The Music of Chance
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Book Overview
An "exceptional" (Los Angeles Times) novel of fate, loyalty, responsibility, and the real meaning of freedom with "all the suspense and pace of a bestselling thriller" (The New York Times), from renowned author Paul Auster "A rich, dazzling performance . . . a tour de force about freedom and imprisonment, motion and stasis, order and randomness . . . its story beautifully paced and shaped, its tone powerfully ominous."--The Wall Street Journal FINALIST FOR THE PEN/FAULKNER AWARD In a Pennsylvania meadow, a young fireman and an angry gambler are forced to build a wall of fifteenth-century stone. For Jim Nashe, it all started when he came into a small inheritance and left Boston in pursuit of "a life of freedom." Careening back and forth across the United States, waiting for the money to run out, Nashe meets Jack Pozzi, a young man with a temper and a plan. With Nashe's last funds, they enter a poker game against two rich eccentrics. But when their plans backfire, Jim and Jack are indentured by their elusive marks, who order them to erect a meaningless wall with bricks gathered from ruins of an Irish castle. Time passes, their debts mount, and anger builds as the two struggle to dig themselves out of their Kafkaesque serfdom. In Paul Auster's world of fiendish bargains and punitive whims, where chance is a shifting and powerful force, there is nonetheless redemption in Nashe's resolute quest for justice and his capacity for love.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0140154078
ISBN13:9780140154078
Release Date:December 1991
Publisher:Penguin Books
Length:224 Pages
Weight:0.48 lbs.
Dimensions:0.6" x 5.0" x 7.9"
Age Range:18 years and up
Grade Range:Postsecondary and higher
Customer Reviews
5 ratings
Paul Auster's best novel
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 16 years ago
Since there are many detailed reviews of this novel, I will keep mine brief. If you have not read any novels by Paul Auster and are wondering where to start, I would recommend this one, what I consider his best. If you have read other novels of his but not this one, this will not disappoint.
Fantastic
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
This is a great book - definitely my favorite by Auster. I was surprsed by all the negative reviews. This is not a simple book and it is not for the simple-minded. As with all Auster books - the reader is compelled to participate by thinking - there are no simple answers. You are left to speculate. Nashe, the "play by the rules - leave it to fate" hero trusts the system. His desire to play by the rules gets challenged by fate, the rich and powerful, brute force, and the cynical characters around him. It's a mystery without a simple answer - read it and think.
Brilliantly enthralling
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
An excellent read. At first, the book seemed simplistic and rushed, but once the plot began to unravel, I felt strangely befriended to Nashe in his fantasy world. Note the resemblances of Nashe and Pozzi's destiny to Stone's model city. The ending adds the last piece to the endless puzzle: maybe he just dreamt it all.
sometimes it's just the same: driving a car and being driven
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 26 years ago
Don't you think that all, that really happens has to do with movement? The moment you meet a wall, that stops you, the moment is very likely to be one of your last ones. I really loved the book, it's rush in the beginnung and it's slowing down in the last gear in the end. I loved that man, lacking of self-pity, just doing, just moving... until he had to stop, until he had to pay, until he had to build his wall.
Casualidad versus Causalidad
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 27 years ago
Uno de mis libros de cabecera. Esa mezcla tan particular entre la libertad y la prision, esa frontera invisible con la que jugamos dia a dia, hace del personaje una especie de antiheroe. Por momentos se lo ve feliz, a veces triste, derrumbado pero siempre perdido, siempre en esa busqueda infinita del amor que no volvera, que no llegara. Para tener muy en cuenta
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