Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Penguin (Non-Classics) (1990), Paperback, 320 pages
Description
The "beautiful and haunting" (San Francisco Chronicle) tale of an orphan's search for love, for his unknown father, and for the key to the elusive riddle of his fate, from the author of the forthcoming 4 3 2 1: A Novel Marco Stanley Fogg is an orphan, a child of the sixties, a quester tirelessly seeking the key to his past, the answers to the ultimate riddle of his fate. As Marco journeys from the canyons of Manhattan to the deserts of Utah, he encounters a gallery of characters and a series of events as rich and surprising as any in modern fiction. Beginning during the summer that men first walked on the moon, and moving backward and forward in time to span three generations, Moon Palace is propelled by coincidence and memory, and illuminated by marvelous flights of lyricism and wit. Here is the most entertaining and moving novel yet from an author well known for his breathtaking imagination. From New York Times-bestselling author Paul Auster (The New York Trilogy).… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Aarinstad
I'd give this book one star only, but I feel maybe (though I'm not thoroughly convinced) that somewhere under all the awful, pretentious drivel there's a kernel of something interesting. I mean - by itself - the plot elements have the makings of something to pique the interest of even a casual
One problem is that despite Auster's attempts to imbue his characters with interesting characteristics, he fails miserably at expounding on these qualities in the actual narrative. Let me elaborate: he doesn't describe people through their actions or interactions. Not even through dialogue. He just whips up an adjective and expects you to buy it. Sol has great "wit and charm", Auster (or rather, Fogg) informs us, but I cannot recall a single instance of this wit or charm actually occurring in the book. It feels stumblingly awkward, and on several occasions exasperatingly lazy.
Halfway through the book I actually threw up my head and groaned loudly at the quality of the writing. I think it was during introduction of Kitty - a character and plot line so weak you could use it to dilute water. She's probably the least believable female stereotype I've ever had the misfortune to encounter. And also so obviously the writers personal fantasy that's it's embarrassing. At one point Auster (oops, I mean Fogg) candidly tells us "I pulled down Kitty's jeans and panties and brought her to orgasm with my tounge". I would have winced but for the sad inadequacy of the text at producing arousal of any kind.
And it's not just the ennui of the sex scenes or the morbidly one-dimensional characters either. The way he writes dialogue is just astoundingly bad. Not a single one of his characters has a unique voice, they all sound like the same person when they speak. He might as well have skipped the dialogue all together, as it only functions to forward plot, and often only in only the most rudimentary way.
Another huge problem is that the protagonist is not only a shallow, self absorbed sociopath with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, he's not even interesting. I had absolutely no interest in finding out anything about his intentions or plans, motives or history. I didn't care one way or another about whether he starved or got laid or found out who his father was. He leaves this Kitty character and then wallows in misery like it's somehow not his own fault. He shows no empathy or interest towards anyone apart from himself.
Apart from these things Auster writes OK. He's never brilliant, often adequate, sometimes quite awful. There's a lot of symbolism, mainly revolving (ha!) around the moon. But it doesn't feel significant to the story, and it fails to deliver anything more than shallow connections and musings on the themes of the book - much like the characters, the setting and the dialogue. I had no idea what this book was trying to tell me, and I would venture to say that neither does Auster.
I finished Moon Palace on principle, because I don't like to judge a book unless I've read the whole thing. And for sure, there are some qualities in this book, particularly the story about Effing in the desert and the cave. But the qualities of the main story are sadly buried underneath a heap of purple prose, anemic characterization and bland dialogue. I was recommended this book, but I will sadly not be recommending it to anyone, ever.
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reader; curious characters, strange happenings, wordplay and symbolism. And maybe I'm missing something others can see in this book. Apparently it's pretty well received overall. I feel, however, that this book is flawed, if not just outright bad. One problem is that despite Auster's attempts to imbue his characters with interesting characteristics, he fails miserably at expounding on these qualities in the actual narrative. Let me elaborate: he doesn't describe people through their actions or interactions. Not even through dialogue. He just whips up an adjective and expects you to buy it. Sol has great "wit and charm", Auster (or rather, Fogg) informs us, but I cannot recall a single instance of this wit or charm actually occurring in the book. It feels stumblingly awkward, and on several occasions exasperatingly lazy.
