The Book of Illusions Paperback – October 27, 2009

This is one of the very finest books that I have ever read. It is a stunning achievement, and one does not or cannot walk away from this unmoved.`The Book of Illusions' is an extraordinarily empathetic humanistic novel. Auster writes about identity, love, joy, loss, sadness, and hope. He speaks to the human condition.`The Book of Illusions' provides an in-depth exploration of ones response to human brokenness, human hope, as well as human finitude. These responses are usually not fixed. They change, they grow, they evolve. This book speaks to this.The reader is first introduced to David Zimmer, and it is Zimmer's voice we hear throughout this pitch-perfect novel. Zimmer has recently lost his family in a plane accident. He is unable to function and consequently leaves his position at a local college. Zimmer turns to alcohol spending his days drinking and in solitude. It is the laughter he feels from watching a silent film that brings life back to him. The actor in this silent film is one Hector Mann. Have you ever wondered if comedians are happy people?There are soul-searching, heart wrenching vignettes in this novel. When Zimmer visits a doctor for a prescription, he encounters Dr. Singh. When Dr. Singh listens to Zimmer's heart, he understands. I read that passage a number of times thinking that Auster all but utilizes X-Rays into the human heart.There are many characters in this novel. Alma is one of these, and she has a pronounced birthmark on her face. People usually look at her, and she remarks to Zimmer ....'I knew that that purple blotch would always define me on my face. .....I knew what people were thinking. The birthmark was the test of their humanity. It measured the worth of their souls, and if I worked hard at it, I could see straight into them and know who they were.' [Page 123]We see and feel everything through the eyes of David Zimmer. I willingly went along with Zimmer's journey and had magical experiences.`The Book of Illusions' has everything a reader could possibly want. Auster's prose dances those fluid steps of only a professional. He constantly surprises the reader. Just when one thinks he/she knows where Auster is going, he takes one somewhere else.When I closed this book, I was left pondering immortality. `This life is only a prelude to eternity. For that which we call death is but a pause, in truth a progress into life.' [Seneca]This book will command you to feel. It is unforgettable.

In this book Auster continues to dazzle readers with a unique and powerful writing style. His sentence structure and precision in language makes virtually all his books a pleasure to read. This one is no exception.The story is one of disbelief and increduality, like many of Paul's books, the plot is a virtual illusion. But the book is a book of fiction, that is written almost as a detective story, with pieces of information being slowly revealed to the reader as he goes along.In fact, perhaps the only negative criticism of the book would be, that the first 200 pages have its moments where the story is just a bit droll, but the reader is pushed forward, by the magnificence of Auster's writing.In essence, Auster has a protagonist who is living in an elusive dream world, chasing after information about another person who also lived in a complete dream world, and at the same time, meeting a romantic partner, whose identity is in and of itself, never fully resolved for the reader.Yet as all great books of literary triumph, this book pulls the reader back over and over again, until the end is reached. The book is mind expanding in the way it shows life as both reality and illusion. And it is concrete in that it reveals many things that all humans feel, but do not always express. The book should be read by all people, seeking to expand their limited view of reality and to join Paul Auster in the belief, that much of what is real, cannot be seen, or appears to be either an illusion or a delusion.

I had recently just read 4321 which is his most recent and epic in scale. I was blown away by it to the extent of easily saying i have never read or experienced a work of art quite like it. I am always a fan of a larger work of art meaning i love jazz or instrumental music --long films, and long epic books. For me i love to be with the characters as long as possible for maximum reality suspension. I was sad to learn that 4321 was his longest novel. I was excited to read another one after - a return to modern times after 5 novels by Trollope. I picked Book of Illusions randomly. I loved this one as well being that is contained the elements that made 4321 great though it overall, did not hit me like the masterwork 4321. What i loved about this one is it maintains my positive impression of Austere the person. What i mean by this is he seems to make works of art that work on multiple aesthetic levels. I noticed this about his 2 films as well 1 he directed/wrote and the other he wrote. Art appreciation and the overall struggles of an artist is one of the first things that impressed me about his writing craft. Austere seems to constantly throw in historical info that makes the work seem borderline historical fiction. He uses great ways to connect historical events to his characters. This story takes place in the 1980's. 4321 was the 50's and 60's and in that book he creates a disturbing picture of what it was like on a day to day basis on campus during the Vietnam war--he did it on a different way--where you feel very sympathetic for people dodging the draft. In Book of Illusions you learn a lot about the history of film with silent film being the focus.I will not get into the plot but talk about the themes and style.--This story is about learning to cope with loss and starting again after events in life that throw you off of you desired path. In this story the main character researches a silent film artist/ director he came across during a mourning period. He has recently lost loved ones and uses this silent film forgotten man as a way to deal with his depression.Austere creatively chooses silent film artists dealing with the death of their art form mixed with an outside individual who is also an artist utilizing their story as therapy therefore showcasing ultimately the power of art. This theme was all throughout 4321 and i hope it will continue in the next novel of his i read. This novel is also an experimental one just like 4321 in that in is delivered in an unconventional way. 4321 was literally 4 stories that go on at the same time and fuse together. Book of Illusions starts off with the story about the man investigating the silent film guy the n for the whole middle of the novel switches to a dramatic history of the silent film man not switching back to the original story for a long time. It is not clique in the way Austere does it.Austere is a master here at not giving you commercial fills like he does not check in on the original characters when he goes into the at times disturbing story about the silent film guy. His ending is not predictable and does not give the reader the mind candy tidbits that usually accompany this type of story. He keeps the story bright and shiny with genuinely tear jerking moments that are not forced in an overly sentimental way.

One of those books that quickly engages one with the story and the main characters, and takes the narrative through past and present but always with clarity about every scene. I thought it was an extraordinary book, superbly written and edited, not a word is wasted, and I genuinely felt transported into the story. Brilliant.

Fünf Sterne

Llego a tiempo. Buena calidad pese a ser de segunda mano. Muy buen libro. Muy interesante. Lo recomiendo para una buena lectura.

内容（物語）についてはあえて触れませんが、オースターの物語のなかでもっとも好きです。（もちろん賛否、好みはありましょうが、わたしにとってはベスト！）英文はクセが無く大変読みやすいです。表紙の色味も大変好み！艶消しの黒にこの青色（若干濃いめのペールブルー？）は、持っておくだけでも上がります。（もちろん読みますが）

Mir hat das Buch sehr gut gefallen, denn es ist definitiv mal etwas anderes! Es gab zwar stellen die sich etwas gezogen haben (lange Beschreibungen von Filmen), aber die grundsätzliche Idee hinter dem Buch ist sehr interessant!