What do You think about Oracle Night (2003)?
A story within a story within a story, with intersecting characters. Fiction is interspersed with facts. It would have been confusing, but Paul Auster’s narrative ensured otherwise. Probably it was because of the many footnotes that explain certain events and characters...It was actually all good until the end. The story and the sub-stories have a lot of peaks, but why does it feel like I’m in a valley after I’ve finished the book? Is it the same case as the sub-stories in the book – for one manuscript, our protagonist got into a bind when he didn’t know how his main character would be able to get out after he was locked in the underground room so he abandoned that project; in another case, the manuscript got lost somewhere inside the subway train - this book seems to also have lost the last chapters that would have been the proper conclusion. I felt I was left hanging and asking, “what’s the point?” I don’t get it. I would have given this 3 stars if only because of the high points, but that would be cheating.
—Nenette
My favorite part of Paul Auster's writing is his descriptions of interpersonal relationships, be they familial, romantic, business, etc. He manages to nail so many details and nuances so beautifully without being trite or florid or faking anything. And this novel fits that bill to the t. The Sid/Grace relationship was brilliantly fleshed out and detailed for a novel under 250 pages, with each character seemingly intensely real, their relationship understandable and believable. But, Auster is more generally known for his analysis of the writing craft and the depth of meaning/confusion of of language, so I suppose I should also note that this novel does this quite well. He mixes the traditional Auster mystery (somewhat hard-boiled, this time focused on the relationship of the written word to the shapings of reality) with a tragic hero, both in the novel itself and the novel within the novel that Sid writes. But the conclusion, which is striking in its ultimate ANSWER to the literature as prophecy discussion is, left me near tears. Great.
—Adam
'If you have never read Auster before,' proclaims a quote displayed on the cover of this edition of Oracle Night, 'this is the place to start.' I hadn't read Auster before beginning this book, but I'd been meaning to for a while - especially since I've now read three of his wife (Siri Hustvedt)'s books and have gathered that their work ie very similar in style and theme. I wasn't out looking for an Auster book, I was just browsing at the library, but when I spotted it, the intriguing summary and that quote were good enough for me.Oracle Night is short, but packed with detail. It's a multi-layered story, beginning with Sidney Orr - a novelist who is recovering from a severe illness - buying a unique Portuguese notebook in a rather odd stationery store. On the recommendation of his friend, also a novelist, Sidney begins to flesh out an idea for a story concerning a man who suffers a near-death experience and impulsively leaves his wife and home, resolving to start his life anew in a different city. The narrative follows both the progression of this tale and its protagonist Nick Bowen, and the 'real' story of Sidney, whose relationship with his wife Grace (the history of which is detailed in a number of footnotes) begins to flounder soon after he acquires the notebook. Meanwhile, Sidney attempts to re-write HG Wells' The Time Machine as a modern film script, turning it into an unconventional romance, and the Nick narrative also has a further strand wherein the character is profoundly affected by the contents of a lost manuscript, the title of which is Oracle Night. Like I said, multi-layered.There are definitely elements of the weird about this story - the disappearance and relocation of the Paper Palace and its enigmatic proprietor, the 'powers' of the notebook - but it isn't a paranormal or fantasy novel. This really appealed to me - I love the combination of literary prose and hints of the unexplained. I also LOVED the writing. It is very like Hustvedt's, though it's also quite easy to tell the difference. Despite all the intricacies of the plot, it often seems secondary to the way the story is told, the ideas it explores. There are parallels galore and the book often touches on the relationship between fiction and reality and/or language and action.I'd have liked this book to be longer (and it easily could have been), but overall it was a fantastic read which piqued my interest in Auster enough for me to go straight on to another of his books - The New York Trilogy - after finishing it.
—Blair
