{"id":6090,"date":"2019-03-30T21:26:51","date_gmt":"2019-03-30T20:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/?p=6090"},"modified":"2025-09-15T18:21:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T16:21:49","slug":"4-3-2-1-paul-auster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/2019\/03\/4-3-2-1-paul-oyster\/","title":{"rendered":"4 3 2 1 \u2022 Paul Auster"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

After a long time, I finally picked up a contemporary book again and read something from this millennium\u2014which doesn\u2019t happen all that often. Paul Auster\u2019s last novel, 4 3 2 1<\/em>, was driven quite energetically through the book-blogger village in 2017, shortly after its publication. That alone usually isn\u2019t enough to lure me out from behind the stove. But in this case I found the book\u2019s concept very inventive and intriguing. Whether the read was worth it\u2014or whether Auster once again drove me back into the arms of the splendid authors of past centuries\u2014you\u2019ll find out in this post.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

4 3 2 1<\/em> is about Archie Ferguson, and the novel begins with Archie\u2019s grandparents and parents and then goes on to describe his life\u2014specifically his youth. However, and this is the special, imaginative twist: not in a single version, but in four different renditions. Four different ways Archie\u2019s life could have unfolded; four different possibilities for how his path might develop\u2014or did develop. Archie grows up in Newark, New Jersey, close to New York, and the novel spans the 1950s and 1960s.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Archie\u2019s background\u2014his parents and his origins as the grandson of a Jewish immigrant from Russia\u2014is, of course, identical in all four versions. But then the four life paths branch off, and both his environment and Archie himself experience very different things; their lives are shaped by entirely different influences, strokes of fate, and changes. As readers, we always follow Archie from a narrator\u2019s perspective: how he thinks and feels; how, through his eyes, we get to know the people around him\u2014his parents, family, friends, and loves. These four versions of Archie\u2019s life are not presented one after the other in isolation, but interwoven, arranged in temporal parallel. You always read a set of four chapters, alternating between the four narrative strands, which thus unfold in parallel time\u2014but in different variants. With each chapter, the differences between the various Fergusons grow. It\u2019s an interesting arrangement that, conceptually, recalls Bach\u2019s fugues a little. Either you listen to the entire melody of the book and get a blurred composite image of all the individual Archies, or you try to isolate the four lives mentally and lose that abstract, overarching view of the protagonist. In truth, you can\u2019t really do that, so the fugue comparison may be a bit off\u2014you\u2019re always spoon-fed a blended version of all four Archies. That, in part, is the book\u2019s appeal. I liked this arrangement a lot.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I also really liked the setting\u2014the Newark, New Jersey, and New York of the fifties and sixties. I\u2019ve read very little about that period, so I found it exciting how Auster tells the very individual developments of the four variations while the political, social, and societal backdrop remains a constant, influencing Archie\u2019s different traits in different ways. The events of the time\u2014the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, the \u201968 movement, student protests, race riots, the assassination of Kennedy\u2014all the major political developments are, of course, constant, the same in every variant, and so the reader learns from different perspectives how these changes reverberated through society then. In one variation, Archie is intensely involved in the Newark uprisings; in another, in the protests at Columbia University.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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I also loved how Auster develops Archie\u2019s personality. His experiences\u2014what he lives through, his social environment\u2014shape his nature and character, and so he is a different person in each of the four versions. And yet, not entirely: his strengths and weaknesses are, in many respects, similar. Auster seems to balance what a person\u2019s genes provide with what life experiences and other people\u2019s influences bring. He does this quite well. Archie is always drawn to art, literature, and film, and in every variant he writes in some form. You can recognize the core of his personality in each of the stories, as different as he otherwise appears. Sports are always one of Archie\u2019s passions, too, and Auster weaves that into the novel nicely\u2014something secondary, yet something that drives, enriches, and interests Archie.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Overall, Auster focuses on Archie\u2019s childhood and youth; the novel does not cover his entire life. I didn\u2019t expect that at first. But youth\u2014the feelings, uncertainties, the difficulties of growing up and finding oneself\u2014is something Auster depicts very well. I found it convincing, and he communicates Archie\u2019s internal conflicts at many points with great clarity. His characters felt consistently plausible and realistic to me\u2014not only Archie, but also his parents and friends.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A key element of the novel lies in these four variations\u2014something that really made me think: how much life depends on coincidence, on the people around us, and on politics. How many different ways one\u2019s own life might have unfolded, and how these what-ifs belong to life just as much as what actually happened. There\u2019s a hint of fatalism in that, but not entirely, because in every variation it\u2019s also Archie\u2019s own decisions that steer his life in different directions. The question that arises\u2014the one everyone probably asks at some point\u2014is what the different versions of one\u2019s life might have looked like. And perhaps what didn\u2019t happen is more present than we consciously perceive. This always makes me think of the infinity Nietzsche postulated: that in an infinite universe, anything with a probability greater than zero (no matter how small) will occur at some point\u2014indeed, infinitely often. That would mean you live one possible version, but, assuming the universe is infinite, you will also experience all the other possible branches. From that perspective, Auster\u2019s four developments are vanishingly few.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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The book moved me again and again in places\u2014especially its sense of youth, that everything-is-possible feeling. But on the whole, 4 3 2 1<\/em> didn\u2019t excite me as much as other books that got under my skin. Archie still felt somehow too distant to me. On the one hand, the narrative mode\u2014while offering good insight into Archie\u2019s thoughts and feelings\u2014often struck me as somewhat cool and detached. I didn\u2019t truly root for the protagonist; no intense bond formed between me and Archie. On the other hand, I could identify with him only to a limited extent, and all four Archies had little in common with me, so my empathy was limited.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

