About this title: In this novel Paul Auster offers a haunting picture of a devastated world - a futuristic world - but one which may be seen to shadow our own. Auster's other work includes "The New York Trilogy" and "Hand to Mouth", and the screenplays "Smoke" and "Blue in the Face".
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking Adult
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780670814459ISBN:0670814458
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Edition: First edition. WE SHIOP SAME-DAY, careful wrappiing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking Books
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780670814459ISBN:0670814458
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Nr fine in Nr Fine DJ--slight foxing to last page edges ^& some rubbing to black D> Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 188 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: FABER AND FABER Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780571227303ISBN:0571227309
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 208 pages. (208 pages) in this novel paul auster offers a haunting picture of a devastated world-a futuristic world-but one which may be seen to shadow our own. auster's other work includes "the new york trilogy" and "hand to mouth", and the screenplays "smoke" and "blue in the face". (Paperback) read more
Binding: Trade Paper
Publisher: Faber & Faber, London
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780571153176ISBN:0571153178
Description: Very Good. 8vo. Signed by Author. 188 pp. First Paperback edition but later printing. Signed by author on the title-page. Covers lightly worn at back and some age toning to pages at perimeter. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Date Published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780571149650ISBN:0571149650
Description: Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking, New York:
Date Published: (1987).
Description: First edition. A story set in the near future of a girl who wanders through a modern reprise of the Dark Ages. We're moving closer day by day. Fine in dustwrapper. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: New York, The Viking Press
Date Published: 1987
Description: First edition. An early, and dark, novel from the author of "The New York Triloghy. " A fine copy in a near fine dust jacket that has a little wear to the base of the back panel. Signed by Auster on the title page. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking, NY
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780670814459ISBN:0670814458
Description: Signed by Author First edition, first prnt. Signed by Auster on the title page. Short remainder stripe on bottom edge; dustjacket with minor rubbing. Unread copy in Near Fine condition in a Near Fine dustjacket with a Durafold mylar cover. Actual image of the book; not a stock photo. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking, New York
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780670814459ISBN:0670814458
Description: Fine in Near Fine jacket. Signed by Author First Printing of the First Edition. Signed/inscribed/dated in the year of publication by Paul Auster, to a fellow writer: "For Norman Winters / & Julie / at last / with warmest wishes, / Paul A. / '87. " In fine condition; in a near fine dust jacket, with light edge wear. read more
"Anna Blume leaves her life of privilege to travel to a post-apocalyptic, dystopic city in a foreign country in search of her brother, a reporter who has gone missing. Immediately upon arriving in the unnamed city, Anna gets caught up in the struggle to eke out day-to-day survival in a city in a state of total economic collapse. Written in the form of a letter to a friend back home, the book follows Anna's progress through three distinct stages of her life in the city: first, picking through the rubble looking for things to sell; then living a relatively secluded life in a neglected library; finally working in a makeshift hospital.
I loved this book. It pulled me in from page one. The voice is terrific and the pacing and tone are exceptional. It's full of allegory and symbolism, only parts of which I've been able to immediately decipher. For example, not too long after arriving in the city, Anna meets Ferdinand and Isabel who facilitate her transition to the new world. Ferdinand spends his days making model ships in a bottle.
Anna states early on that, as this writing, that she didn't find her brother. She never gives up hope that some day she might. Despite the many other tragedies, Anna ends her letter on a hopeful note. She and her colleagues from the hospital have devised a plan to escape the city and take their chances in the unknown lands to the west. Anna exhibits remarkable mixes of realism and hopefulness, strength and kindness, independence and vulnerabilty. She's a fascinating character and I was left wanting to know what happened to her after the book ended."
"I read this at a time when I lived kind of an apocalyptic lifestyle similar to her's. This book is about a woman looking for her brother who is MIA in a NYC-type city in a Country where nothing new has been produced for a long time. Many of the buildings are in rubble and the few left are disappearing daily. The city dwellers who remain live like rats, scavenging endlessly for crumbs. This is not a book for the faint of heart as it is a rough life, but it is a fascinating and realistic vision of a future where death is relief worth paying for. My favorite part of this book is how everyday objects become infinitely valuable when scavenged in a world of last things."
"I felt as though this book had a lot of potential, but ultimately suffered from weak characterization and a very slow start.
I'm a big fan of post-apocalyptic fiction and dystopias, and basically any book that uses either as a hook will succeed in drawing me in. Thus far the ones I've read have been uniformly excellent - Alas, Babylon, The Road, and many others - and this one came highly recommended to me. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into it.
Obviously, Auster spent a lot of time developing the city in which the book unfolds, from the way food is distributed to the recycling of dead bodies, but he spends far too much time telling us all of this, rather than letting the flat main character experience it. There's too much time spent setting the scene, giving away what could have been powerful, emotional moments.
I didn't like the main character, either. She's far too lucky, for one thing, moving along only by the grace of god/Auster. She's unemotional, and even the moments when she falls in love feel completely flat and unrealistic. Even when she tries to reach out to her intended audience - the book is written in the style of a journalistic letter home - there is little sympathy to give her. Other characters are more interesting, and I wonder what the book would have been like had Auster chosen to follow one of them.
So here's what I would have liked to see out of the book. Either Auster could have chosen a different character, or he should have cut out the first 50 or so pages, and added 50 or so pages on to the end. I'm sure the characters' attempted flight from the city would be an interesting and eventful read, and many of the horrors that Anna recites in the beginning could be truly experienced in the end."
"This book is quite provactive and ultimately disturbing. It is right up there with 1984 and Brave New World as a dystopia to be studied and discussed."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
