Θαρρώ πως η σχέση του εκάστοτε αναγνώστη με τον Auster δεν μπορεί παρά να είναι ιδιοσυγκρασιακού τύπου, που σημαίνει πως οι αντιδράσεις σου στις ιστορίες του είναι τόσο προσωπικές όσο και ο καθένας από μας. Είτε σου αρέσει είτε όχι θα σε προκαλέσει, θα τσιγκλίσει τις αισθήσεις σου, θα σε υποχρεώσει να σκεφτείς παραπάνω, παρακάτω ,παραδώθε ή παραπέρα σαν υποψήφιος βουλευτής σε ελληνικό νησί σε αντίπαλο στρατόπεδο από τον Γκόρτσο.
Η επαφή μου με τις δημιουργίες του μοιάζει με αντάρα, αναμοχλεύει όσα βρίσκονται στο βάθος κήπος της συνείδησής μου, με κουράζει,με θυμώνει, με λυγίζει, με χάνει, με κερδίζει αλλά με "έχει" το μονο σίγουρο!

Η αναμέτρησή μου με το κλειδωμένο δωμάτιο έμοιαζε με "δοκιμή και πλάνη". Έβαζα, έβγαζα μέχρι να καταλήξω στο πως νιώθω απέναντι του. Ήταν ταξίδι σε τρικυμία, ήταν αναγνώριση, ήταν οδυσσειακό και δύσκολο. Εν ολίγοις ήταν μια ανθρώπινη καταγραφή από έναν άνθρωπο που προβληματίζεται σχετικά με τον άνθρωπο και τα ανθρωπίνως δυνατά και αδύνατα, ένα φευγαλέο βλέμμα στην υπέρβαση των κοινωνικώς ή προσωπικώς επιβαλλόμενων ορίων.

I'm finally done with the New York Trilogy, a collection I started way back in January, and since I had a irritating tendency to use the word 'bloody' too many times around that time of year, I have only one thing to say in conclusion right now: Paul Auster is a bloody brilliant author, and he's clearly blessed my eyes with three bloody brilliant books. To be honest, I'm still not sure that I get everything in this novel - I feel as if I'll have to get to the core of postmodernism as it's used in literature first, before reading some integral chapters of Don Quixote for me to truly get the relationship in between Auster and Cervantes. However, as daunted as I am by that prospect, the great thing about the New York Trilogy is that it actually inspires me to read more so I can revisit it again and again. At its heart, all books in this series are essentially deconstructed thrillers, and Auster has written a hell of a thriller; one that directly concerns the reader in real life, and one that's genuinely clever instead of being too reliant on tired old cliches of subversion.

The Locked Room is the grand finale of the New York Trilogy, and it's directly connected in a way to the two other novels in this triad that will make you understand Auster's ultimate goals in telling this contradictory yet reconciliatory tale. What I love about the Locked Room the most is that it's the entry in this series with the most flesh and the most humanity. As me and many other critics have said, there's something special about the postmodernism of the New York Trilogy, and quite frankly, even if all three books in this series have shown me that I adore how this uniqueness shows in the way Auster frames things, none does so more than this one. The characters and happenings here are a perfect summary of everything else in this trilogy, and this time, the mist of confusion is lifted just enough to make you feel close to home. There are still many mysteries lurking in the depths of Auster's New York, but the end of this novel will make you feel like you understand at least some of them, even if you don't know how to respond with any exact answers. Auster's finally unlocked the keys to the city, and there's nothing more fascinating than the darkness within it.

Nothing has ever revealed how vulnerable the elements of crime are today to uncertainty as well as ambiguity than the New York Trilogy, and few approaches of this kind to mystery literature will ever satisfy you just as much. All the power to the detective and the man he's chasing, and all the more power to Paul Auster.

صرفا یک کتاب جالب. با نخواندن این کتاب چیزی از دست نمی دهید.

The best of the three in my opinion, even though I am not a fan of all the meta shmeta spiralling in on itself. Still, the characterisation, the description of obsession, the feeling of the place, the mood building, something giddy and sinister at the same time. Very trippy, but I really liked it.

n  «Solo la oscuridad tiene la fuerza necesaria para hacer que un hombre le abra su corazón al mundo». n

La habitación cerrada es el relato de una desaparición, el misterio que la envuelve y sus trágicas consecuencias. Paul Auster nos adentra en una historia de amistad y traición, donde el recuerdo de un viejo amigo que ha desaparecido se va convirtiendo en una obsesión nociva que va mellando la cordura del protagonista.

Me gustó mucho el ritmo de la narración, natural y fluida desde el inicio, con una cadencia que es el sello de Auster. En esta novela también destacan las descripciones que hace de sentimientos profundos e instintivos, así como la exploración que hace sobre el advenimiento del ser humano a su lado más oscuro y primitivo.