These interwoven strands\u2014four variations that alternate in constant rotation\u2014also disrupt the reading flow each time. I repeatedly found myself asking which version I was in and what had just happened before. That effect is likely intended to create precisely this blending, but it isn\u2019t necessarily conducive to the reading experience. You do end up flipping back now and then to check what last happened in the given thread.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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In terms of language, you can tell the sentences have been polished, and there are some very effective constructions\u2014such as long, unending paragraphs when, for example, a character\u2019s breathless litany of self-doubt is described. Or enumerations when Auster wants to capture different facets of a situation. Elsewhere, he prefaces sections with italicized keywords to characterize particular points. These are lovely, distinctive devices, but I still often found the phrasing less poetic and sonorous than I\u2019d hoped\u2014more straightforward. In that respect I expected more. When I think, for instance, of Richard Powers\u2019s The Time of Our Singing<\/em>, I was repeatedly blown away by the rhythm and melody of the language. There are passages like that in Auster\u2019s book, too, but sadly far too few. I don\u2019t want to withhold one such splendid sentence from you (though it isn\u2019t complete\u2014it goes much further; this is only the beginning):<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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\u201cA white South African woman with the dark complexion of a North African, older, deeper roots in the deserts of the Middle East overlaid by Eastern European roots, the exotic Jewess of Germanic and Nordic literature, the gypsy girl from nineteenth-century operas and Technicolor films, Esmeralda, Bathsheba, and Desdemona in one, the black fire of her curled, unruly hair like a crown on her head, delicate-boned and narrow-hipped, slightly sloping shoulders and bent neck when she took notes in class, languid movements, never hectic or annoyed, calm, gentle and calm, not the Levantine seductress she seemed to be but a solid girl full of warmth, in many respects the most normal girl Ferguson had ever felt drawn to, [\u2026]\u201d<\/p>\r\np. 672<\/cite><\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Paul Auster was born in Newark in 1947, has published numerous books, and is a fixture of American literature. He has also written poetry and essays, worked as a translator, and lived in France for a time. Reading Auster\u2019s biography, it\u2019s clear that this novel is highly autobiographical and that he has a great deal in common with Archie. His passion for sports, films, books; his birthplace; the fact that the \u201950s and \u201960s were also the years of his childhood and youth; that he too was deeply impressed by Dostoevsky\u2019s Crime and Punishment<\/em>; that he studied at Columbia University; Auster describes himself as just as shy as his Archie\u2014and there are many more parallels. Considering that Auster published this book at nearly seventy, it\u2019s more than a simple story. While reading, the book often felt like a retrospective, a recapitulation, with a constant hint of melancholy. Even at the beginning of a bright phase in Archie\u2019s life\u2014when something goes well\u2014I always sensed transience, likely amplified by the narrative compression. Archie often seems far too reflective and wise for a teenage boy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

