SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION
An Editorial piece in The Conversation, characterized
Paul Auster’s penmanship for his ‘sophistication, innovation and intellect.’ Indeed,
the hallmark of a great writer that goes down in the annals of the history of
English literature, Auster’s worldview was shaped by Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel
Hawthorne and Samuel Beckett. Not only he was a notable writer, but also a
filmmaker, memoirist and novelist. Born in the year 1947, when India got Independence,
Paul Bejamin Auster, a Jew, grew up in New Jersey. His boyhood days were spun
in post-war years. Growing up in a drought-stricken household when it came to books,
Auster developed a penchant for reading and writing bordering on obsession. An
appetite for literature took him to Columbia University where he earned his
degree in English Literature.
Intricacies of human behavior, complexities of power
dynamics, urban living, existential angst and others have given his works a
distinct taste. The New York Trilogy established him as a writer of
potential and considerable repute. Labelled as ‘genre-bending’, it blends
detective fiction with existential angst. Having philosophical undertones, the Trilogy
appeared as: City of Glass (1985), Ghosts (1986) and The
Locked Room (1986). City of Glass has been adapted into a critically
acclaimed graphic novel by Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli. It was published
titled City of Glass: A Graphic Mystery in 2004. It also shares an
intertextual relationship with Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote. The
three novellas established him as a writer of international acclaim. None could
have embodied the flaneur in Daniel Quinn as Auster. The New York Trilogy
now a graphic novel also appears in Ia Genberg’s The Details shortlisted
for the International Booker Prize 2024.
Noiresque writing made him realize his dream to write
for the screen. Apart from showcasing his versatility in penning numerous
essays and memoirs, he co-directed Smoke with Wayne Wang. Written as a
Christmas story for The New York Times in 1995, he would follow it up with Blue
in the Face (1996). Lulu on the Bridge (1998) was his sole
directorial debut. His foray in writing autobiographies shelled out three
masterpieces in the second person- a rarity in publishing. The Invention of
Solitude (1982), Winter Journal (2012) and Report from the Interior
(2013) exhorts the reader to find comfort in discomfort. A treasure trove of
best-selling books also includes Sunset Park (2010), Invisible (2009),
and The Book of Illusions (2002). After a gap of seven years, he wrote
another masterpiece 4321 set in the 1950s-1960s US. It was nominated for
the Booker prize in 2017. His last novel Baumgartner (2023) captures insurmountable
grief of loss in the sunset years of life.
Auster’s literary style is a witness to the endless possibilities
of language that remains to be unraveled. Defying genre and setting newer
milestones have been Auster’s insignia as a writer. New York- a dream, a
reality, a piece of art- none would remain the same with Auster gone!
PHOTO CREDIT- THE GUARDIAN