City of Glass : in the alley
Quote:
Originally Posted by
NickAdams
I finished Ghost, but have no comments at the moment.
Very nice. I still don't understand why Quinn decided to live in the alley across from Stillman's building, rather than go to their apartment to speak to Virginia; I know he thought it was the universe trying to prevent him from dropping the case, but ... why?:confused:
City of Glass / why Quinn decided to live in the alley :
I think Quinn simply had a nervous breakdown, he was already pretty much depressed and alienated to start with. And then he wasn't really a detective and yet he decided to embark on an obscure venture that was too dangerous and complicated for his fragile state of mind. I think he really lost it after his encounter with Paul Auster and his family; that was too much for him. It reminded him of what he had lost. Soon afterwards he started interpreting his situation in a rather odd way, that it was Fate that the phone was always busy at Virginia Stillman's appartment (see end of Chapter 11).
city of glass : the narrator
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TheFifthElement
And then you find in City of Glass that the 'narrator' goes to great pains to present this as a true account. Then I wonder, if the whole question Auster (the character) raises over the authorship of Don Quixote is, in truth, a question over the authorship of City of Glass. Is Daniel Quinn, Don Quixote? From what I have read of Don Quixote, that is not his real name, he adopts the name Quixote when his delusions prompt him to take on the role of knight errant. So Daniel Quinn is Don Quixote, who has read so many detective fiction novels that he deludes himself into thinking he can be the real thing. He adopts the name Paul Auster for the role, and goes out to have a series of bizarre, absurd adventures that suspend belief. A man who so wholly deludes himself that he gives up his entire life to become a fiction character in a novel?
I also noticed that the original lead to the Paul Auster detective agency came from the retired policeman husband of the nurse, Mrs Saavedra. His name is Michael, the Spanish version of which would be Miguel. Who is the author of Don Quixote: Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra!
City of Glass : the narrator
Surely the narrator himself realizes that Quinn's story is so strange that it could come across as implausible, far-fetched -- thus the need for him now and again to underline its veracity and reliability. I personally do not attach much importance to the identity of the narrator. What surprised me though was that he should turn up suddenly in the first person at the last page. I think it was clever of Paul Auster (the author) to have found roles for himself and his family in his own work and to use names to link the characters to one another, like Daniel Quinn - Daniel Auster, Peter Stillman Sr. - Jr. -Peter Quinn, Michael Saavedra - Miguel Cervantes, etc. It makes me think of those mirrors that reflect an image on and on, further and further - probably one explanation for the story's title.