Halfway through the book I actually threw up my head and groaned loudly at the quality of the writing. I think it was during introduction of Kitty - a character and plot line so weak you could use it to dilute water. She's probably the least believable female stereotype I've ever had the misfortune to encounter. And also so obviously the writers personal fantasy that's it's embarrassing. At one point Auster (oops, I mean Fogg) candidly tells us "I pulled down Kitty's jeans and panties and brought her to orgasm with my tounge". I would have winced but for the sad inadequacy of the text at producing arousal of any kind.
And it's not just the ennui of the sex scenes or the morbidly one-dimensional characters either. The way he writes dialogue is just astoundingly bad. Not a single one of his characters has a unique voice, they all sound like the same person when they speak. He might as well have skipped the dialogue all together, as it only functions to forward plot, and often only in only the most rudimentary way.
Another huge problem is that the protagonist is not only a shallow, self absorbed sociopath with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, he's not even interesting. I had absolutely no interest in finding out anything about his intentions or plans, motives or history. I didn't care one way or another about whether he starved or got laid or found out who his father was. He leaves this Kitty character and then wallows in misery like it's somehow not his own fault. He shows no empathy or interest towards anyone apart from himself.
Apart from these things Auster writes OK. He's never brilliant, often adequate, sometimes quite awful. There's a lot of symbolism, mainly revolving (ha!) around the moon. But it doesn't feel significant to the story, and it fails to deliver anything more than shallow connections and musings on the themes of the book - much like the characters, the setting and the dialogue. I had no idea what this book was trying to tell me, and I would venture to say that neither does Auster.
I finished Moon Palace on principle, because I don't like to judge a book unless I've read the whole thing. And for sure, there are some qualities in this book, particularly the story about Effing in the desert and the cave. But the qualities of the main story are sadly buried underneath a heap of purple prose, anemic characterization and bland dialogue. I was recommended this book, but I will sadly not be recommending it to anyone, ever.
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LibraryThing member larsmagnusnoren
My first and best total lovestory with a book. I´ve given it to lot´s of people.
LibraryThing member papalaz
Moon Palace is novel of searching. When we discover that our hero's name is Marco Stanley Fogg the signpost is well and truly planted. Marco Polo, Henry Morton Stanley and Phileas Fogg could hardly be associated with much else. When we then discover that he refers to himself as MS we get the
Paul Auster is a very good writer. I was going to refer in this review to two previous reviews that I have written of his works: New York Trilogy and Oracle Nights but it transpires that while I wrote the reviews (in my head - which is where my composition actually happens) I have never written them down or should that be written them out, or published them. Which is a shame but not a disaster. To summarise I loved New York Trilogy which is a trio of novellas and I felt that Oracle Nights while good would have been better as a set of novellas. The same criticism, if it is a criticism applies to Moon Palace. It is essentially three novellas telling what is essentially the same story. After 90 pages or so I felt that the point was made and the text complete. I could see the joins where Auster has glued the three stories "together" into a "novel" and I resented it as a a writer. I suspect that Auster's publishers encourage him to write novel length fiction when his real strength is the novella. Alternatively he has not come to terms with his own metier. By all means tell me the same tale 3 ways - I'm happy with that but don't gussy it up and tell me it's a novel.
