Rating: 
Summary: A Collapse into Estrangement
Review: This novel is troubling. A man the reader gains great respect for hides from society and we are left to fill in the blanks. Why did he leave a wife of beauty and intellect? Why did he leave a friend remarkably loyal? To answer that question, Auster has us look at the world, that is to say, America. In a brilliant mixture of mystery and drama Auster tells a story of America not unlike a Vonnegut or Alex Ross critique.
Rating: 
Summary: Regrettably, an otherwise brilliant book spins far off track
Review: Throughout most of Paul Auster's "Leviathan", I felt I was in the firm grip of a skilled and refined writer. The prose is controlled and sharp; the narrator unwinds the story at the same time he questions his knowledge and, interestingly, undermines the validity of his own point of view. At its best--which is to say, during the majority of the novel--this is a fine, tightly controlled work about the mysteries of friendship.However, the book also attempts to address the more dramatic question that purportedly drives the narrative--how did Benjamin Sachs ultimately come to blow himself up on the side of the road? It is here, unfortunately, that the story unravels. Auster never creates a convincing picture of the events that lead Sachs to his fate. We are expected to believe that a life can be completely turned upside down by certain unexpected events, and undoubtedly that may be true. But the journey of Sachs from writer, friend and husband to itinerant bomber simply does not hold together. The character change is far too great, and the explanation for it entirely too implausible. In fact, what Sachs becomes is something of a laughable and even insufferable creation, one that Auster apparently intended for us to take seriously but that seems trivial in light of recent events. Perhaps Auster cannot be faulted for the fact that truth is often more intriguing than fiction, and that Sachs the bomb thrower ends up being far less gripping than real-life figures who represent evil at its most pure. But it is Auster alone who not only makes Sachs the bomb thrower so less interesting than Sachs the author, but also takes an otherwise tight story with finely drawn characters--a story that holds so much promise--and shakes it around until nothing makes sense and the original beauty is distorted beyond repair. I'm happy to have read this book and will treasure certain passages, but it now sits on my shelf as a disappointing reminder of what might have been.
Rating:
Summary: Regrettably, an otherwise brilliant book spins far off track
Review: Throughout most of Paul Auster's "Leviathan", I felt I was in the firm grip of a skilled and refined writer. The prose is controlled and sharp; the narrator unwinds the story at the same time he questions his knowledge and, interestingly, undermines the validity of his own point of view. At its best--which is to say, during the majority of the novel--this is a fine, tightly controlled work about the mysteries of friendship. However, the book also attempts to address the more dramatic question that purportedly drives the narrative--how did Benjamin Sachs ultimately come to blow himself up on the side of the road? It is here, unfortunately, that the story unravels. Auster never creates a convincing picture of the events that lead Sachs to his fate. We are expected to believe that a life can be completely turned upside down by certain unexpected events, and undoubtedly that may be true. But the journey of Sachs from writer, friend and husband to itinerant bomber simply does not hold together. The character change is far too great, and the explanation for it entirely too implausible. In fact, what Sachs becomes is something of a laughable and even insufferable creation, one that Auster apparently intended for us to take seriously but that seems trivial in light of recent events. Perhaps Auster cannot be faulted for the fact that truth is often more intriguing than fiction, and that Sachs the bomb thrower ends up being far less gripping than real-life figures who represent evil at its most pure. But it is Auster alone who not only makes Sachs the bomb thrower so less interesting than Sachs the author, but also takes an otherwise tight story with finely drawn characters--a story that holds so much promise--and shakes it around until nothing makes sense and the original beauty is distorted beyond repair. I'm happy to have read this book and will treasure certain passages, but it now sits on my shelf as a disappointing reminder of what might have been.
Rating:
Summary: Auster's little epic
Review: Unputdownable. This book should have been an epic. It rips the American flag in two and replaces it with one of Roy Lichtenstiens. Theres enough meat in here to feed an army but if the philosophy weighs you down theres a rivetting story to hold your interest. Auster is a true master of narrative and knows exactly how to take from a to b. As in the other books I've read by him he uses the anti climax whenever he feels like it , letting the story fall apart more than once only to pick it up and get it on the road again.
Rating: 
Summary: Much Ado About Nothing
Review: What is the point of this novel? When I got to the end, I halfway expected something really extraordinary to happen--we find that the narrator really IS Sachs or something like this. Instead, the book simply stops. I agree with the readers who say they found Sachs' transformation implausible. But I'm also wondering why Auster thought it important to lead his readers through all of this mess. What sort of vision is he trying to present here? Also the book is badly written. Auster doesn't depict scenes so much as he describes--in utilitarian fashion--scenes from a novel. Throughout, I felt as if I was reading the description of novel rather than a real, living breathing book. The budding romance between Sachs and Lilian that leads to the inevitable bedding was especially predictable and boring to read. In addition to the portrait of Sachs, I found the other characterizations flat. No one seemed real to me. My favorite parts of the book were the descriptions of Marie, and her quirky hobbies. But this seemed to be from a different novel, and didn't really even need to be in the book in the first place. What is the big deal about Paul Auster? I'm not getting it.
Rating:
Summary: Leviathan consumes author
Review: While I respect the author for some truly inventive writing in most of this novel, Auster goes over the edge. It's as if the eponymous leviathan leapt from the sea and ate the author whole. I genuinely admire the clean, clear simplicity of the writing style of Auster. His writing can be compelling and a joy to read. However, in a post-911 world the story line just leaps off the edge into the briney deep. Since the novel was written years before 911, in some ways perhaps Auster was prophetic. However, the story points to an persistent inclination towards nihilistic violence that creates a vacuum of meaning in its wake. What does the author want us to make of the last chapter? (Fill-in the blank) is a great leviathan that feasts on its writers and artists? Okay, I'm game. New York? USA? Existence? Somehow, it seems Mr. Auster makes a good living as a writer. He lost me when he delivered the trite Hollywood formula ending that discredited the literary integrity of this work. Meet the real leviathan of American literary culture. Americans love plots that go out with a big bang. So what else is new? It may be popular and sell like hell but it ain't great literature. Sorry, despite great promise in the writing style of Auster, he asks us to swallow hook, line and sinker a premise that is unpalatable to readers hoping for more than this from a novelist with his obvious talent.
Rating:
Summary: you will not be able to stop devouring pure literature
Review: You cannot stop reading the book, but you are at the same time conscious that this is not the typical-cheap-bestseller, this is what will be taught next century in school. This is the writing that will stand for the end of the century in the future. It all seems real. The characters are so rich you can't help taking them with you all day. You manage to feel so "in the story" that you wish things weren't going the way the words say. Maria, Fanny, Peter and Ben have existed!!
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