If you\u2019d like to learn more about the background, about Paul Auster and this novel, I can recommend an excellent ARTE documentary that I watched right after finishing the book (note: the documentary contains many spoilers, so watch it only after reading). It makes clear, again, how strongly Archie is bound up with his creator. And Auster talks about how he writes, sharing a few behind-the-scenes insights. I always find that fascinating. You can also sense that Auster is a rather melancholic person\u2014something I strongly felt in his book.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

After watching the documentary\u2014the interviews with him and with his wife\u2014I also understood why the book didn\u2019t fully grab me; why Archie, and thus Auster, didn\u2019t come as close to me as a work of this scope should. His whole mindset, his way of thinking, his way of seeing and describing the world is that of an artist. Of course every book is art, and of course I\u2019m drawn to many facets of it. But I\u2019m also a child of ratio\u2014wedded to a prosaic, pragmatic, unsentimental view of the world, at which a true artist would probably only shake his head. But so what\u2014good! With books, we encounter all kinds of people: those we fall in love with from the first line, and those whose worldview differs from our own\u2014and I enjoy that in every book.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The edition itself was named one of the most beautiful German books of 2017 by the Stiftung Buchkunst, and of course I got the hardcover. But I can\u2019t quite follow the decision. I expected a truly splendid, lavishly produced novel, but I find the design rather ordinary and not particularly outstanding. So you can safely opt for the paperback, since the features praised by the Stiftung Buchkunst jury are present in the paperback as well.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I also find it interesting that it took four translators to bring the book into German. I found the answer in the FAZ review<\/a>: the aim was apparently to publish the book in Germany at the same time as the original, and that wouldn\u2019t have been feasible if only his regular translator, Werner Schmitz, had worked on it. According to the FAZ article, the translators weren\u2019t each given a single Archie version, but worked according to their availability.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Conclusion:<\/strong> Auster\u2019s expansive novel about four variations of Archie Ferguson\u2019s life is a successful book that offers a very personal view of America in the fifties and sixties. Mapping out the different possibilities of one human life is an unusual and fascinating idea that Auster executes excellently. With its occasionally unconventional stylistic devices and the detailed attention to its many convincingly drawn characters, the novel entertained me consistently well. It didn\u2019t utterly captivate me, though. I simply didn\u2019t develop an intense bond with its protagonist, and I found too few sentences truly sonorous and poetic. Still, it\u2019s undoubtedly a major achievement, and the novel\u2019s autobiographical traits lend it great authenticity and depth. A novel well worth reading\u2014one that stirred quite a few thoughts and feelings in me.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Book Information:<\/strong> 4 3 2 1<\/em> \u2022 Paul Auster \u2022 Rowohlt Buchverlag \u2022 1264 pages \u2022 ISBN 9783498000974<\/p>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a long time, I finally picked up a contemporary book again and read something from this millennium\u2014which doesn\u2019t happen all that often. Paul Auster\u2019s last novel, 4 3 2 1, was driven quite energetically through the book-blogger village in 2017, shortly after its publication. That alone usually isn\u2019t enough to lure me out from … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “4 3 2 1 \u2022 Paul Auster”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"slim_seo":{"title":"4 3 2 1 \u2022 Paul Auster - lesestunden","description":"Nach langer Zeit habe ich wieder einmal zu einem aktuellen Buch gegriffen und mal wieder etwas aus diesem Jahrtausend gelesen, was insgesamt nicht sonderlich of"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,20],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-6090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fiction","category-reviews","tag-paul-auster"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/4321_beitrag_2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6090"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11137,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6090\/revisions\/11137"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}