By J. Félix
Are you depressed? Do you feel uncomfortable these days, alone or don’t you know how to deal with people in the street? Well “The Follies” is the book you must read. Paul Auster, the author, reminds us that our social and emotional personality will bring us unexpected ways to live whether we like or not, whether our personal life is ok or not, but, it is also true that we must considerer his good social skills and abilities to engage with people, maybe because Nathan Glass, the narrator of Paul Aster’s novel, was a retired insurance salesman. Nathan passes form a “silent end to my sad ridiculous life” to endless possibilities for chance connection, finding the Brooklyn suburbs charms that soon energise him, maybe because he never wanted to die, he had just been bored.
In the long conversation with his nephew, Tom, we can find the crucial idea: “you love life too, Nathan”, he tells him, “but you don’t believe in it. And neither do I”. Nathan is ready to chat up to any person he meets seeking a relationship. How much happiness we will wonder if he had been loved back by the waitress of the coffe bar where he used to eat.
The Brooklyin Follies is always a pleasure to read, sometimes with strange vocabulary for me but I can follow the meaning progressing in it without effort, and find it difficult to put the book down.
In conclusion, a novel with wonderful characters, intriguing conflicts, humour as well as humanity and warmth. The reader will enjoy the novel. We don’t worry even though death is close, even if two planes are flying directly into the World Trade Center.