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secondary reference: man as an unfinished book - writing himself as he goes. Now, given that M S Fogg is an orphan it is quite clear that we shall be having a story of a man seeking his father and his identity that will feature book quite heavily - Auster likes his heres literary where possible. And so it goes. Auster's twist here is that he finds not only his father but his father's lost father too. Auster is in love with the list of three and the trilogy as an idea so the fact that we end up with the father, the son, and the grandfather is no surprise. Auster takes us and his hero through adventures with books, adventures in the wild west, and adventures with his father to arrive at M S Fogg finding himself having lost his antecedents. Paul Auster is a very good writer. I was going to refer in this review to two previous reviews that I have written of his works: New York Trilogy and Oracle Nights but it transpires that while I wrote the reviews (in my head - which is where my composition actually happens) I have never written them down or should that be written them out, or published them. Which is a shame but not a disaster. To summarise I loved New York Trilogy which is a trio of novellas and I felt that Oracle Nights while good would have been better as a set of novellas. The same criticism, if it is a criticism applies to Moon Palace. It is essentially three novellas telling what is essentially the same story. After 90 pages or so I felt that the point was made and the text complete. I could see the joins where Auster has glued the three stories "together" into a "novel" and I resented it as a a writer. I suspect that Auster's publishers encourage him to write novel length fiction when his real strength is the novella. Alternatively he has not come to terms with his own metier. By all means tell me the same tale 3 ways - I'm happy with that but don't gussy it up and tell me it's a novel.
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LibraryThing member iayork
Auster's Tour-De-Force: Paul Auster is a fascinating writer; in many ways he may be the greatest contemporary American novelist, drawing obviously from both 'high' and 'low' extremes in culture (blurring if not obliterating the line between them), but also massively personalizing all the eclectic
One of his great themes is chance and coincidence and their effect upon the lives of individuals - certain stories (like the film SMOKE) take far-fetched twists and detours, but also have moments of brilliance, beauty and style (like Augie's 'Christmas Story' in SMOKE). In this, MOON PALACE may be Auster's finest achievement.
One would think Auster's improbabilities would be a liability, but - having lived part of a life that has been knocked in all sorts of unexpected and - at times - very unpleasant directions by the sort of chance occurrences that cause one to question the idea of 'control' or 'self-determination' in life - much of MOON PALACE rings truer than it (at first, it would seem) should. The surrealism of this and other Auster fictions struck me at many points to be quite real, and nailing something of the kind of weirdnesses in everyday life that most people simply overlook. This plays out in a few ways - it makes MOON PALACE simultaneously mesmerizing, frightening through many stretches, but also ultimately hopeful. And not hopeful in programmed, cliched fashion, but offering the kind of hope individuals who might have been through hell can somehow manage to discover in spite of what the world has thrown their way.
Auster's writing is dense, but not impenetrable, instead quickly settling into the inner rhythm of characters that are respected, and known inside and out. Current events and pop culture breeze by, but Auster never resorts to name-dropping, instead settling into a comprehensive awareness of society and the world. MOON PALACE is a real triumph of imagination and skill.
-David Alston
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influences he draws from. One of his great themes is chance and coincidence and their effect upon the lives of individuals - certain stories (like the film SMOKE) take far-fetched twists and detours, but also have moments of brilliance, beauty and style (like Augie's 'Christmas Story' in SMOKE). In this, MOON PALACE may be Auster's finest achievement.
One would think Auster's improbabilities would be a liability, but - having lived part of a life that has been knocked in all sorts of unexpected and - at times - very unpleasant directions by the sort of chance occurrences that cause one to question the idea of 'control' or 'self-determination' in life - much of MOON PALACE rings truer than it (at first, it would seem) should. The surrealism of this and other Auster fictions struck me at many points to be quite real, and nailing something of the kind of weirdnesses in everyday life that most people simply overlook. This plays out in a few ways - it makes MOON PALACE simultaneously mesmerizing, frightening through many stretches, but also ultimately hopeful. And not hopeful in programmed, cliched fashion, but offering the kind of hope individuals who might have been through hell can somehow manage to discover in spite of what the world has thrown their way.
Auster's writing is dense, but not impenetrable, instead quickly settling into the inner rhythm of characters that are respected, and known inside and out. Current events and pop culture breeze by, but Auster never resorts to name-dropping, instead settling into a comprehensive awareness of society and the world. MOON PALACE is a real triumph of imagination and skill.
