About this title: In this novel-with-footnotes, the narrator, Sidney Orr, is writing a work based on one of Dashiell Hammett's noir stories. Orr alternates between the tale he is writing and his real life, which becomes increasingly mysterious and which, in some ways, begins to mirror other well-known works of literature. A New York Times Notable Book for 2003.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: New York: Henry Holt 2004 Advance Reader's Edition 243 pages, 5 1/2 x 8 1/4, large format trade paperback CONDITION: VERY GOOD, trace of edge wear & a hint of age toning o/w an excellent copy, near fine condition. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780805073201ISBN:0805073205
Description: A former library book with the usual identifiers in a protective glossy dust jacket covering. Dust Jacket has some edgewear present. -, Hard Cover, Very Good / Very Good. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780805073201ISBN:0805073205
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Dust Jacket has some edgewear present. -, Hard Cover, Very Good / Very Good. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780312423667ISBN:0312423667
Description: Good in Good jacket. First Edition. 274-W-Add Books rated "Good" may have some notes, underlining, or highlighting. These books also may contain the previous owner's name, stamp, sticker, or gift inscription, or may be library discards. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Purchasing this book supports the King County Library System Foundation. Thriftbooks and KCLSF have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Purchasing this book supports the King County Library System Foundation. Thriftbooks and KCLSF have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
"And here I am back with Paul Auster and my ongoing love/hate relationship with him. What keeps drawing me back to him is his treatment of writers and the craft of writing in his stories, and I feel, through reading Auster, that I'm gaining some new insight through his characters. There have been a few sour grapes in our literary relationship, but there's this overwhelming "What is he up to now?" feeling that brings me back.
So here we have Sidney Orr, just released from the hospital after recovering from an almost fatal disease. He stops in a Brooklyn stationery store and finds a blue notebook made in Portugal which he purchases. The book seems to have a strange power, a very prophetic power, and therein lies Auster's story.
Orr's own story is told largely through footnotes, which help the reader delve a little into his personal life and his relationship with his wife, Grace, and their mutual friend and fellow author, John Trause. As in any true friendship, mutual as it may be, real life sometimes gets in the way and complications arise. Therein lies another part of Auster's story.
On top of that, the story that Orr starts writing in his new blue notebook is somewhat a contemporary retelling of The Maltese Falcon, encouraged by Trause. But the story Orr writes and his own life intertwine and therein lies yet another part of Auster's story.
I love the overlapping stories, and the footnotes, and the characters. There's a discussion on color psychology which was fun in an education on symbolism in literature, if one wants to go into it that much, which of course I did.
And so from here I feel comfortable with Auster again, and will pick up another down the line I'm sure until I hit another sour grape. And then I'll pout about it until I trick myself into reading something else by him, and etc."
"let me start by saying i love paul auster. BUT, he is hit or miss for me. when i read one of his books (and i'm trying to get through all of them) he''s either dead on absolutely perfect one of the best books i've ever read - or - it's a zero, i dislike the characters, i dislike the story, and i'm actually mad at myself for having read it.... this one was NOT my favorite. i recommend the new york trilogy, or in the country of last things instead."
"Paul Auster is the kind of author who writes lengthy footnotes. I am not the kind of reader who likes that. Other than that, the book moved at a fairly quick pace. The narrator in "Oracle Night" is a married writer who is recovering from a traumatic injury. There's a magical element thrown in when the narrator comes across some crazy guy who owns a crazy paper store and sells him a notebook that seems to bless and curse whoever owns it. Auster does a good job of putting in a lot of different types of action and scenery and even throws in a book in a book and even a book in a book in a book. I managed to keep up though and I was never bored reading it. This wasn't a great book, but I'd be willing to check out other books by Auster."
"This was the first book that I read by Paul Auster. I was wandering in the gigantic bookstore in Powell's and passed it on a sale table about 3 times. The bright blue cover kept catching my eye and on the 4th round, I picked it up. Reading the inside cover about halfway, I proceeded to start reading the first chapter. Then the second was done and I was into chapter 3 and decided to buy the book because my leg was falling asleep.
I went home, made some tea and devoured the rest of it. This was the first time I had read an author who wrote the way I thought. His characters are vivid and endearing. The questions they ask of life are the same questions everyone asks. Lovely."
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