4 3 2 1: A Novel

Let's establish right away that Paul Auster is one of my favorite authors. In fact, I'd consider myself something of a "fanboy." I've read the vast majority of his published work after discovering him about ten years ago. He earned my trust back then, which means I will read anything he releases. Anything.4 3 2 1 is an ambitious work that absolutely experiments with style and execution. It is extremely well written, meticulously organized, and clearly a labor of love. This is an important novel due to its sheer moxie; it not only challenges well-established conventions in the field of literature, it summarily ignores them.But, even with all of that being said, it missed the mark for me. At 866 pages, 4 3 2 1 proved too much for this reader. As you know, Auster is an avid baseball fan, and I definitely felt like I needed a scorecard for this epic volume.Without spoiling too much, this novel imagines the four possible lives of a single man. We follow him from boyhood all the way to death. There are many touchstones that are obviously invariable from life to life, but there are also several deviations that alter one life drastically from another. It's a fascinating premise, one that we've all thought about from time to time. What if my parents had separated? What if I'd chosen a different school? What if I had fallen into that pit and been paralyzed? So many "what ifs" in life ... Auster delves deeply into this notion while leaving no detail unexplored.But, like Annie Proulx's Barkskins, those nuanced details can overwhelm the reader to the point of provoking disengagement. At least, that's what happened in my case.Furthermore, if I'm being honest, Ferguson (the main character) is not especially interesting. No matter which life we address, Ferguson is a bit aloof, a bit too precocious, a bit unlikable. Well, perhaps "unlikable" is too strong of a word. I would never describe him as "likable," though. Keep in mind, I don't believe a character has to be "good" in the moral sense to be "likable." There have been plenty of "bad" characters that I thought were incredibly charismatic.On the subject of morality, be warned ... there is a lot of sex in this book -- more than any Paul Auster book I've ever read. There is straight sex, gay sex, committed sex, casual sex, oral sex, anal sex ... you get the idea. The sex often seemed to me as forced. It never quite struck me as organic to the story.While I found this to be a relevant addition to the author's library because it broke new ground for an already inventive artist, it did not hold my attention. While the writing is masterful, it failed to capture my imagination. And while the characters are pounding with life, none of them seemed to take hold in my own.

From literature point of view this is a magnificent book. It’s an art. I felt a total immersion, as if I was living there and then and inside the skin of the character. Auster is a master of the word.His literary, cinema and music recommendations given as part of character’s education can serve as an education for the reader as well.All this deserves the undisputed 5 stars.But there are negative aspects as well that cannot be overlooked in my subjective opinion.The father of the 4th Archie Ferguson casts a disjointed figure. He starts as a decent hard working person. Although he makes a distant and cold father, no one could blame Stanley for lack of integrity. Nevertheless, following a divorce with Archie’s mom, Stanley is suddenly shown a dishonorable person, a man who would hurt his son in order to make a point to his mother. This character is so at odds with otherwise harmonious description of other characters that it seems that it (the character) was too good for author’s taste and had to be corrected (in a bad way) to fit the narrative.And here we come to a second negative aspect.This book is too politicized. It’s a mirror reflection of today’s America. It’s too black and white and sorrowly lacking the gray. If you are suburban, you are a republican, a racist/bigot, a bad person. If you are a city dweller, you are a democrat, a liberal, a good person. A businessman is, by definition, a bad person, since he makes money in order to make even more money.I would expect more sophistication from such a talented author. Regardless of one’s leanings, left or right, life is a complex mess, it’s certainly not black and white.

This novel has many merits, I was very intrigued and engaged with it for the first 400 pages or so, without question Auster is a highly skilled writer and story teller, he’s got excellent communicative powers, no doubt. The problem is the book just won’t end! It’s a clever device here, he tells four (I think, it gets confusing) parallel life stories of the same character with small or not so small alterations in life circumstances, all of which are possible with a simple twist of fate, a death here, a fire there, so on. It’s pretty intriguing and philosophically represents the unknown “superposition” of our lives as they unfold, so this was all really strong stuff for a novel. He also presents the late 50’s early 60’s period well, and childhood, and human relationships, yes, all well done. But here I am on page 570, I’ve got like 250 pages more to go, and I’ve run out of gas. This is a bummer since I invested so much time to this book, but Archie, the main character, is still muddling through his first years of college, and I’m just loosing interest. Like I just want the mafia to come in a shoot everyone so we can end the story with a bang already. And so Archie and (some girl, or guy; yes, he’s bi) get married and...... Archie stays at home and does his pretty face, ob la ob la di life goes on hah, oh la la how life goes on, done. Paul. You forgot about the reader. You got swallowed up in your own writing. Almost a great book, but not.

