Review: Moon Palace (by Paul Auster)

MOON PALACE

It was the summer that men first walked on the moon. I was very young back then, but I did not believe there would ever be a future. These are the opening lines of the 300-pages-novel. Who thinks now about a pessimistic or apocalyptic story is definitely wrong:

The story

The book is about young Marco Stanley Fogg in quest of his roots and his identity in the United States of the 1960s. His search takes him from Manhattan to Utah, during which he meets lots of different people. But the novel also tells the story of two other important characters.

Points in its favour

- first-person-narration (which makes the whole book much more realistic and intense, but, as a reader, you can also identify yourself quite well with the protagonist, no matter how old, or of which sex you are.)
- surprising passages (interesting revelations make the story unpredictable and maintains the reader’s interest)
- allusions and references to historical events and characters and literary works (through that, the book gets an almost fascinating dimension)
- the panoramic view of the American society of the 1960s (as it’s a neopicaresque novel, the protagonist meets a lot of different characters representing the various facets of the United States)
- the accurate portraits of the main characters (M.S. Fogg; Kitty Wu, ‘The Dragon Lady’, a young Chinese woman, thus opposed to the W.A.S.P.-ideal; the eccentric Thomas Effing, caught in his wheelchair and Salomon Barber)

Drawbacks

- the end is controversial (for the ones, it is fascinating, for the others, it is just too symbolic)
- surprises (some revelations seem to be too improbable)
- allusions and references (sometimes you have to know really well the American history to understand all the references in the book, because they are a lot, and quite important)

The press and Moon Palace

- Evening Standard: A remarkable novel.
- The Times: Clever: very. Surprising: always- Auster is a master.
- London Review of Books: The work of an immensely gifted young novelist.

My opinion

Considering the pros and contras, I have to admit that the last ones are rather minimal. This book caught me, and as it was the first Auster-book I had read, it made me want to read more. That’s why I immediately borrowed The New York Trilogy from a library…

91 out of 100 points.

Any thoughts?