"أوجي كان يصور الزمن؛ كل من الزمن الطبيعي والزمن البشري، وكان يفعل ذلك بأن يتمركز في ركن واحد صغير من العالم ويريد أن يكون ملكه".

لكل منا هوايات غريبة، هوس ربما لا يعلم به
أحد، شيء يشعرنا بالتفرد والمتعة الخالصة.

مترجمة بعنوان كريسماس على موقع كتب مملة

This tiny little book contains one mighty little Christmas story from acclaimed writer, Paul Auster.
A feel good story without any over sentimentality. Makes for a great bedtime read when you're too tired at the end of the day for anything too taxing to read.
Pleased that I picked it up from the library on a Christmas themed whim :D

This is a gem of a little story. I am so happy to have discovered it. Takes only 15 minutes to read, and the illustrations are wonderfully charming. :)

Paul debe escribir un cuento de navidad, decidido a escribir algo que no fuera sentimental, comienza a meditar cómo hacer tal proeza, buscando inspiración termina donde su amigo Auggie quien decide contarle el mejor cuento de navidad que haya escuchado.

Este cuento lo leí hace años, fue mi primera lectura de este autor (y la que me llevó a leer gran parte de su obra) y en ese entonces lo amé, decidí leerlo nuevamente y adivinen qué, ¡me encanta!. Tal como nos advierte el autor al inicio es un cuento de navidad atípico, carece del sentimentalismo tradicional y empalagoso de las habituales historias navideñas, es una historia corta con varias historias dentro de ella, donde cada una nos hace reflexionar sobre diversas situaciones, y si lees entre lineas (tal como nos lo dice de cierta forma Auggie) las historias calan bien hondo.

I requested this from my local library last December. Finally, it arrived yesterday. This delightful, small, wonderfully illustrated book is very much a non-traditional Christmas story.

It is not a story of Christmas trees, of mangers, of churches, of stained glass windows, or of snow softly falling as candles shed light in the windows.

It is a story of unexpected gifts that arrive with moral dilemmas.

It is very thought provoking and it was well worth the wait!

El cuento de navidad de Auggie Wren - Paul Auster
Un escritor a quien le encargan un cuento de navidad y, sin tener idea de cómo o por donde empezar, conocerá la historia de Auggie Wren y cómo obtuvo la cámara con la cual luego tomaría unas interesantes fotografías.
Puntos que me llamaron la atención: el álbum de fotos que plantea un concepto muy interesante para el buen observador, la forma cómo Auggie reacciona ante la confusión de un personaje que me llevó a pensar en lo bello que es dejarse llevar cuando el corazón habla el lenguaje de la amabilidad y la escritura de Auster que, siendo la segunda vez que lo leo, en esta oportunidad lo sentí más fluido.
Un relato corto que te hará recordar que las buenas acciones a veces suceden casi sin proponérselo uno y que un buen corazón siempre sabe aprovechar la oportunidad.
Recomendado para iniciar las lecturas navideñas.
3 estrellas

This slim book and I go back about four years. I picked it up that summer at a library book sale where I was volunteering--we get a free book as our "payment." And I set the book aside with the intention of reading it on Christmas.

Well, Christmas came and went and I forgot to read the book. So I had to wait for year two. And that Christmas went perfectly. As perfectly as it can go for a single Jew, anyway. On Christmas Eve, I went to the movies and afterward entered a nearby bar which I'd never been in. The mood was so friendly inside, the lighting just right. Christmas movies and football games on the TVs. I sat at a small table, ate, drank, and read Auggie Wren's Christmas Story, which had been tucked in my jacket pocket.

Reading it, I experienced the magical "shock of recognition." This story was recreated in the great movie Smoke! A cigar store, a robbery, a blind old woman on Christmas. And as the movie ends, we hear the beautiful Tom Waits song, "Innocent When You Dream." It's just about perfect, and reading this book was like visiting with a dear old friend.

While I sat in the bar, I got a text message out of the blue from, well, a dear old friend. Asking if I had New Year's plans. I didn't... and now I did. It was a Christmas Eve for the ages.

I reviewed the book on some rival online site, and was pleased that I had a new holiday tradition. I like traditions.

Except, year three, I had concert tickets on Christmas Eve. So, no movie, no bar, no Auggie.

Which brings us to this year. I was worried; the bar and movie theater had both been badly damaged by Superstorm Sandy. The bar had finally reopened but we were still waiting for the theater. But on December 21, the theater did at last reopen. As it got dark, I walked up there, book again in pocket. A string of Christmas lights was on at the bar, across the way. Everything was set.

As I walked out of the theater, a light snow was falling. This couldn't be more perfect. Except... now the lights were off at the bar. Where do I go now? And this snow is kind of annoying. I'll need a hat or an umbrella or something if I'm going to be walking farther. I dropped into the Rite Aid and rooted through the umbrella rack. No, no, too expensive, I have three umbrellas at home, half a mile away. No, I'm just going to get wet.

I headed to the town's main drag. An awful lot of places are closed on Christmas Eve. After several blocks, I found a spot where I'd had some happy times with friends in years gone by. They were open, and the kitchen was open, and that was good enough for me. No Guinness on tap; I was having a holiday craving for a Guinness. Oh well, I'll manage.

The mood was... acceptable. Not perfect, but perfection is hard to recreate. I sat at the bar, ate, drank, and read Auggie Wren's Christmas Story. And it was brilliant all over again. It's short, real short, but the illustrations make you slow down and let it all sink in. It's like a picture book for grown ups. And the light was pretty dim so i couldn't make out all the details in the illustrations. But that seemed to fit this story of an old blind woman and the gentle lies we tell each other and tell ourselves to get from one day to another.

I didn't get any New Year's text messages while I read the book, but nobody expects lightning to strike twice. It was OK. The food was real good, the beer was flowing, and I was so happy to spend a little more time with Auggie Wren. I imagine I'll see him next year too.

Not really a story... I was expecting a magical twist in the tale, but it just petered out rather disappointingly. The book looks like it is aimed at children, but I can't imagine any child whose attention or imagination would be captured by it.

Christmas mood officially on!



And I started to take out the Christmas books I had in mind for this year!



This is a short story read by the author. I have never read Paul Auster, so this was a good introduction. He reminds me of Truman Capote. I might want to read his other works too!
Any recommendations?

Nueva York, años noventa. Un escritor que recibe un encargo del periódico donde trabaja para escribir un cuento de navidad, se siente frustrado y sin ideas para salir airoso. Hasta que conoce la historia que Auggie tiene que contarle.

✔️ Puntos fuertes: lectura breve, estilo del autor, ingenio y originalidad.

❤ Te gustará si: te gusta el estilo personal del autor o buscas una lectura breve.

Lovely story, great writing, beautiful visuals.

Thanks Cheri for reminding me of this book which I read already some years ago. Need to reread, maybe next year. Quite an extraordinary book from Paul Auster, not his usual cup of tea.

Cuento súper breve y original. Aplausos!!