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Man in the Dark
Print Edition
ISBN
978-954-529-849-3
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Rating (3)
4 3
Language
Bulgarian
Format
Paperback
Size
13/20
Weight
176 gr.
Pages
152
Published
30 May 2011

Man in the Dark

Quite a few of Auster's novels have a surreal quality. Man in the Dark does too. In this case, it's an almost science fictional scenario - an alternate America where civil war has broken out and the United States has become the Disunited States.

This imagined world exists only in the mind of August Brill, an elderly man (in the real world) lying in bed recovering from an accident that has left him immobile. There's an interesting recursive aspect to the alternate America scenario (which I won't elaborate on here for fear of giving away the plot) that adds a further surreal dimension to the story. Brill's imaginary excursions into this parallel world are interspersed with comparatively mundane real world scenes that begin to paint a picture of his views, his life and his family.

The parallel reality aspect of the story ends about two thirds of the way through the book, which is a shame because I found the whole concept quite fascinating and very entertaining. Most of the rest of the book consists of a discussion between Brill and his granddaughter Katya in which Brill recounts the story of his marriage and Katya grapples with guilt over the death in Iraq of her former boyfriend who was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists.

For me, America's military involvement in Iraq is the major theme of the book. In Brill's alternate reality, the Twin Towers remain standing and America does not go to war in Iraq. Instead, it self-destructs. In the real world, American soldiers die fighting and others (like Katya's boyfriend) die simply because they're Americans in the wrong place at the wrong time. The implication seems to be that America's interventionist foreign policy is an alternative to the complete breakdown of national unity; that war somehow holds the nation together, albeit tenuously. I don't think Auster is advocating the policy, but rather asking whether it's really worth it even if the alternative is confronting some pretty unpleasant realities at home.

Man in the Dark is Auster's most political book to date, but it's not ponderous or sanctimonious. It's fundamentally a story about a man and his family. The politics kind of lurks in the background. It's a book that needs to be read more than once, I think (and it's short enough for that not to be a burden). I enjoyed it a lot. It's provocative and imaginative, as good literature should be.

About the Author
Paul  Auster

Paul Auster was born to Jewish middle class parents by the name of Samuel and Queenie. After graduating from Columbia University in 1970, he moved to France where he lived translating for French writers. Sincе he returned to America in 1974, he has published his own poems, essays, novels and translations of French writers such as Stéphane Mallarmé and Joseph Joubert.

He married his second wife, writer Siri Hustvedt, in 1981. Previously, Auster was married to the acclaimed writer Lydia Davis. He is a father of two children - Daniel and Sophie.

Paul Auster is known as the most unorthodox and philosophical writer of crime fiction. His work can be best described as a fusion of existential theories, absurdism and criminal plots – his characters are usually people on the verge of society, complete outsiders, who try to start life from zero and reinvent the conditions under which the human situation revolves. The collection of detective stories “The New York Trilogy” brought him to international success, mesmerizing the audience with its fathomless quest for identity and meaning beyond the surface of our well-ordered and sterile modern lives. Paul Auster has been awarded the France Culture Prize for Foreign Literature in 1989 and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 1991. His postmodern twist of genres and themes has made it possible for the crime fiction to enter the reserved realm of serious literature. Paul Auster is also the Vice-President of PEN American Center.

Print Edition
Print Edition
ISBN
978-954-529-849-3
Sold out
Price
5.00 lv.
(5.00 lv.)

* 0% online discount
Shipping - Speedy / Bulgaria, Bulgarian Posts / abroad
Free shipping in Bulgaria for orders above 80 lv.
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