The Music of Chance (1990) As long as they kept on working, the work was going
to make them free.
And did those feet in ancient time
And did the Countenance Divine
Bring me my bow of burning gold!
I will not cease from mental fight,
There comes a moment in the very best works of film noir and existentialism when the reader/viewer too surrenders to the internal logic of inexorable fate, stops thinking of the protagonist as a passive idiot, and starts rooting for him to see the situation through to its inevitable ugly end with some style. Forget the underlying philosophy of man's helplessness, there's just something viscerally thrilling about watching someone go down in flames. But then, on reflection, you come back to the same old objections, chief among them : that man is not doomed; that free will exists; and that individuals determine their own fates. Paul Auster manages here to provide a compulsively readable thriller, wherein we experience that moment where surrender makes sense, and then to pull back from that brink and restore some measure of free will. Along the way he hurls around enough allusions, references and parallels to keep a battalion of academics scribbling away for years as to what it all means. I'm afraid to even hazard a guess--let me just say that I was especially struck by the Biblical and Sisyphiphean themes and the similarities to Cool Hand Luke and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but noticed the Huck Finn theme which Michiko Kakutani talks about in her NY Times review, and am perfectly willing to accept both her Waiting for Godot comparison and the Freemasonry angle that one reviewer at Amazon has come up with. Though brief, it's a densely textured work, great fun to read and to contemplate afterwards. Though I find its ultimate elusiveness to be frustrating, I'm sure others will find it especially gratifying for precisely the same quality. (Reviewed:) Grade: (A-) Tweet Websites:-WIKIPEDIA: Paul Auster -FILMOGRAPHY: Paul Auster (IMDB) -ENTRY: Paul Auster American author (Encyclopaedia Britannica) - -OBIT: Paul Auster, the Patron Saint of Literary Brooklyn, Dies at 77 (NY Times, 5/01/24) -OBIT: Paul Auster, American author of The New York Trilogy, dies aged 77 (Ella Creamer, 1 May 2024, The Guardian) -OBIT: Bestselling novelist Paul Auster, author of 'The New York Trilogy,' dies at 77 (Tom Vitale, 5/01/24, NPR) -OBIT: Jewish-American novelist Paul Auster dies at 77 of lung cancer: ‘New York Trilogy’ author, who was known for his noirish existentialist novels, was rocked by family tragedies in his latter years (EMILIE BICKERTON, 5/01/24, Times of Israel) -OBIT: US author Paul Auster dies aged 77 (Steven McIntosh, 5/01/24, BBC) -OBIT: Paul Auster Dies: Author Of ‘The New York Trilogy,’ Screenwriter & Director Was 77 (Tom Tapp, April 30, 2024, Deadline) -OBIT: Paul Auster, author of The New York Trilogy, dies aged 77: The writer, who published 34 books in his lifetime, had lung cancer (Lydia Spencer-Elliott, 5/01/24, Independent) -OBIT: US novelist Paul Auster dies aged 77 (Suzanne Cords, 5/01/24, Deutsche-Welle) -OBIT: US author Paul Auster dies aged 77 (Steven McIntosh,, May 1, 2024, Yahoo!) -OBIT: Paul Auster has died at age 77. (Jonny Diamond, May 1, 2024, LitHub) -TRIBUTE: Paul Auster: a great American writer of sophistication, innovation and intellect (Lucy Harrison, May 2, 2024, The Conversation) -TRIBUTE: ‘Getting a book idea feels like a buzz in the head’: Paul Auster – a life in quotes: The author of The New York Trilogy, Leviathan and 4 3 2 1 has died at the age of 77. Here are some