-David Alston
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LibraryThing member ClaryP
February 2010, lendend by Dad I read it in Carilo in our summer family vacation. I really liked it, and wanted to keep reading and reading. In the part when Effing tells when he was in that cave in the desert and brothers Grasham were inside the cave and he was planning how he was going to kill
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them and until he did i was so nervous i had a stomachache Show Less
LibraryThing member JimmyChanga
I enjoyed it while I was reading it. But it felt a little gimmicky at points... because the whole book relies entirely on the "everybody is related to each other" plot twist, which is ridiculously unlikely. Also, the actual writing/language was mediocre, but the story and characters were
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entertaining. Also, I don't like how all the characters kept wanting to make amends for what they've done in the past, but they do it in this way that is kinda juvenile, like acting out. Like when Effing gave his money away. And yet nobody in the novel sees how presumptious and cocky this act was. Instead he's painted as this rough on the outside, but saintly goodness on the inside kinda character.It seems like Auster has spent all his time weaving an intricate and unlikely plot, yet for all that, he isn't able to bring out the complexities of his character's emotions. They felt very flat. Whereas a better writer could do all that and much more without even writing about anything out of the ordinary... a walk along the pier or something... Show Less
LibraryThing member Kayla-Marie
I loved this book! For the first 100 pages or so, I had a hard time remembering that I was reading a fiction novel because it felt more like I was reading Paul Auster's memoir. Auster is great at making extreme and coincidental circumstances seem realistic and probable.
LibraryThing member Morganna1afey
SPOILER ALERT
I loved this novel. Paul Auster has done it again, with remarkable depth and brilliance. As always, Auster's ideas are amazing, and make for an entertaining read as well as a study on identity.
Marco Stanley Fogg, or M.S. Fogg, is an orphan who seems to be spending the entire story
When M.S. becomes destitute, homeless and sick, it seems as if the end is near. But he is rescued by Kitty and his friend Zimmer. Zimmer brings him home and nurses him back to health. He narrowly escapes being drafted into the army because the doctors think he is crazy. He begins to rally and offers to repay Zimmer for helping him by translating a French manuscript into English. Then he takes a job with Thomas Effing, an elderly, well-to-do gentleman in need of a companion. Effing had to replace his former companion, Pavel Shum, after Pavel was hit by a car, as was M.S.' mother. Thus M.S. takes on a new identity; he became Pavel's ghost.
While working for Effing, he learns of how Effing used to be Julian Barber, until Barber faked his own death, became a hermit named Tom, then dubbed himself Thomas Effing. Effing turns out to have a son named Solomon Barber, who in turn is the father of someone else. Solomon had initiated his own search for his identity as a child, for he was also an orphan, just like Kitty and M.S.
This entire story involves people and their attempt to find their identities, to discover who they truly are. This is not just a physical journey, but a spiritual one. Finding one's place in the world… It's not just about names but about who we are as human beings, and our place in the universe, about how the world is a large place, but at the same time, we are all related to a certain extent.
I have enjoyed Paul Auster's novels since college. Although it isn't an easy, light read, its weight causes the reader to ponder the deeper meaning of life and our place in it. The interconnectedness of the characters in this story shows us how truly small our world really is.
I loved this novel. Paul Auster has done it again, with remarkable depth and brilliance. As always, Auster's ideas are amazing, and make for an entertaining read as well as a study on identity.
Marco Stanley Fogg, or M.S. Fogg, is an orphan who seems to be spending the entire story
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searching for his identity, mostly, it appears, indirectly. The novel starts out in New York City, when M.S. is finishing up college at Columbia University. He begins by explaining about his relationship with his Uncle Victor, and how Victor had gifted his entire collection of books to M.S. M.S. uses the novels, packed into boxes, as furniture at first. But when his Uncle dies, he slowly begins to dismantle his furniture, and thus his identity, by reading the novels and selling them off as he finishes. Prior to this, he had been dubbed Phileas, a character from Around the World in 80 Days, a movie that Uncle Victor had taken him to see as a child. Upon his uncle's death, he has no choice but to slough off this identity. There is no one left to M.S. in the entire world, so he allows a financial dilemma to literally consume him until his life is at stake. Then he meets Kitty, and a new identity is formed, that of 'Kitty's Twin.' When M.S. becomes destitute, homeless and sick, it seems as if the end is near. But he is rescued by Kitty and his friend Zimmer. Zimmer brings him home and nurses him back to health. He narrowly escapes being drafted into the army because the doctors think he is crazy. He begins to rally and offers to repay Zimmer for helping him by translating a French manuscript into English. Then he takes a job with Thomas Effing, an elderly, well-to-do gentleman in need of a companion. Effing had to replace his former companion, Pavel Shum, after Pavel was hit by a car, as was M.S.' mother. Thus M.S. takes on a new identity; he became Pavel's ghost.
