Ghosts

This small novella is the second unit of the 'New York Trilogy' It is the mediocre work wedged in between two extraordinary ones. The device of giving the major characters of the work color- names (i.e. Blue is the detective paid by White to watch Black) seems to me abstract and ineffective. One of the great strengths of Auster's writing is his capacity to create incredibly interesting characters, whose lives and stories we want to know more about. Here Blue sits too long watching and waiting for Black to give himself away. I know that there are many hidden meanings and connections in this work, as there are in all Auster's work. I know I missed most of them. But nonetheless I would claim that great art has to appeal first of all on the surface level, and that here Auster misses the mark.

Auster is not an easy read, but he himself admits this comparing himself to Thoreau and Walden, he intimates that you have to read him slowly to get all of the nuances. The story itself appears simple (and mimics some of 'City of Glass'), White hires Blue to watch Black and report each week what Black has done. (White has rented two apartments that front on each other from across a steet..Orange Steet.) What Blue and Black don't know is that they have been hired to watch each other. Blue spends almost a year watching Black do nothing more than write a novel. My guess is that Black is writing the novel to keep himself busy, in the same way that Blue makes up stories in his head but never puts them to pen. In the end, Blue steals Blacks manuscript (after beating him up), reads it and leaves his apartment. If the colors (say of light) are metaphors (duh!), white is the absense of substance, Black is the total of all colors of light and Blue is the shadow of Black. Since Blue and Black are the complement to each other, one is the stronger and the other is the follower. In the end the follower terminates the leader and leaves unfulfilled. There are three strong hint as to what Auster is trying to get at in this story (IMHO). First is that like Walden by Thoreau there is a lot more there than meets the eyes you just have to look for it. Second is the story by Hawthorne of the man who spends years away from his family but is watching them from afar but late is welcomed back. Third, the movie 'Out of the Past' with Robert Mitchum which is about a private detective. If you take some time to look at all three, this book with be much easier to understand. Contemplation is everything and nothing says the sparrow to the crow.

An intriguing novel of the surreal. Under the guise of detective fiction, Auster creates a study in humanity and its composite elements, weaving an intriguing web of deception and misdirection in which names are unimportant. There are sentences in this book which entire other books could be based on. Thankfully, this is one time where an author chooses brevity and wit over quantity. (Perhaps the only criticsm could be he takes this to a whole other extreme and makes it too brief).Recommended for fans of Beckett and Kafka.