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City of Glass: Graphic Novel
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From Publishers Weekly
We don't know much about Daniel Quinn. We do know that he is 35, and that at one time he had a wife and son, who are now dead. He writes mysteries under the pseudonym of William Wilson, and when a stranger phones asking to speak to Paul Auster, Quinn decides to answer to that name too. The caller is Peter Stillman, a man with a most unusual past, who fears that he will be killed by his father, recently released from an institution. Quinn (as Auster) agrees to trail the elder Stillman, who spends his days wandering the streets of New York. How Quinn gradually becmes drawn intoand finally obsessed byStillman's life and psyche makes for a labyrinthine, intriguing story. An impressive if not major work by the author of The Invention of Solitude.October 14
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Daniel Quinn, author of a series of de tective pot-boilers, accepts an assign ment as a real private investigator from a man who dials his phone number by mistake. His mission: to keep an eye on the man's father, a former linguistics professor who has spent time in jail for bizarre childrearing experiments. Quinn quickly loses track of both his client and the suspect, as well as his own apartment and belongings, and fi nally his identity. This metafictional mystery, reminiscent of Robbe-Gril let's anti-novel The Erasers, challenges conventional notions of character and plot. However, unless the remaining volumes of this projected trilogy pro vide more depth and substance, Aus ter's previous book, The Invention of Solitude, will probably remain the best introduction to his work. Edward B. St. John, Loyola Marymount Univ. Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
02/03/2003
I place this item on a none-too-tiny list of literary Rorschach tests. Unconvinced? Please sample any ten of my fellow reviewer's estimates of the "meaning" of this book.
The best parts of this book are the hero's various meetings with the two Peter Stillmans, father & son. The dialogs between Quinn and these two grotesques are very amusing.
Interesting use of the author as character in his own fiction -- though not as entertaining as other still-living masters of this specialty: Roth (P.), Vidal, Mailer.
18/12/2002
I put the book down and had thought well of it, but not worthy of a review let alone a good one, but as I went to sleep that night, it hit me. At the point that I understood what the main character represented, which was a Campbellian march through the four phases of life, I became quite impressed with what Auster had done. I need to read it again to see all the details that I missed not understanding the parallels with life, but look for this as you read it: from his birth as Auster, to understanding language with Stillman, the identity crisis with the father, the mid-life crisis after meeting his namesake, the question of paths during this, the isolation of late life and finally the fading away. On this level, the story is absolutely stunning.
I think there are other levels that smarter people than myself have figured out and maybe with the next reading I will see some of them.
10/10/2002
After reading several of the reviews on City of Glass, I felt a need to give my own opinion. This is a book of perception. One person could perceive it as some sort of [messed] up mystery novel, though if they read it expecting a detective story they will be sorely dissapointed. Another could perceive it as a book about morality, but even that seems cheap and weak. I believe that this is a book about perception and identity.
The main character is Daniel Quinn, who writes under the name William Wilson, about the charcter Max Work. At the beggining of the novel he identifies more with Max that with either of the other aspects of himself. Quinn receives a phone call from Peter Stillman for Detective Paul Auster (look familiar?) and chooses to claim his identity as well.
Then he interacts with Peter Stillman , son of Peter Stillman (who coincidently(?) has the name of Quinn's dead son). This is the gentleman whose case he is supposed to be working on, under the name of Paul Auster. Damaged as a result of a freakish childhood Peter Stillman is an anomolous character. He refers to himself as Peter Nobody, Anything, and Not Here. He claims that he is learning how to be Peter Stillman. Another case of identity confusion.
Quinn is sent on a mission to track Peter Stillman, father of Peter Stillman, an old man who, regardless of the number of times he meets Quinn can never recognize him. Thus Quinn pretends to be a different person each time they encounter eachother.
City of Glass is strange and disturbing and thought provoking. I haven't even meantioned Daniel Quinn the writer, pretending to be Paul Auster the detective, meeting Paul Auster the writer, and his son Daniel. Or how Don Quixote and Cervantes and Quinn and Paul Auster are all the same person!
So if your ready for something to screw with your mind, and make you wonder about the nature of life and literature, read the City of Glass. If you want to read a mystery novel pick up something by Sue Grafton.
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