While working for Effing, he learns of how Effing used to be Julian Barber, until Barber faked his own death, became a hermit named Tom, then dubbed himself Thomas Effing. Effing turns out to have a son named Solomon Barber, who in turn is the father of someone else. Solomon had initiated his own search for his identity as a child, for he was also an orphan, just like Kitty and M.S.
This entire story involves people and their attempt to find their identities, to discover who they truly are. This is not just a physical journey, but a spiritual one. Finding one's place in the world… It's not just about names but about who we are as human beings, and our place in the universe, about how the world is a large place, but at the same time, we are all related to a certain extent.
I have enjoyed Paul Auster's novels since college. Although it isn't an easy, light read, its weight causes the reader to ponder the deeper meaning of life and our place in it. The interconnectedness of the characters in this story shows us how truly small our world really is.
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LibraryThing member stveggy
Great book - couldn't put it down
LibraryThing member 8heist
Quite beautiful, devastating and ultimately worthwhile.
LibraryThing member ursula
MS Fogg, the protagonist in Moon Palace, is a student at loose ends in 1960s New York. He decides to try just sort of floating on the stream of life, with results that would have been predictable to anyone except a young man in his early twenties who's always been able to get along: he ends up
Although the characters are not all that compellingly drawn, one of Auster's themes did resonate with me, or I suppose more accurately, with my younger self: It takes more courage to live in the world and have relationships with your fellow humans than to strike out on your own and turn your back on everything. I think it's a phase we often go through when we're young, where we want to be defined by our ability to be detached, to look down on needing or liking anything. Most of us grow out of it.
I feel like the book contained a number of ideas I liked and some interesting story elements, but it didn't really coalesce into something completely successful. Some aspects of the plot strained credulity to the snapping point, and I'm not really sure all of those aspects were required to get the same points across. I hope Auster becomes less ham-fisted in his later works.
Recommended for: reformed misanthropes, people who *really* believe it's a small world, fans of coincidence
Quote: I'm talking about freedom, Fogg. A sense of despair that becomes so great, so crushing, so catastrophic, that you have no choice but to be liberated by it.
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homeless and starving. Pulling himself back from that through the help of an old friend and a woman he meets while looking for the aforementioned old friend, MS gets a job working for a Mr. Effing. Effing is a crotchety old man who is looking for someone to push him around on walks in his wheelchair, listen to his life story, and take the abuse that he occasionally hurls. Although the characters are not all that compellingly drawn, one of Auster's themes did resonate with me, or I suppose more accurately, with my younger self: It takes more courage to live in the world and have relationships with your fellow humans than to strike out on your own and turn your back on everything. I think it's a phase we often go through when we're young, where we want to be defined by our ability to be detached, to look down on needing or liking anything. Most of us grow out of it.
I feel like the book contained a number of ideas I liked and some interesting story elements, but it didn't really coalesce into something completely successful. Some aspects of the plot strained credulity to the snapping point, and I'm not really sure all of those aspects were required to get the same points across. I hope Auster becomes less ham-fisted in his later works.
Recommended for: reformed misanthropes, people who *really* believe it's a small world, fans of coincidence
Quote: I'm talking about freedom, Fogg. A sense of despair that becomes so great, so crushing, so catastrophic, that you have no choice but to be liberated by it.
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LibraryThing member Lisa.Johnson.James
This is the 2nd book I've read by this author. The writing style is clean & crisp, the dialogue well done, & the story moves along at a good clip, keeping you turning pages. The story revolves around 3 men, M. S., an orphan, or so he believes, who lived with his Uncle Victor after his mother's
You really end up feeling for these guys.....and for what their lives COULD have been had things been different...
