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Originally Posted by
TheFifthElement
You know, I've been thinking about this.
I think the title works on three levels; firstly there is the physical - the book is set in New York which is a 'city of glass', tall glass skyscrapers, and it is certainly a book rooted in New York. Secondly I think the book is a reflection, Auster is holding up a mirror (a glass?) on himself and this is evident in the character Quinn, who shares much of Auster's biography: he is a writer, he writes mystery novels under a pseudonym, he lives in New York, he used to translate poetry, he used to be ambitious. Quinn is mistaken for Auster, albeit Paul Auster the detective as opposed to the writer, and later in the book Quinn meets Auster. Thirdly, and I think this is the underlying theme of the book, it is about identity. Auster, particularly in the first chapter, concentrates quite heavily on the question of identity or the 'self'. Proposing that our 'self' is a 'city of glass' we construct around ourselves, fragile and illusory. Auster explores this in the character of Quinn who is, effectively, nobody, as he says here:
and
and
In a sense Quinn has become a fractured personality. He is Daniel Quinn, the nobody. He is William Wilson the detective story writer. He is Max Work the fictional detective in his book. He is Paul Auster the detective. He elucidates this in these passages:
in reference to Quinn's relationship with William Wilson:
and in reference to Quinn's relationship with Max Work:
And he refers to Quinn as the 'dummy', Wilson as the 'ventriloquist' and Works as the 'animated voice that gave purpose to the enterprise'.
And again, I think there is a clue in this passage where Quinn ruminates on the meaning of the term 'private eye':
And I think you find similar themes in the character of Peter Stillman ('that is not my name') though I've not got to that part yet on my third read of this book!
I wondered if there was some meaning in the things Quinn reads and listens to? So far (I'm at the end of chapter 1) he has been reading Marco Polo, and The Sporting News and listened to Haydn's opera The Man on the Moon. Also, I'd be interested in your views on this sentence:
Any thoughts?