Paul Auster, The Brooklyn Follies
Nathan Glass, the narrator of this story, a retired insurance salesman, came back to Brooklyn in order to die. In remission from lung cancer, recently divorced, estranged from his daughter, he doesn’t expect anything from life anymore. To pass time, Nathan Glass is writing a book collecting all examples of human follies (his and other people’s) he can think of. One day, in a used bookstore, a chance encounter with Tom Wood, his nephew, whom he hasn’t seen in years, changes his life. The last time he had seen him, Tom was writing his thesis, on his way to a nice academic career. But Tom has given up his ambitions, works in a bookstore after months as a taxi driver, and has put on a lot of weight…
In each other’s company, both men will mend their damaged souls, mostly by taking care of little Lucy, Tom’s niece who turns up one day and refuses to speak. Throughout The Brooklyn Follies, and like in other Auster’s novels, we meet original characters, such as a homosexual bookseller with a hidden past, an adept of a Christian cult, or again a bereaved widower constantly mowing his lawn.
The Brooklyn Follies, which begins just before the 2000 American elections and ends on the morning of 9/11 is, surprisingly, Paul Auster’s more optimistic novel. Against the background of tragic events, Auster shows that with a little good will and solidarity, just by connecting with others, a man can achieve peace and happiness for himself and those around him, that what we can do is limited, but useful nonetheless. If the novel is about human capacity for "follies", it also shows that one can always redeem himself, that it is never too late.
The Brooklyn Follies is certainly Paul Auster’s most accessible, less "intellectual" or metaphysical novel. The author (temporarily?) gives up questions of identity crises at the center of other novels. He also raises the problem of growing old, through an aging narrator who finds he can still be of use in the world. It reminded me that, though the picture at the back of the book always shows an eternally young, handsome Paul Auster, the man is nearing 60 himself…
The Brooklyn Follies is a true masterpiece, Auster’s writing is as enthralling and magical as always…
Rating: 5/5
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