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untimely death when he was 10-11 years old, Thomas, an old, cantankerous, eccentric wealthy man who was paralyzed by a fall years before, & finally Solomon, a college professor who's physical proportions make him the tragic figure of the trio. This is a story about amazing coincidences, reinvention, & ultimately, second chances.You really end up feeling for these guys.....and for what their lives COULD have been had things been different...
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LibraryThing member JonArnold
I came to Auster through a whole lot of coincidences; a few friends independently recommended him to me in the space of a few weeks and finding this in a second hand bookshop felt like destiny. Coincidence plays a large part in the unravelling of this story; characters are bound together by an
It feels like an attempt to write the Great American Novel, covering a grand sweep and attempting to define the culture, people and changes over that time – the story runs from the late nineteenth century to the 1980s and from New York to California and plenty of points in between. Auster’s prose is sumptuous and lithe, often providing the odd memorable phrase but overall enchanting the reader. It’s much needed too as the lead character, named for no less than three explorers which Auster points out in a very postmodern style, reminds me of an amalgam of my worst characteristics, a selfish dreamer who ultimately pushes the rest of the world away from him in one way or the other. M S Fogg’s selfishness renders him entirely believable but makes him deeply unattractive as a lead. Added to that the novel’s tremendously downbeat, with most characters suffering fairly gruelling ordeals and any happiness is fleeting. Still, despite the characters being unlovable and the acts of attempting to fulfil your dreams and discover yourself being painted as futile, Auster’s words and his ability to wring sympathy from Fogg and company mean I look forward to making his acquaintance again.
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unlikely web of threads and in consequence this world feels a touch smaller than it otherwise might have.It feels like an attempt to write the Great American Novel, covering a grand sweep and attempting to define the culture, people and changes over that time – the story runs from the late nineteenth century to the 1980s and from New York to California and plenty of points in between. Auster’s prose is sumptuous and lithe, often providing the odd memorable phrase but overall enchanting the reader. It’s much needed too as the lead character, named for no less than three explorers which Auster points out in a very postmodern style, reminds me of an amalgam of my worst characteristics, a selfish dreamer who ultimately pushes the rest of the world away from him in one way or the other. M S Fogg’s selfishness renders him entirely believable but makes him deeply unattractive as a lead. Added to that the novel’s tremendously downbeat, with most characters suffering fairly gruelling ordeals and any happiness is fleeting. Still, despite the characters being unlovable and the acts of attempting to fulfil your dreams and discover yourself being painted as futile, Auster’s words and his ability to wring sympathy from Fogg and company mean I look forward to making his acquaintance again.
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LibraryThing member arubabookwoman
First sentence: "It was the summer that men first walked on the moon. I was very young then, but I did not believe there would ever be a future."
This opening utterly drew me in, as I, too, well remember the summer of 1969 (which I spent in Singapore) when men first walked on the moon.
Marco Stanley
MS is able to get a job as a companion to an elderly eccentric former artist, Thomas Effing. The focus of the novel then shifts to Effing, as he narrates the story of his life to MS (ostensibly so that MS can write his obituary), spanning the 20th century and moving from the Wild West to turn of the century San Francisco to Europe in the 1920's and back to New York City.
The overriding theme of the novel is that Effing has lost a son, as MS has lost (or never known) a father. Although the facts of the story Auster tells frequently seem incredible and there are several highly unlikely coincidences, Auster almost makes it work--almost, but not quite. I just couldn't wrap my head around some of the more unlikely coincidences in the stories of MS and Effing. One Amazon reviewer said there were "enough improbably coincidences to make Dickens blush." Despite this, I do have to say I enjoyed reading most of the story. And at least I've knocked off another book on the 1001 list.
2 1/2 stars
This opening utterly drew me in, as I, too, well remember the summer of 1969 (which I spent in Singapore) when men first walked on the moon.
