The Red Notebook

Critics

• Paul Auster's unexpectedly searing new novel

  Paul Auster's first book, the 1982 memoir "The Invention of Solitude," opens with a grim portrait of his late father's empty house. Losing his father revived his old frustrations over how distant they had become, and he sensed a spectral chill in the ... (read full critics)

  salon published on Mon, 22 Nov 2010

• Paul Auster's unexpectedly searing new novel

  Paul Auster's first book, the 1982 memoir "The Invention of Solitude," opens with a grim portrait of his late father's empty house. Losing his father revived his old frustrations over how distant they had become, and he sensed a spectral chill in the ... (read full critics)

  salon published on Mon, 15 Nov 2010

1 Review

• 

  synchronicity

  Divided into four parts, this supposedly non-fiction writer is as gripping and intriguing (if not more so) than his novels.
  What Auster's fans and critic hail as 'the religion of chance' the followers of the New Age termed synchronicity.

  It was a pity that the section devoted to interviews includ ... (continue)

  Divided into four parts, this supposedly non-fiction writer is as gripping and intriguing (if not more so) than his novels.
  What Auster's fans and critic hail as 'the religion of chance' the followers of the New Age termed synchronicity.

  It was a pity that the section devoted to interviews include only four, and all of them are materials I read before(I am not sure where though. The Art of hunger perhaps?) Still, rereading them provide insights into understanding Auster. I almost felt an ill-humored amusement when I read what Auster said in an interview, "...whenever I complete a book, I'm filled with a feeling of immense disgust and disappointment. It's almost a physical collapse. I'm so disappointed by my feeble efforts that I can't believe I've actually spent so much time and accompished so little. It takes years before I'm able to accept what I've done - to realize that this was the best I could do. But I never like to look at the things I've written." No wonder the ambiance of hurriedly truncation and abrupt termination at the end of most of his books. I doubted whether this was any legitimate observation on my part until I came upon this interview excerpt. Odd enough, it felt bizarrely comprehensible. I mean the physical collapse at the end of completion and self loathing and repulsion in rereading one's work

  TBC

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  Paul Yeung said on Aug 30, 2010 | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
  (22)
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• English Books
• Hardcover 176 Pages
• ISBN-10: 0571174329
• ISBN-13: 9780571174324
• Publisher: Faber and Faber
• Pub date: Aug 01, 1995
• Dimensions: 1419 mm x 903 mm Just how big is that?
• Also available as: Paperback
• In other languages: other languages Livres Français, Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, Libri Italiani, Svenska böcker

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