The book of illusions

While reading this you can hear the Overture : Bach : Suite n°2 in B minor BWV 1067 (John Elliot Gardiner).

I am at a point of my life that I don't want to make things complicated. I used to worry a lot, to own a lot of things, having an interior colourful with lots of furniture, to want to be the king of the world. The mistake is that I wanted to be recognized by the things I owned instead for what I am. All this changed and now everything I want is minimalism and enjoying simply events of life. I don't say I can't be hit again by unexpected things but at least I could tell to myself : until now was OK. It is the same with little pleasures. Reading a book is sometimes complicated. It's not that I am not interested but I admit there are books I can't read. I had the experience with Paul auster's Moon Palace and I remember even if I understood the words I felt lost. The only time I read a book is deep in the warmth of my bed before sleeping so i said this one's not for me. As I already said my friends give me their opinion about the book they read and I trust their advice so I say to myself "why not ?". When I had the Book of illusions in hand I took time to open it. I was reading something else and did not want to stop in the middle of it but temptation was too big and I started to read it because some critics say it's the best one of the author (marketing darling, marketing ...).

So this the plot : "After losing his wife and young sons in a plane crash, Vermont professor David Zimmer spends his waking hours mired in grief. Then, watching television one night, he stumbles upon a lost film by silent comedian Hector Mann, and remembers how to laugh... Zimmer's obsession with Mann drives him to publish a study of his work; whereupon he receives a letter postmarked New Mexico, supposedly written by Mann's wife, and inviting him to visit the great Mann himself. Can Hector Mann be alive?"

I was not thrilled with the first part while you discover the no-life of the main character. It's easy to let you go down and that's why you fall easily into it. I know the feeling and it is absolutly comprehensible and yeah Baby, let it out ! but it is much harder to re-start a life and that is why my opinion would say this phase of going deeper and deeper in misery lasts too long (in the book I mean, not in real life ; I guess you never recover of such events). Once the other story starts with this movie director who disapeared it's becoming much more interesting to read because you want to know what happened to him that made him left so spontaneously. And when both stories meet together it's even better. Sadly there is no happy end (sadly, could have been) but I guess the author wanted to make it tragic and the character has to make it alone and this was only a passage of his life to help him to put his feet back on the ground. I read it in french because I know Auster can be difficult to read in his language. It's a good book, meaning that I am no critic and I only give my opinion and I don't have to proove anything with all the tra la la sometimes I hear or read. But take your time if you're interested. It gives you the feeling that somewhere someone something will help you to come back to reality and make you understand nothing you really are is lost for ever. Don't expect a novel you can't close to know what's happening next page. In this case I'm lucky : I'm very slow at reading.