Paul Auster
Hardcover | Pages: 145 pages Rating: 3.23 | 8828 Users | 863 Reviews
Declare Books During Travels in the Scriptorium
| Original Title: | Travels in the Scriptorium |
| ISBN: | 0805081453 (ISBN13: 9780805081459) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rendition In Favor Of Books Travels in the Scriptorium
A man pieces together clues to his past--and the identity of his captors--in this fantastic, labyrinthine novel
An old man awakens, disoriented, in an unfamiliar chamber. With no memory of who he is or how he has arrived there, he pores over the relics on the desk, examining the circumstances of his confinement and searching his own hazy mind for clues.
Determining that he is locked in, the man--identified only as Mr. Blank--begins reading a manuscript he finds on the desk, the story of another prisoner, set in an alternate world the man doesn't recognize. Nevertheless, the pages seem to have been left for him, along with a haunting set of photographs. As the day passes, various characters call on the man in his cell--vaguely familiar people, some who seem to resent him for crimes he can't remember--and each brings frustrating hints of his identity and his past. All the while an overhead camera clicks and clicks, recording his movements, and a microphone records every sound in the room. Someone is watching.
Both chilling and poignant, Travels in the Scriptorium is vintage Auster: mysterious texts, fluid identities, a hidden past, and, somewhere, an obscure tormentor. And yet, as we discover during one day in the life of Mr. Blank, his world is not so different from our own.
Point Based On Books Travels in the Scriptorium
| Title | : | Travels in the Scriptorium |
| Author | : | Paul Auster |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 145 pages |
| Published | : | January 23rd 2007 by Henry Holt & Company (first published 2005) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Literature. American. Novels. Mystery. Contemporary. Literary Fiction |
Rating Based On Books Travels in the Scriptorium
Ratings: 3.23 From 8828 Users | 863 ReviewsAssess Based On Books Travels in the Scriptorium
Bizarre. So bizarre, I was actually frustrated at one point. That might have been more because of other life-happenings than because of the book, so I will discount the frustration part. But only a little.I picked this up at the library book sale, knowing Auster is on the 1001 list. I didn't have the list with me, and hoped this would be among his titles. It isn't. Neither is the other one I picked up at the same time, but I'll happily read it. Also those titles that are on the list. In spite ofNotes while reading this book: I can say that after reading the first twenty-three pages I am hooked. So much going on for me here. I especially enjoyed the sponge-bath happy ending. Beautifully done.Immediately thinking of Quentin Tarantino's Mr. Black, Mr. Pink, in Austen's character Mr. Blank. The mystery. Also the simple and sparse theater set in the novel reminds me of a stage play being acted out and a response of some sort to Endgame by Samuel Beckett. Again, the mystery is what does it
What the fuck was that?!, I cried at the very last sentence.I planned to read another book right after finishing it but no, Auster wouldnt let me go. I had to make sense of it. I had to understand. I had to. So I retold myself the significant parts, read back on the details I thought I might be missing and tried to analyze what it was all about.This book is basically about how the characters and stories created by people, especially writers are bound to haunt them. Auster illustrated the
I'm not the biggest Paul Auster fan. In fact, I've never really read any of his other books. I got attracted to this book because of its odd cover and a recommendation from another person new to Auster's worlds and he loved it. This is a terrible place to start for any Auster virgin because from what I can gather, its a bunch of in-jokes from characters that were in his previous novels. Like all meta-fiction, things take a turn for the absurd and questions of truth, art and honesty run abound.
A great book if you're an Auster fan. Definitely wouldn't be one of his to read first. Great writing, doesn't get much better for me.
First things first: I am an Auster fan. Im not sure Id have been able to enjoy this book were I unfamiliar with his work. Yes, its gotten mixed reviews. Yes, it is self-referential. (Honestly, is this a surprise to anyone? Get over it.) Worth reading for Auster-philes? Without a doubt. The issues Auster takes on in this novella (really, its only about 150 pages) are familiar to his readers: questions of identity, memory, the nature of narrative, among others. The writing is tighter, more compact
Light-weight meta-fiction. Not much going on here really, but--as always with Auster--his style makes it worthwhile.
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