Marco Stanley
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Fogg (MS) lost his mother in a tragic bus accident when he was 11 and never knew his father. His uncle, a traveling musician, raised him, and when he died left MS enough money to get through college. When the novel opens in 1969 as his graduation from college approaches, MS is mentally paralyzed and unable to do anything to move his life forward. After being evicted from his apartment, he sleeps in Central Park and eats food foraged from garbage cans until a couple of his friends rescue him, and nurse him back to a semblance of mental health.MS is able to get a job as a companion to an elderly eccentric former artist, Thomas Effing. The focus of the novel then shifts to Effing, as he narrates the story of his life to MS (ostensibly so that MS can write his obituary), spanning the 20th century and moving from the Wild West to turn of the century San Francisco to Europe in the 1920's and back to New York City.
The overriding theme of the novel is that Effing has lost a son, as MS has lost (or never known) a father. Although the facts of the story Auster tells frequently seem incredible and there are several highly unlikely coincidences, Auster almost makes it work--almost, but not quite. I just couldn't wrap my head around some of the more unlikely coincidences in the stories of MS and Effing. One Amazon reviewer said there were "enough improbably coincidences to make Dickens blush." Despite this, I do have to say I enjoyed reading most of the story. And at least I've knocked off another book on the 1001 list.
2 1/2 stars
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LibraryThing member eclecticheart
Unlike most of Auster's works, I'd only read this one once or twice. It's pretty typical Auster. It twists over on itself and has a story-in-a-story in the mix, which complicates things if you aren't paying close attention. I do recommend that you read In the Country of Last Things before checking
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out Moon Palace. (PS--I kind of wish I had kept a tally of all the moon references...not a bad thing). Show Less
LibraryThing member brakketh
Marco Stanley Fogg's search for identity through the various father (and father figures) relationships. Enjoyable slow burning novel with a sense of magic woven throughout.
LibraryThing member browner56
In Moon Palace, we follow the exploits of Marco Stanley Fogg over a rather significant two-year period in his life. The story begins in 1969—the year man first walked on the moon—when M.S. (as he prefers to be called) is graduating from college and trying to figure out what to do with his
I must admit that I am a long-time fan of Paul Auster, a writer who consistently has the ability to tell an intelligent and engrossing story in a unique and compelling way. That said, I did not find this novel to rank among the best of the author’s considerable catalog of work. To be sure, Moon Palace contains some of the interesting plot twists for which Auster is noted, but far too often the story seemed to lose its momentum and get bogged down in meandering tangents that did little to enhance the bigger purpose. (Fogg’s time living in Central Park and parts of the lengthy flashback to Effing’s journey in the Utah desert are but two examples.) Also, although the novel is replete with atmospheric references and allusions to the moon, these never pay off in a tangible way; in fact, the Moon Palace of the title is the name of a restaurant that figures only marginally in the story. Finally, the ending was tepid and disappointing, especially given the elaborate setup that preceded it. Unfortunately, then, this is not really a book that I can recommend without significant hesitation.
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future. Orphaned at a young age by the accidental death of his mother, M.S. struggles to survive until he meets Kitty Wu, his girlfriend and soulmate, and begins an unusual professional relationship with Thomas Effing, an elderly man with a mysterious past who needs Fogg’s help to accomplish a few things before he dies. In the process of developing Effing’s complicated backstory, we also meet Solomon Barber, a middling and middle-aged history professor, who, like M.S., never knew his father while growing up. Through a series of highly unlikely coincidences, the lives of these three men becoming deeply intertwined, which results in dramatic consequences for each of them. I must admit that I am a long-time fan of Paul Auster, a writer who consistently has the ability to tell an intelligent and engrossing story in a unique and compelling way. That said, I did not find this novel to rank among the best of the author’s considerable catalog of work. To be sure, Moon Palace contains some of the interesting plot twists for which Auster is noted, but far too often the story seemed to lose its momentum and get bogged down in meandering tangents that did little to enhance the bigger purpose. (Fogg’s time living in Central Park and parts of the lengthy flashback to Effing’s journey in the Utah desert are but two examples.) Also, although the novel is replete with atmospheric references and allusions to the moon, these never pay off in a tangible way; in fact, the Moon Palace of the title is the name of a restaurant that figures only marginally in the story. Finally, the ending was tepid and disappointing, especially given the elaborate setup that preceded it. Unfortunately, then, this is not really a book that I can recommend without significant hesitation.
