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Title: Paul Auster's City of Glass by Paul Auster, David Mazzucchelli, Paul Karasik, Bob Callahan, Art Spiegelman ISBN: 0-380-77108-X Publisher: Avon Books Pub. Date: 01 August, 1994 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.8 (5 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A very interesting novel!
Comment: After "Moon Palace" I had to read another book by its talented author for my English class. "City of Glas" by Paul Auster is a very interesting novel. It was written in the middle of the 80's and for the author it was the first big success. This short postmodern novel is about a disillusioned writer pretending to be a detective. Chance is one of the main topics in this book. The author has the rare talent to conjure up tension and it's also his intension to play with the reader's expectation and to destroy them little by little, so one never knows what is going to happen next. All in all it's not called a masterpiece of postmodernism without a reason. It really should be read by everyone who likes surprising stories and everyone who likes detective storties as well although it's not really typical of that.
Rating: 5
Summary: Example of the search for meaning
Comment: I thought that this was a very well written thoughtfull book about the questions we must answer living in a postmodern society. This book deals with questions about how everyday life can become meaningless and how once we find meaning in something it can distract us from the reality which surrounds us.
Rating: 5
Summary: it's come full circle
Comment: I don't know how Neon Lit fared with the rest of the project, but this graphic novel version of City of Glass by Paul Auster is terrific. In a sense it brings the story full circle, because in the original novel Auster used the conventions of the private eye story to explore the issues implicit in film noir : identity, fate, good and evil, randomness, etc. Since many of the great hard boiled dicks first appeared in pulp fiction, it seems only natural to have this most modern (or post-modern) riff on the genre end up back in comic book form, however glorified.
Actually, Auster himself indulges in so many games with language, shifting identities and allusions to other works that the comic book format is especially well suited to his playfulness. And, like William Goldman's Princess Bride, that sense of fun serves to lighten what can often be most ponderous in post-modern literature, the way in which its practitioners act as if their metafictional techniques are revolutionary and profound. This work is such a throwback that it unabashedly wears its antecedents on its sleeve; never mind the obvious nod to mysteries of the 30's and 40's, it even goes so far as to discuss Cervantes and his metafictional innovations in Don Quijote.
I tend to doubt that Paul Auster's brand of existential musings will appeal to all tastes and I'm sure some will simply find the idea of reading a comic book to be beyond the pale. But if you're an Auster fan, a private eye or noir enthusiast, or just haven't outgrown comics generally, it's well worth tracking down a copy. I realize it says more about me than I should be comfortable revealing, but I actually think the best part of the book is the section on the criminally insane Professor Stillman's religious theses--they're frighteningly close to my own views and make for quite compelling speculation, adding to what is already a fun and unusual reading experience.
GRADE : A
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Title: Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware ISBN: 0375404538 Publisher: Pantheon Books Pub. Date: 12 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Good-Bye, Chunky Rice by Craig Thompson ISBN: 1891830090 Publisher: Top Shelf Productions Pub. Date: 01 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard ISBN: 0802132758 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 1991 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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