"The New York Trilogy" by Paul Auster

Going through the books I own and haven't read yet, I realized that I do have two wonderful books by Paul Auster - one of the greatest living American authors. It's a shame noone encouraged me enough before to get to his books, but once I did, I read two at once. The first one, "The New York Trilogy" was published in 1987 in the shape we know it, meaning three shorter stories. Austers debut was published under a pseudonym "Paul Benjamin" so technically these three stories, namely "City of Glass" (1985), "Ghosts" (1986) and "The Locked Room" (1986) can be considered a true debut.

It's absolutly amazing, how Auster writes. With just once or two words he creates atmosphere of mystery, unresolved past, and longing. His protagonists are extremely interesting individuals, although they don't really have to do much in life. What is more interesting, is what they don;t do or only plan to do. I find it absolutely astonishing. Truth be told, it's long since I last had a feeling I literally couldn't put the book away becasue somthing might happen I will not be aware of - and without my ever knowing. It's hard to even explain how these three stories took hold of me - and didn't let go.
It's pointless to describe what are these stories about, because no description can put in words what Auster describes himself. The only thing to say is - get reading!
Out of these three however, I could just add that my favorite story probably was "City of Glass", later perhaps "The Locked Room". There is some Edgar Allan Poe in his writings, there definitely is Samuel Beckett recognisable there too, but Auster creates his own unique traits that are not to be missed. Recommended!