The intriguing reviews I had read of Paul Auster’s Oracle Night seem to
focus on an almost superfluous supernatural element that is actually
nonessential to the plot. Writing as Auster often does, as the first-person
protagonist, the book is more about whether our futures are predestined, or whether
a certain event can change the path of our lives forever. A recovering
author suffering from a near fatal disease, and writer’s block, suddenly finds
inspiration whilst writing in notebook he perceives to have magical powers. However,
it is not the paranormal at play but a linked series of events and coincidences
that are springboarded the day the notebook is purchased. The story is mirrored
by the narrator’s own pen to paper sub-plot.
We realise that whilst trying to control our futures, we are
all ultimately victims of chance, circumstance and the decisions other people
make, and often our own choices do not even come into play. The most certain
plan can turn on a penny in a second. Escape is a recurring theme in this
novel, escaping from one’s destiny by flight and from reality by immersion in
fiction.
This is a book about the human condition with the page
turning engagement of a thriller. Full
of cultural references, both real and imagined, the book also serves as a list
of leads for the inquiring mind.
Order a copy from your local bookstore.
Comments