“Today, as never before: the tramps, the down-and-outs, the shopping-bag ladies, the drifters and drunks. They range from the merely destitute to the wretchedly broken. Wherever you turn, they are there, in good neighborhoods and bad. Some beg with a semblance of pride. Give me this money, they seem to say, and soon I will be back there with the rest of you, rushing back and forth on my daily rounds. Others have given up hope of ever leaving their tramphood. They lie there sprawled out on the sidewalk with their hat, or cup, or box, not even bothering to look up at the passerby, too defeated even to thank the ones who drop a coin beside them. Still others try to work for the money they are given: the blind pencil sellers, the winos who wash the windshield of your car. Some tell stories, usually tragic accounts of their own lives, as if to give their benefactors something for their kindness—even if only words.” PovertyKindnessHomelessnessDestituteTrampsCity Of GlassDestitutionPaul AusterNew York TrilogyThe New York Trilogy Book:City of Glass Source: City of Glass
“For a man who finds life tolerable only by staying on the surface of himself, it is natural to be satisfied with offering no more than his surface to others.” SolitudePaul Auster Author:Paul Auster
“His mother's name was Rose, and when he was big enough to tie his shoes and stop wetting the bed, he was going to marry her.” MotherChildhoodPaul Auster4 3 2 1Child Perspective Book:4 3 2 1 Source: 4 3 2 1
“Nessuna delle due era mai stata con una donna, eppure eccoci qua, disse Sidney, una docente universitaria e una maestra di terza elementare, una donna di oltre quarant'anni e un'altra di venticinque e passa, un'ebrea di New York e una metodista di Sandusky, Ohio, travolte dal più grande amore della loro vita. L'assurdo, continuo Sydney, era che non aveva mai considerato le donne, era sempre andata matta per i maschi e anche adesso che conviveva con una donna da quasi tre anni non si considerava una lesbica, era semplicemente una persona innamorata di un'altra persona, e siccome l'altra persona era bella e fascinosa e unica al mondo, cosa cambiava se era innamorata di un uomo o di una donna?” LoveAmoreLove Is LovePaul Auster4321 Author:Paul Auster
“Yes. A language that will at last say what we have to say. For our words no longer correspond to the world. When things were whole, we felt confident that our words could express them. But little by little these things have broken apart, shattered, collapsed into chaos. And yet our words have remained the same. Hence, every time we try to speak of what we see, we speak falsely, distorting the very thing we are trying to represent. […] Consider a word that refers to a thing- “ umbrella”, for example. […] Not only is an umbrella a thing, it is a thing that performs a function. […] What happens when a thing no longer performs its function? […] the umbrella ceases to be an umbrella. It has changed into something else. The word, however, has remained the same. Therefore it can no longer express the thing.” UmbrellaPaul AusterNew York Trilogy Author:Paul Auster
“We are not native. We have no generations of Americans behind us. We have roots elsewhere. We are looking in from the outside. To me, that seems to be perfectly natural.” AmericansAmerican LiteraturePhilip RothPaul AusterRobert Mccrum Author:Don DeLillo
“Ogni volta che camminava sentiva di lasciarsi alle spalle se stesso, e nel consegnarsi al movimento delle strade, riducendosi a un occhio che vede, eludeva l’obbligo di pensare; e questo, più di qualsiasi altra cosa, gli donava una scheggia di pace, un salutare vuoto interiore. Il mondo era fuori di lui, gli stava intorno e davanti, e la velocità del suo continuo cambiamento gli rendeva impossibile soffermarsi troppo su qualunque cosa. Paul Auster, Trilogia di New York” Paul AusterCamminareCittà Di VetroTrilogia Di New York Book:City of Glass: Graphic Novel Source: City of Glass: Graphic Novel