Thoroughly enjoyed these three books. Not sure about the whole trilogy concept though. Most Auster's books have the same story: an author follows a few strange paths and ends up on some wild adventure. Not only did all 3 books in the trilogy have this same plot structure, Leviathan and The Brooklyn Follies did too.
Still, there is something unique and charmingly about the prose and journeys. Definitely one of my favourite authors. ( )

Trilogia di New York è da molte persone considerato un capolavoro e da un punto di vista strettamente tecnico sono d’accordo: formata da tre brevi romanzi postmoderni, questa trilogia è una straordinaria riflessione sulla scrittura e sul mestiere di scrivere – e forse anche sui mondi dove chi scrive e chi legge rischia di perdersi.

Tuttavia, Trilogia di New York non ha incontrato i miei gusti e il mio favore: l’ho trovata troppo impegnata a costruire intreccio su intreccio, stanza dentro stanza, indizi su indizi, doppelgänger su doppelgänger, senza curarsi minimamente di andare oltre al mero esercizio di stile. La mia impressione durante la lettura è stata di avere tra le mani l’esempio pratico di una teoria: l’avrei trovato interessante se fosse stato all’interno di un saggio, visto che mi avrebbe aiutato a capire le tesi presentate, ma così l’ho trovato abbastanza fine a se stesso.

Anzi, per quanto in alcuni punti (soprattutto la parte iniziale di ogni romanzo) Auster abbia davvero avuto tutto il mio interesse e la mia ammirazione, con il proseguimento della lettura è subentrata proprio la noia e, complice la presenza del doppelgänger – forse in maniera piuttosto insensata, viste le differenze –, mi è venuta in mente Twin Peaks.

La serie tv di Lynch certo non manca di avvenimenti apparentemente incomprensibili, ma a differenza di Trilogia di New York ha mantenuto vivo il mio interesse, non solo per un generico “voglio vedere cosa succede”, ma anche per il coinvolgimento provato nei confronti dei vari personaggi. Ecco, questo manca completamente in questa trilogia e, nonostante la bravura di Auster, non sono proprio riuscita ad apprezzarla. ( )

The New York Trilogy (2006) by Paul Auster. I confess, I didn’t really get this book, or I should say collection of books. The trilogy of the title refers to the three short novels (when does a short novel become a novella?) City of Glass, Ghosts and The Locked Room. While those works were published in 1985 and 1986, the deluxe edition with an added introduction was published by Penguin Classics in 2006.
Having the three stories together makes them an easier read in that you don’t have to search out individual copies of each. But together they present a trio of convoluted detective tales set in New York City. I’m not going to go into too many details of the separate tales, but give an over view as to the response I had to them.
Reading one story after another left me with the feeling I had just experienced a fever dream come to life. Characters from one story drifted through the other two while people fall into unpolished “ghosts” of themselves. I had the sense that there was no sense to the stories, just an experience of them, of losing yourself while always trying to maintain just who you are. At times I felt the person being followed or spied upon just might be me.
At the completion of reading the three I felt hollow for some reason, knowing full well that I probably didn’t grasp the meaning of any of the work, but also feeling as if there were no meaning to be found. Perhaps Ghosts best portrayed the abyss that my sense of self had fallen into, while City of Glass reflected my sense of never being able to see the big picture, even as it unraveled about me in real life. The Locked Room had me checking the cellar door, making certain there was nothing, no shadow of a being, slowly ascending the stairs, remaining unseen but not unheard.
Or maybe I just didn’t understand what the author was going for. If he was trying to hold an ancient looking glass up to the reader and daring to peek at we have become, I think he succeeded.
But again, I’m only guessing. ( )

Pretentious, boring, pointless. ( )

If you're a fan of the old television show The Twilight Zone, then Auster's The New York Trilogy is something you'll probably enjoy. There was just something so fascinating yet strangely weird about all three of these stories that while I was reading them, I simply couldn't stop thinking that they would be perfect for The Twilight Zone. ( )