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LibraryThing member valeriag
One of my favourite books. I love the main character with his unique upbringing. The story reads fast yet is philosophical. The old guy and the whole story about the cabe in the dessert was hilarious. And then there are even more turns to this story.
LibraryThing member EricaKline
Three stories, of three men who later turn out to be Grandfather, Father and Son. They are also linked by three types of infirmity: depression, obesity and paralysis; and through Art and the West.
LibraryThing member PilgrimJess
"It was the summer that men first walked on the moon. I was very young back then, but I did not believe there would ever be a future. I wanted to live dangerously, to push myself as far as I could go, and then see what happened to me when I got there. As it turned out, I nearly did not make it.
The overriding theme of this novel is redemption. Can someone who has sunk so low as that they have eat other peoples' discarded food ever make a life for themselves.
Marco Stanley Fogg is a child of the sixties, and has had a tough start in life, no known father and a mother who was killed by a bus when he was a young boy, brought up by an uncle who lived a hand to mouth existence as a musician. This novel covers the early years in Fogg's life, a life steeped in tragedy and loss. Beginning during 'the summer that men first walked on the moon', and moving backward and forward in time to span three generations propelled by coincidence and memory.
In fact Auster rather than trying to shy away from coincidences makes a feature of them, deliberately stretching the reader's credulity to the limit. The book centres around three characters, who through accidents of birth are blood relatives and yet no one knows about it until its far too late.
Fogg is a dreamer drifting through life, directionless with no ambitions and unable to properly manage his money. I really liked how Fogg uses his uncles boxes of books as furniture when he first moves to Manhattan and as he reads the books so his furniture slowly disappears, " each time I opened another box, I simultaneously destroyed another piece of furniture. My bed was dismantled, my chairs shrank and disappeared, my desk atrophied into empty space. My life had become a gathering zero, and it was a thing I could actually see: a palpable, burgeoning emptiness. Each time I ventured into my uncle’s past, it produced a physical result, an effect in the real world. The consequences were therefore always before my eyes, and there was no way to escape them.”
Moon Palace is such a great mix of sadness and humour. There were a lot of witty and sardonic sections, everything about this book is such a mix of contradictions and my mood swung along with it. Overall I found it a witty novel, filled with many unexpected coincidences that is also remarkably easy to read.
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"The overriding theme of this novel is redemption. Can someone who has sunk so low as that they have eat other peoples' discarded food ever make a life for themselves.
Marco Stanley Fogg is a child of the sixties, and has had a tough start in life, no known father and a mother who was killed by a bus when he was a young boy, brought up by an uncle who lived a hand to mouth existence as a musician. This novel covers the early years in Fogg's life, a life steeped in tragedy and loss. Beginning during 'the summer that men first walked on the moon', and moving backward and forward in time to span three generations propelled by coincidence and memory.
In fact Auster rather than trying to shy away from coincidences makes a feature of them, deliberately stretching the reader's credulity to the limit. The book centres around three characters, who through accidents of birth are blood relatives and yet no one knows about it until its far too late.
Fogg is a dreamer drifting through life, directionless with no ambitions and unable to properly manage his money. I really liked how Fogg uses his uncles boxes of books as furniture when he first moves to Manhattan and as he reads the books so his furniture slowly disappears, " each time I opened another box, I simultaneously destroyed another piece of furniture. My bed was dismantled, my chairs shrank and disappeared, my desk atrophied into empty space. My life had become a gathering zero, and it was a thing I could actually see: a palpable, burgeoning emptiness. Each time I ventured into my uncle’s past, it produced a physical result, an effect in the real world. The consequences were therefore always before my eyes, and there was no way to escape them.”
Moon Palace is such a great mix of sadness and humour. There were a lot of witty and sardonic sections, everything about this book is such a mix of contradictions and my mood swung along with it. Overall I found it a witty novel, filled with many unexpected coincidences that is also remarkably easy to read.
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Language
Original publication date
1989
Physical description
320 p.; 7.72 inches
ISBN
0140115854 / 9780140115857