De los tres libros que componen la trilogía, este es el que más me ha gustado. Añadiéndole además el guiño que hace a la primera y segunda parte, me parece que es lo ideal leer la trilogía en el orden propuesto.

There was no meaning after all.

“It seems to me now that Fanshawe was always there. He is the place where everything begins for me, and without him I would hardly know who I am.” So begins The Locked Room, Paul Auster’s final novel in his New York Trilogy (City of Glass is Volume 1 and Ghosts is Volume 2) wherein an unnamed first person narrator tells the tale using the simple, straightforward language of detective fiction. In this way, the novel makes for easy peasy, enjoyable reading.

But underneath this hard-boiled linguistic skin, oh my goodness, we encounter the narrator, a writer by profession, navigating the choppy waters of passion and commitment, forever brooding on an entire range of topics: life and death, self and other, childhood and memory, friendship and fatherhood, love and hate, reading and writing, self-definition and self-identity.

In a strange, offbeat way, all the philosophic reflections and ruminations give Auster’s short novel an irresistible drive. Fanshawe was a writer, leaving boxes of novels, journals, poetry and plays to be read and judged. Fanshawe also leaves his beautiful wife, Sophie, and his baby boy. Sophie contacts the narrator, who was Fanshawe’s dearest friend, to do the reading and judging. To tell more than these few facts would be to tell too much. Let me simply say that once I started reading The Locked Room, I couldn’t put it down.


American author Paul Auster, born 1947

I have never been challenged as a reader so much - conceptually, thematically and literarily. Unadulterated genius - Hannah Choi, I will be so curious to hear what u say about it.

باید بگم قبل این کتاب با پل آستر زیاد آشنا نبودم اما تو این کتاب از نثرش خوشم اومد
من این کتاب و به صورت صوتی و تو مسیر گوش دادم و لذت بردم
اگه 5 ندادم به این علت بود که آستر تو شخصیت فنشاو خیلی اغراق کرده بود - به صورت عامیانه بگم - یه بتی از فنشاو ساخته بود
ولی خوب بی انصافیه بگم که خوب نبود

I was annoyed and enthralled by Ghosts in equal measure and intended to put down Auster for awhile, but his books have been so damn cozy and readable they keep from sleeping at night. This is probably the best of the trilogy in, at least, being the least overt in its postmodernism that, in its themes and tropes, can grate on a reader. It also enhanced my enjoyment of the trilogy as a whole. I regret not reading Auster sooner -- during my Murakami phase he easily would've become a favourite. A fun read and highly recommended to young men and people who want to read more in general. These books will absolutely breeze by, while being engaging enough to not feel like light reading. Great fun.

Está bueno. Medio meta-narrativo porque es una novela sobre la reflexión del tipo acerca de escribir novelas. Muy fácil de leer. El autor tiene un poco una fijación con el sexo y escribir sobre el mismo disfrazado de ficción. Si te no te gusta que los hombres escriban de sexo, mejor anda a leer otra cosa.

Kolmas osa Austerin trilogiaa. Tässä osassa mies saa kutsun tapaamaan vanhan lapsuudenystävänsä, Fanshawen, puolisoa. Miehet olivat lapsena olleet parhaita ystäviä, mutta Fanshawe oli lähtenyt merille ja ulkomaille, eikä ollut pitänyt yhteyttä. Fanshawen puoliso kertoo miehen kadonneen jäljettömiin ja sanoneen ennen katoamistaan, että puolison pitäisi ottaa yhteyttä kertojahenkilöön ja antaa Fanshawen kirjoittamat tekstit hänen hallintaansa. Kertoja lukee tekstit ja ne ovat mestariteoksia. Vähitellen hänen ja Fanshawen puolison välille muodostuu läheinen suhde ja he muuttavat yhteen. Kertoja kasvattaa Fanshawn lasta omanaan. Fanshawe ei kuitenkaan katoa kertojan mielestä, vaan hän alkaa selvittämään tämän elämän tapahtumia sinä määrin, että uhkaa tulla Fanshawen persoonan kaappaamaksi eikä mitään muuta pysty ajattelemaan. Mutta Fanshaw on yhä hengissä ja ottaa yhteyttä – miksi?

Tämä viimeinen pienoisromaani käsitteli samantyyppisiä persoonan ja persoonaan samaistumisen tai jopa toiseksi henkilöksi muuttumisen teemoja kuin aikaisemmat tarinat. Luin kaikki tarinat erikseen aika pitkällä aikavälillä, mutta todennäköisesti tämä oli virhe, nähtävästi ainakin kahdella viimeisellä tarinalla oli yllättäviä juonellisia yhteyksiä, jotka olisivat peräkkäin luettuna olleet helpommin huomattavissa. Pienoisromaanien muodostama kokonaisuus on selvästi parempi kuin kertomukset erillisinä ja olisi hahmottunut yhtenäisesti lukiessa varmasti paljon paremmin.