Powerful Novelists, Part 1, Paul Auster and James Morrow

Powerful Novelists

A little sampling of this and that.

by Jacob Malewitz

Paul Auster is perhaps the foremost novelist here with his own power. When I read “The New York Trilogy” I saw a writer taking us readers to the edge. These novellas, as the book is three, are not perfect—they tend to each have their own life and power. What worked most for me was Paul Auster’s personal flair and touch. This New York writer understood madness and the depths of man’s mind. “City of Glass” is likely his best story ever, odd that it was his first. I reviewed both “Brooklyn Follies” and “Travels in the Scriptorium” here on A Reader’s Eye. I love his writing; he makes me want to keep reading, and not all authors can do that. For a primer on his work, I would begin with “The New York Trilogy” and, maybe, avoid his non-fiction works. They didn’t work for many critics; to Paul Auster has a talent more for fiction than non-fiction. He is also a screenwriter and director, but foremost he is famous as a novelist. He may not be on the edge, but he is oh-so-close. His novels express something powerful.

James Morrow is the next step back and up from the worlds of Paul Auster. I haven’t read as many works by Morrow as other authors (namely Auster and Stephen King) but I have explored many of his visions, even found the time to talk to the fantasy novelist through emails. Morrow might shudder at my calling him a fantasy novelist, especially with the success of his more mainstream work, “The Last Witchfinder.” I, however, saw him at his very best in “Only Begotten Daughter,” a tale which won a World Fantasy award, and for good reason. That is his best work. I read “The Last Witchfinder” after catching a review in the New York Times Book Review. It was, not so good, in my opinion, but still leagues ahead of other fiction.

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