The New York Trilogy

I have an eclectic taste in literature. Maybe you've guessed that already. There's not much I wouldn't read; from dystopian novels to fantasy fiction, from young adult to classics. I also really love to sink my teeth into a brilliant detective novel.

I have always been a fan of crime fiction. I enjoy the process of reading such novels; attempting to solve the crimes, thinking about each character's motive and alibi, being swept up in the fast paced narrative. Paul Auster's The New York Trilogy was a little different though. The book is comprised of three mini novellas which are all interconnected in some way. They are often referred to as 'modern detective stories' because they deal with absurdest and existentialist themes.  Primarily, they focus on the subject of identity, and essentially they are post modern detective stories. All that sounds rather pretentious to me; how can a detective story be post modern, and why does anything that has to do with identity sound so 'frou frou'? But putting all my preconceived judgements aside, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed the book.

Initially though, I was a bit disappointed. Auster's name has been familar to me for some time now and so I was super eager to read one of his book. Plus, The New York Trilogy promised danger and excitement and, in my eyes, (because it's a detective story) murder. The only thing I was wrong about was the murder bit because no one gets bumped off. But the danger and excitement was definitely present. That and the fact that it was very different from what I expected, made the novel more interesting than I thought it was going to be.

My favourite story of the three was The Locked Room because I felt like it was the most dramatic and the most fast paced. This story came last in the trilogy and I think it was the defining factor concerning Auster and whether or not I'd read more by him. The answer is yes, partly because enjoyed the writing style and the nuances of a post modern detective story (the more I write it, the more pretentious it sounds!), and partly because I want to see if he kills off anyone in any of his other books...