premonitions regarding the "real story" and the truth about its characters. But on the other hand, I found the mini-stories to be much more interesting and touching than the actual story, which was rather bland.
I usually like Auster's books because of the semi-random encounters, and daily detective-like mysteries that he weaves into his tales, but here, with all due respect to the mysterious M.R. Chang, it just wasn't fun enough. And somehow, half-way through the book, everything (e.g., Grace) became a bit too obvious, and much sooner than it should have been.
Rating: 
Summary: Wow...
Review: I just finished Oracle Night a few minutes ago, and I'm still in a mild state of shock at how intense the read was. After having read The Book of Illusions a few months ago, and finding that it was one of the best novels I'd ever read, I was expecting to be disappointed with this new one. After all, how many great books can an otherwise hit-and-miss author (I was not so fond of City of Glass or Timbuktu, the first for being a simple literary game with a plot that didn't add up, the second for sounding too much like adolescent drivel) deliver in a row? The answer so far is two. And when Auster hits, he leaves a mark. While I'm still more fond of The Book of Illusions, Oracle Night also provides an excellent balance of literary and metaphysical ruminations (mostly dealing with time and, as usual, the act of writing) and dramatic power. The inside flap and the Amazon.com book description give away enough plot points, and I don't want to give away anything, so I'll stop here. I will definitely re-read Oracle Night sometime later in my life. That being said, the act of writing seems to be an ongoing preoccupation in Paul Auster's literary career. It's worked so far, but in the future, I'd like to see him explore some new territory. The Book of Illusions, with its focus on silent films, was an outstanding start, and it would be great to see Auster continue to branch out. (Caveat: I have only read four of his novels--mentioned above--but they have all dealt in some way with writers or the act of writing. If Auster has already written other novels that are different, then I hope to discover them soon.)
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing, sorry to say
Review: I read "Book of Illusions" when it was published (my first Auster book), and promptly read everything else by the author with relish and delight ("Moon Palace" and "Invention of Solitude" my favorites in addition to BOI). I realized I'd discovered an amazing author who never let me down...til now. This new work lacks completion, meaning, and perhaps its main problem is that it treads some of the same ground as previous books - maybe Paul needs to try something different. I've loved the depth of his works in the past, his exploration of language, coincidence, fate...this book has these ingredients, but it's just not satisfying. It's a frustrating let-down that I had to trudge through - I've never read an Auster book that was so much work to read. Wish he'd finished the story in a story. Wish he'd tied some things up. Wish I could find some significance for M.R. Chang's paper store, Jacob's plight in relationship to Grace & the protagonist...ANYTHING. It was almost as though he wrote whatever occured to him and didn't refine it. This one should have stayed in his own notebook. Hoping for better things ahead, though.
Rating:
Summary: Road(s) to nowhere...
Review: I wanted to like this book. Especially after reading the description, and other reviews. However, it was a real disappointment. Too many loose ends. Things started, and not fleshed out - not even fleshed out enough to have any relevance to the plot. A plot which really doesn't go anywhere promising. What is wrapped up at the end of the book is a let down. I found the language boring, and the characters a bit cliched and chauvinistic. I found no connection to or believability in the characters or their plights. The book seems to start on a few interesting paths, but never quite pulls anyting substantive together.
Rating:
Summary: Oracle Shmoracle
Review: I was really into Auster after I read "The New York Trilogy". Here was a very unique voice, shifting between some sort of latent psychosexual existentialism and classic Dashiell Hammett-ish Detective fiction, creating something utterly new.
Sometimes a great writer will only have one or two great books in them (it has been argued, respectively, of JD Salinger, although I disagree, but what about Harper Lee or Ralph Ellison? Or even Nabokov?) The point is, I have never read another work from Auster that equalled the first one I found so passionately transfixing. But that was years ago.
