Timbuktu : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: re: just awful
Review: I am a huge Paul Auster fan but this book was easily his worst novel. The usual Auster themes are either absent or not sufficiently developed, particulary his obsession with the mystical qualities of the universe.

Rating:
Summary: A bit too much bark, and not enough bite.
Review: "Timbuktu" is an interesting book in many regards, but it also has flaws. The protagonist is a mixed breed dog, dubbed Mr. Bones by his homeless, schizophrenic, slightly eccentric master Willy G. Christmas. We see the story through Mr. Bones's eyes, and the book opens with dog and master in Baltimore, Maryland. Willy is dying and his goal is to locate a former schoolteacher of his, with two things in mind. He wants to find a good home for his dog, and he wants to hand over his life's writings to someone who will take care of them. He expires halfway through the book, not having reached his goal, and Mr. Bones is on his own. The dog bungles along, and falls in with a short succession of other, temporary owners before meeting a rather unsatisfying end.

The major problem with this book is that is just doesn't feel finished. It leaves you unfulfilled and feeling like something was missing from the story. There's plenty of potential, but it reads more like an unpolished draft than a well-thought-out novel, almost as if Auster himself got bored with it and rushed things just to get it done. The story, though plausible, doesn't hang together very well and fails to drive home the messages it hints at. Some parts of the book drag on far too long, like Willy's long-winded and mostly aimless discourses, and those that are interesting are over far too quickly.

The characters, too, are mostly forgettable. Though we learn a lot about Willy, he fails to stand out in any way. The other human characters' roles in the story are too short for us to ever really get to know them on more than a surface level. Mr. Bones himself is successful in some ways and a failure in others. Using the point of view of a dog, while it has certainly been done before by other authors, is an interesting angle to take. And the idea of combining both human and canine sensibilities also has potential, but in all honesty it seemed like Auster was trying TOO hard. Mr. Bones's character feels strained, with his canine elements over-emphasized in the attempt to keep him recognizeable as a dog, and his anthropomorphisms being all the wrong ones. He just failed to strike me as a plausible interpretation of the canine mind.

Nevertheless, if you scratch at the book long enough and pull together Auster's meandering themes, there are some noteworthy messages set forth here. Among them are statements made about love, loneliness, loyalty, and the human condition in general. And Auster's writing is competent, despite not being employed to best advantage here. The book is easy to read, short, and can be gotten through quite quickly. But in the end, the book simply fails to be very memorable, and there is not much feeling of reward upon completion. It's worth at least one look, but I'd suggest borrowing a copy rather than buying one for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: I threw it away to prevent anyone from reading
Review: After I was done with timbukto I felt worse off for having read the story. Rather then donate the book for someone else with different taste in books to find it I decided the best option would be destroy it so no one else would have to suffer.

I found the story depressing, without meaning, and void of hope. Rather then continuing on with life you leave everyone behind and go out in the street and play in traffic.

Rating:
Summary: A dog's tale unlike any other
Review: The star of _Timbuktu_ is Mr. Bones, a dog unlike any other one is likely to meet in a novel. In this incredibly heart warming book the narrator invites the reader to hear Mr. Bones's every thought, and to feel his joy, his pain, his sorrow, and his loneliness. His first master, the late failed poet Willy Gurevitch a/k/a Willy G. Christmas because he enjoyed dressing up as Santa Claus, visits Mr. Bones in his dreams and advises him about surviving in the world without him. Mr. Bones lived with Willy and his Polish-Jewish immigrant mother in Brooklyn. Willy and Mr. Bones often travelled on the road together, his constant companion throughout their myriad journeys. After Willy, Mr. Bones briefly lives in the back yard of an 11 year old Chinese boy whose father hates dogs, then in Virginia with a well-to-do family, the wife and young daughter of whom dote on Mr. Bones (they call him Sparky) and tell him their every secret. The husband reluctantly allows Mr. Bones into their lives as a sop to his wife and daughter.

One of the most wondrously fanciful aspects of this novel is Mr. Bones's ability to understand everything that the humans around him say to him, unfortunately lacking the ability to understand their motivations. Of course, Mr. Bones was unable to communicate his needs back to them, although he often tried. Willy always regretted that he never taught Mr. Bones to speak English or to master the use of the typewriter as some other dog supposedly did.

Sick, tired, and knowing that he was fast approaching the winter of his life, Mr. Bones seeks comfort by imagining being reunited with Willy in Timbuktu, a heaven where both he and his beloved master can hold endless conversations together. Paul Auster has written a uniquely beautiful, deeply affecting, and ultimately heartbreaking book about man's best friend.

Rating:
Summary: Timbuktu Manuscripts
Review: There are 700000 manuscripts that need to be preserved in the region of Timbuktu. You can see more information at http://www.timbuktufoundation.org

Rating:
Summary: Word salad
Review: Paul Auster writes from the inside, in this instance from the inside of the head of a dog. The dog has three names because he has three masters in the course of the book. His first master is schizophrenic and homeless. He talks endlessly to the dog and the dog talks to us. Unfortunately he dies in Baltimore where the pair traveled to see a teacher. Symbolically he collapses on the steps of a house formerly associated with Edgar Allan Poe before being taken to the charity ward of a hospital. The dog runs off and finds himself in the company of a boy whose family runs an Asian restaurant. In the fall when the boy returns to school, the dog runs again to become part of an upscale suburban family in northern Virginia. He finally dies, a victim of death by auto. The book amply and creatively explores loneliness in all of its guises. It is a step beyond TRAVELS WITH LIZBETH by Lars Eigner because fiction allows a broadening of the range of the writer.