Rating: 
Summary: What A Wonderful Story, Beautifully Told
Review: In search of a good mystery I went to the Edgar Awards to find an author with whom I was unfamiliar. The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster was unavailable, so I picked up Moon Palace instead. I finished the book in one sitting. It seems to be more than a novel or stories strung together to tell a tale, but rather a grouping of real and beautiful pictures orchestrated with words. There is a sense of loss at its end, as if people you have known are now, once more beyond reach. It is one of those books that you wish you had only just begun, or that it was three times longer in length. I'll go back to the book and read it again and I will read the rest of Auster's work.
Rating:
Summary: I really loved this book!
Review: Moon Palace is an extraordinary book: I read the italian version of it, and I couldn't stop turning those pages. I couldn't find nothing interesting in my library, in the "modern fiction" field. Now that I've known this author, I'm going to read a lot of his work
Rating:
Summary: Intense Joyce-like descriptions producing stunning imagery.
Review: One is launched almost as if by some mechanical propulsion into Auster's world . . . a place ruled by nihilistic tendencies and incredible coincidence. . . from the very first page. Auster's style is whirl-wind non-stop stream of consciousness with an unyielding focus. It is a great read and feels like like poetry when read aloud. He writes with effortless pace of times recently passed blending reality with fiction until the reader -- like Fogg, the story's hero -- is lost in the wonderful world of a story well told. It's the kind of book that -- when you are done reading -- you place on your shelf with admiration and respect for the artistry it reflects
Rating:
Summary: A contemporary novel that reconcilies adventure and wisdom
Review: When I was a child I adored reading adventure- Verne and Salari
were my favorites- but when I grew up I discovered that
'adult' literature contained hardly any of it. When I read 'Moon Palace'I discovered an author who wasn't afraid of exploring, of mixing genres and who was modest enough to show his work as a personal trip, not as the holy truth-
as most of his contemporaries. I was immediately trapped in
the inner world of the novel- and it was a sensation I hadn't
experienced for so long- to the point of forgetting my surronding reality and I enjoyed deeply this world that was
consistent and ritualistic and whose hero was like a pirate
of our days. I am a complete fan of Auster's work and I
read most of his interviews. He once said that writing in
a cinic way was in fashion and that was killing the passion
in writing and reading. I then understood why I found "Moon
Palace" so satisfactory and suitable to be read many times
and also taken to a desert island: it is a story told by
someone who enjoyed the adventure of writing it and wasn't
ashamed of showing it, and contained much wisdom related to
the search of one's personality in a world that makes you
get more and more careful of the external aspect and more
and more shy of your true feelings.
Rating: 
Summary: Wild tale.
Review: Moon Palace is a wild tale told by a narrator who lost his parents at an early age, and suffered psychological damage as a result. I had little sympathy or interest in this character, nor did I feel the novel really explores any of the philosophical issues that the narrator is interested in. Never-the-less, once you get through the narrator's college days, the tale is wild and original enough to make the novel worthwhile. It has an old fashioned feel which I enjoyed. It also has one of those endings which makes the entire novel more meaningful. Incidentally, if you are interested in wild tales by narrators who have lost their parents at an early age and suffered psychological damage as a result, may I recommend When We Were Orphans by Kazko Ishiguro, which is a more accomplished work. P.S.: review by Undine gives away the ending.
| 