Oracle Night seems a bit like an inside joke. I felt like I was reading scattershot notes for a novel-to-be rather than a published work, and truthfully, I felt a little insulted. Auster has been reading a lot of John Updike. The whiny protagonist, Sidney Orr, is a writer who goes through an early midlife crisis once he is released from the hospital after a mysterious illness nearly takes his life.
He becomes obsessed with a blue notebook he finds at a stationery store in Brooklyn. It's so mysterious, in fact, that the store inexplicably shutters overnight, and our hero is baffled by the closing. Wow, can you imagine? Never saw that one coming, did you? Then strange, ridiculous things start happening--his homebodied life with his pretty wife starts coming apart, his relationship with an accomplished writer is strained, and then lots of bad, edgy, violent stuff that will literally make you laugh out loud, especially that tacked-on embarrassing ending that attempts to justify it all. There are pregnancies, affairs, failed relationships, prostitution, paranoia, fight scenes, and drug addiction. Hey, maybe Auster should start writing for The OC.
The thing is, the book isn't boring. It could have gone somewhere, if Auster had just tried. Subplots, conventions, and narrative threads come and go without apology. Or REASONING! The book is badly in need of a perceptive editor, and clearly didn't get one...
Orr starts writing a novel-within-a-novel in his stupid blue book which gradually bleeds into the rest of the novel. This story gradually becomes more interesting than the main story, but once this other character locks himself in a room, which could have been a fascinating invitation for some true black humored alienated angst, which is what Auster does best, he drops the tale, letting it dangle forever afterward. HUH?
I have always said no one but Nabokov has been successful breaking up their text with the use of footnotes, but Auster tries his hand at it, which becomes painfully connfusing, and once again, somewhat embarrassing for him. He must clearly have understood that, because he drops that convention too, without so much of a sigh.
Characters come and go, their actions never explained. There is an ominous fatalistic tone to the book which builds and builds, all the while never leaving the literary level of a junior high school goth kid scribbling bad poetry about bloody roses and daggers in his mathematics textbook.
Like watching one of those Kevin Costner movies from the late 80's, you'll find yourself enjoying the disaster a bit more than the novel itself. Something tells me that's not what Auster had in mind.
Rating:
Summary: Another good production from a prodigious producer.
Review: I'm actually one of Paul Auster's greatest admirers. He did a reading here in DC on the Oracle Night world tour, and I sat spellbound on an uncomfortable floor for close to an hour without moving. Of course, I could be standing on my head with a hot poker up my rear and enjoy hearing somebody read one of Paul's books, but that is neither here nor there. Again with this book, Paul delves deep into what it means to be a writer. I'm not sure that he motivated or demotivated me, but after talking with a friend of mine up in NYC, I promptly received several notebooks by express mail: one blue, hardsided with a sturdy elastic closure strap, and one similar--but smaller. And brown. Decide for yourself. The only reason I gave this book four stars instead of five is that absolutely nobody is worthy of perfect ratings. Not even my favorite author. I think he'd agree. Maybe not, but oh well. Other things that you should investigate if you like this book:
Manu Chao
Drinking
Drinking while listening to Manu Chao (. . .)
Almodovar
Portishead
and other pursuits of the indolently insolent.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic. His best in years.
Review: I've always liked Paul Auster, though I've found some of his last few works (Timbuktu, House of Illusions) somewhat less powerful than his earlier novels (Music of Chance, Moon Palace, Leviathan). But Oracle Night is fantastic, really his best work in years. Anybody who has ever liked anything they've read by Auster should read this one. The usual themes are present: loss, chance, memory, and that ever-present Austerian curiosity, the windfall of funds; but the intricate novel-within-novel structure (including, yes, yet another novel nested inside) makes the reader feel like he's living a dream. A masterwork. Buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: One of his best
Review: If you like Auster's books, you'll love this one - more than follows up on the strength of Book of Illusions - but this one is somehow leaner, more streamlined. Amazing that he can write a novel of such speed that at the same time contains as much serious reflection as Oracle Night.
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