of the most memorable quotes from interviews he gave throughout his life (The Guardian, 5/01/24) -OBIT: Paul Auster (1947–2024) (NYRB, MAY 3, 2024) -AUDIO TRIBUTE: Remembering novelist, screenwriter and memoirist Paul Auster (Terry Gross, 5/03/24, NPR: Fresh Air) -TRIBUTE: Remembering Paul Auster 1947-2024 (Literary Hub, May 28, 2024) -TRIBUTE: Paul Auster’s literary legacy: The novelist, who has died at the age of 77 in Brooklyn, leaves behind a body of work haunted by the mysteries of life and death. (Erica Wagner, 5/01/24, New Statesman) -TRIBUTE: ‘I remember Paul Auster’: a tribute by Jonathan Lethem to his friend (Jonathan Lethem, 5/02/24, The Guardian) -TRIBUTE: Paul Auster: Why the novelist’s brand of postmodern detective fiction still matters (Ben Libman, May 2024, Yale Review) -TRIBUTE: Remembering the postmodern Paul Auster: His personal life was eventful, as any good writer’s should be (Alexander Larman, May 1, 2024, Spectator) -TRIBUTE: Paul Auster's Voice (Michael O'Donnell, 5/08/24, Millions) -ESSAY: Paul Auster: Why Is America the Most Violent Country in the Western World?: On the Normalization of Gun Culture in the United States (Paul Auster, January 18, 2023, LitHub) -INTERVIEW: Interview Paul Auster: ‘The right to own a gun in the US is seen as a kind of holy grail’ (Lisa O'Kelly, 1/15/23, The Observer) -PODCAST: Paul Auster on the Poem He Can’t Get Out of His Head: In Conversation with Mitchell Kaplan on The Literary Life Podcast (The Literary Life, December 3, 2021) -ESSAY: Paul Auster on One of the Most Astonishing War Stories in American Literature Considering the Dark Horrors of Stephen Crane’s “An Episode of War” (Paul Auster, November 1, 2021, LitHub) -INTERVIEW: ‘This might be the last thing I ever write’: Paul Auster on cancer, connection and the fallacy of closure (Nicholas Wroe, 11/18/23, The Guardian) -VIDEO: Paul Auster Interview: I Am the Laboratory (Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 5/14, 2020) -INTERVIEW: Paul Auster, The Art of Fiction No. 178 (Interviewed by Michael Wood, Fall 2003, Paris Review) -PROFILE: “Crazy with the poison of Vietnam in my lungs.”: Paul Auster on the ’68 Columbia protests. (James Folta, May 1, 2024,LitHub) - -INTERVIEW: “In America nobody cares what writers think about anything”: Paul Auster on art, life and Donald Trump: The cult author speaks on the sudden rebirth of American activism and writing “the book of his life”. (Erica Wagner, 3/26/17, New Statesman) -PROFILE: Kind of Blue: Harnessing the rhythmic power of the comma, Paul Auster composes a little night music (Benjamin Strong, January 7 - 13, 2004, Village Voice) -VIDEO LECTURE: Burning Boy: Paul Auster on the Extraordinary Life and Work of Stephen Crane (LOA Live, 10/28/21) - -REVIEW ESSAY: Shallow Graves: The novels of Paul Auster. (James Wood, November 2009, The New Yorker) -REVIEW: of Burning Boy by Paul Auster (Paul Perry, Independent ie) -REVIEW: of Bloodbath Nation by Pauil Auster (Gary Younge, The Guardian) -REVIEW: of Bloodbath Nation (Paul Pery, Independent ie) -REVIEW: of Baumgartner by Paul Auster (Alessandro Piperno, Scraps from the Loft) - - Book-related and General Links: -FEATURED AUTHOR : Paul Auster (NY Times Book Review) -ARCHIVES : "auster" (NY Review of Books) -FILMOGRAPHY : Auster, Paul (Imdb) -Paul Auster and the National Story Project (NPR) -ESSAY : Why Write ? (Paul Auster, National Endowment for the Arts) -ESSAY : Thinking of Rushdie (Paul Auster, NY Times) -REVIEW : of LIFE, A USER'S MANUAL By Georges Perec (Paul Auster, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of