On 30 April, American writer Paul Auster died. He wrote novels, memoirs, poetry, nonfiction and screenplays. For fifty years he was a protagonist of the American literary scene, and was greatly appreciated abroad, especially in France where he lived when he was a young, aspiring author.

His literary beginnings were not easy. His first short novel, City of Glass, was rejected by 17 publishers before eventually being published in 1985. The novel tells the story of a mystery writer who is dealing with a personal tragedy and who, through a fortuitous event, is mistaken for a private detective named Paul Auster. The writer assumes the detective’s identity and ends up losing himself in an increasingly bizarre investigation.

City of Glass was the first of a series of three novellas later collected in the volume The New York Trilogy, which launched Auster’s career.

Like City of Glass, many of Auster’s subsequent novels rely on tropes from detective stories and mystery novels, but at the same time they deal with profound issues of fate, loss, identity and alienation. Because of this mix, Auster has often been described as an American writer with a European sensibility.

Auster wrote his books by hand, using a fountain pen. In this way, he said, “you feel that the words are coming out of your body. It’s a physical experience.”

His writing was inspired by both his own personal traumas and by societal problems, like the ruthless individualism he saw in much of American life. “In order to unleash good work, there has to be something in you that feels out of balance,” he said. “It’s distress that generates art.”

ACTIVITY: Write one of the following essays.

When asked about introducing young people to literature, Auster said: “The main thing about giving books to young people is that you really need to show them the sheer joy of reading, the pleasure it can bring you. Nothing too heavy. Books that are effervescent – that’s what creates a love of reading.”

1) Do you agree with Paul Auster’s advice? Which book or books would you give to a younger brother or sister to introduce them to reading?

Auster was convinced that the novel is a literary form that will never die “because a novel is the only place in the world where two strangers can meet on terms of absolute intimacy. The reader and the writer make the book together. No other art can do that. No other art can capture the essential inwardness of human life.”

2) What are your thoughts on this? Are there any novels that you read where you felt this kind of intimacy? Describe.

(Carlo Dellonte)
(Image: andersphoto/Shutterstock. NOVELLO, ITALY - MAY 28: Writer Paul Auster speaks at Collisioni 2011 on May 28, 2011 Novello, Italy.)