The author, Paul Auster, has a lovely flowing writing style and the plot is pleasant enough in a kind of TV movie way, but ultimately I found this book very predictable - despite the twists. The book follows the exploits of a boy called Ferguson as he grows up in New Jersey, then through college and to the edge of adulthood. Without spoiling the plot, Ferguson’s life has several moments of divergence of varying severity. So far, so good. The problem I have with this book has been the same across a few of the titles I’ve read on the Booker shortlist: they are just formulaic. Got some baseball/basketball nostalgia? Check. Got both race and gender issues clumsily wedged in? Check. Got references to as many books and films as you can, just to show the reader how clever you are? Check. Got references to some Manhattan eateries? Check. A couple of times now, but especially with this book, the author has a character wanting to become something different or outgrow his or her hometown, yet I’ve been left with the feeling the book has been written and appraised by the same group of people within spitting distance of The New Yorker’s office. And when they travel, God, it’s always Paris. Prepare for a name check of obscure directors, eateries and ‘insights’ into French life (yes, we know Gitanes are strong). Finally, England is eternally described as if it were the set of Brief Encounters. Ferguson visits London in the 60s - swinging London, fashionable, musical London. It’s described as if it’s some dank Middle Earth, with no hint of irony, even though the main character lives in the cosmopolitan Mecca that is New Jersey. If you’ve read anything from the Booker list in the past few years that is anything close to a coming of age story of a kid from the east coast, you’ve already read this book.

Through 4 variants of Archie Ferguson’s life story, Paul Auster shows the huge power and impact of contingency, (bi)sexuality, extended family lives, and political turmoil and upheaval on the development of young life in 1960s USA society. Ferguson’s intensive intellectual, artistic and love life is fashioned through this maelstrom. Extreme social conflict rages around racism and the Vietnam war. Auster blends keen observation, interpretation and imagination throughout this long read. He recounts Ferguson’s eclectic sex life in graphic detail as a powerful drive in personal experience and development, without this becoming either gratuitous or salacious. Ferguson’s journalist and author career may well be an autobiographical reflection. In Ferguson’s hilarious Hank and Frank shoe story, Auster appears to mock the imposed drive for meaning in literature, but perhaps the story really does address themes of slavery and Holocaust? Maybe Auster is warning us from trying to force meaning from his 4 3 2 1 story?

Firstly I read a broad range of books, from trashy thrillers, non-fiction, to something like this a little more challenging. This is also the 4th Auster book I have read and I have always enjoyed him.Reading this is a little like running a marathon, it is not pleasant, at times not enjoyable and it is a hard slog. There are times mid way through this when I could have happily gave it one star or even stopped reading completely. However now finished I find the experience rewarding and I am happy that I have read it. I think it is the thought provoking nature of how a life can unwind in different directions that give the biggest payoff, The affect the book has more than the story itself.Certainly it could have done with a heavy edit. It is a monster and the time spent meandering and (I would argue) at times lost is a disappointment. However it is still a thought provoking tale set in a vivid telling of 20th century US history.My one piece of advice (I really wish I had this) is to take notes / reminders on the different strands of the story. To jump back to version 1 three chapters after reading versions 2,3 & 4 can be a little confusing trying to remember all the people / situations in the chapter you now start.

It's a bit boring to be honest, with some lengthy, pointless lists of stuff you don't really want or need to know. Paul Auster is an excellent writer who has brilliant ideas but it seems like he needs a decent editor to encourage him to go back to the smart, succinct sentences and ideas of his early works, which are still his best.

This is a wonderful and intelligent in-depth look at the 4 different lives of the Jewish Ferguson born in March 1947 to Stanley and Rose. Set in New York and New Jersey, it is a novel full of details, it begins with giving us the disparate backgrounds and families of store owner Stanley and photographer Rose. It charts the relationship between Stanley and Rose and their heartbreaking attempts to have a child. Once Ferguson is born, we are given a non-linear​ but simultaneous life trajectory structured in distinct episodes for each Ferguson.It made me laugh when the first young Ferguson has every intention of marrying his mother! What Auster does is bring home how each different decision and event changes the life of Ferguson through an intense and tumultuous period of American social and political history of the 1960s up until the early 1970s. So we get the awareness of the fate of the Rosenbergs, the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and the protests in which Ferguson takes part.I found it difficult to remember which Ferguson is which at times, partly my fault but partly because whilst Ferguson has different lives, he is essentially the same person. He is a writer in every version of his life, his politics are progressive, and Amy is the girl he gets involved with albeit with differing results. He dwells on the nature of money and whether it should necessarily dictate that the family should, therefore, move into a bigger house just because they could. Auster captures the raw energy, vitality and intensity with which the young live their lives and the central role of an obsession with sex. I loved the cultural references such as the books and movies that marked the period. Different events in the family mark each Ferguson, such as the death of his father in an arson attack on the store. One Ferguson experiences an early death as a result of a lightning storm.This is a very long and ambitious novel which might not be to everyone's taste and there are some extremely long sentences in it. I loved it, although it is not perfect and there are parts which tended to ramble a little too much. The prose is beautiful and I found the narrative a gripping read most of the time. Near the end, Auster informs us why the novel was structured as it is. Elements of the novel have been informed by the autobiographical details of the author's life. Characters from his previous novels make an appearance in this book. Auster is connecting his life's work and life brilliantly in this novel. This is essentially the story of the life and times of Paul Auster. A highly recommended read.