RUBICON BEACH By Steve Erickson (Paul Auster, NY Times Book Review) -INTERVIEW : At Home with Paul Auster : Chance of a Lifetime (Elaine Louie, October 5, 1995, NY Times) -INTERVIEW : with Paul Auster (Worldguide) -INTERVIEW : with Paul Auster (LitKit) -INTERVIEW : Having Words with Paul Auster (City Search) -AUDIO INTERVIEW : Paul Auster Interviewed by Bill Goldstein (May 5, 1999, NY Times) -AUDIO INTERVIEW : with Paul Auster (LINEbreak) -PROFILE : Case of the Brooklyn Symbolist (Adam Begley, August 30, 1992, New York Times Magazine) -PROFILE : My Lunch with Paul Auster (Chris Colin, Salon) -Paul Auster: A Brief Biography -Paul Auster (1947-)(American Literature on the Web) -Paul Auster--Definitive Website -Stillman's Maze -ESSAY : "An Examination of the Identity of Author and Character and Their Relationship Within the Narrative Structure of Paul Auster's New York Trilogy" (Nicholas Dawson, Blue Cricket) -ESSAY : Escaping from the Locked Room: Overthrowing the Tyranny of Artifice in Paul Auster's New York Trilogy (Chris Pace, Blue Cricket) -ESSAY : Paul Auster and the Crisis of the Individual (Carl-Carsten Springer) -REVIEW : of Paul Auster's City of Glass (RICHARD E. NICHOLLS, NY Times Book Review) -ESSAY : Comics (Tom De Haven, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of The Music of Chance By Paul Auster (Michiko Kakutani, NY Times) -REVIEW : of THE MUSIC OF CHANCE By Paul Auster (Madison Smartt Bell, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of City of Glass: The New York Trilogy. Volume One by Paul Auster (1985)(Toby Olson, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of GHOSTS By Paul Auster. The New York Trilogy, Volume Two (1986)(Rebecca Goldstein, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of THE LOCKED ROOM ''The New York Trilogy,'' Volume 3. By Paul Auster (1987)(Steven Schiff, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of IN THE COUNTRY OF LAST THINGS By Paul Auster (1987)(Padgett Powell, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of Moon Palace By Paul Auster (1989)(Michiko Kakutani, NY Times) -REVIEW : of Moon Palace by Paul Auster (Joyce Reiser Kornblatt, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of THE INVENTION OF SOLITUDE By Paul Auster (W. S. Merwin, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of Leviathan By Paul Auster (1992)(Michiko Kakutani, NY Times) -REVIEW : of LEVIATHAN By Paul Auster (1992)(Ginger Danto, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of MR. VERTIGO By Paul Auster (1994)(Jay Cantor, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of Mr. Vertigo by Paul Auster (Jeffrey Goldsmith, Boston Review) -REVIEW : of HAND TO MOUTH A Chronicle of Early Failure By Paul Auster (1997)(Michiko Kakutani, NY Times) -REVIEW : of HAND TO MOUTH A Chronicle of Early Failure. By Paul Auster (1997)(Patrick Giles , NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW : of Hand to Mouth (Dwight Garner, Salon) -REVIEW : of Hand to Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure by Paul Auster (Alain de Botton, booksonline uk) -REVIEW : of Hand to Mouth, a Chronicle of Early Failure (Stephen Amidon, Literary Review) -REVIEW : of Timbuktu by Paul Auster (Oscar Villalon, SF Chronicle) -REVIEW : of Timbuktu by Paul Auster (Will Cohu, booksonline uk) -REVIEW : of Timbuktu by Paul Auster (Paul Bailey, booksonline uk) -REVIEW : of TIMBUKTU By Paul Auster (Michiko Kakutani, NY Times) -REVIEW : of TIMBUKTU By Paul Auster (1999)(Jim Shepard, NY Times Book Review) FILMS :
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