Great book, very interesting and touching.

The Complexities of the Human Experience...

Sy Baumgartner, 71, is a philosophy professor and noted author on the cusp of retirement. He continues to struggle with the tragic loss of his wife, Anna, ten years ago. Navigating life without her has been difficult, his grief overwhelming, as his thoughts constantly spin with memories of her...

"Baumgartner" is a slow-paced and reflective novel with themes of loss and grief, aging and impending mortality, and explores how ordinary moments and extraordinary events shape our lives.

As someone of the same age as our protagonist, Sy Baumgartner, I found this story to be both relevant and relative, thought-provoking and thoughtful, depressing and hopeful. I, too, contemplate and worry about living life without my soulmate and husband of 50+ years. As we age, we see and feel how our bodies change and become more cognizant of our mortality. These age-focused meditations feel like a normal part of the shared human experience. That would be my hope!

"Baumgartner" is the first book by Paul Auster I have read. I found his writing style complex and reflective, and his storytelling poignant and quietly powerful. This was an immersion read; the audiobook, narrated by the author, felt like a gift!

4⭐

Well-written, concise, simultaneously sad and joyous, we see the world and its excitement, annoyances and worries through the eyes of the title character, an intellectual widower struggling to assimilate into a world where his wife's death signaled the end of one historic portion of his life but leaves him bereft before he determines to begin anew. Auster's language is precise, indeed at times poetic, but never difficult to understand. Anthony Hopkins is a perfect Baumgartner, were there to be a film version.

Haven't I read this before? By Roth, by Bellow, by Malamud? Here are the mental meanderings of Sy Baumgartner, a 70 year old Princeton professor of philosophy about his Newark childhood, his Columbia University college days, his loving marriage to Anna, his widowerhood and his decline into old age. Yes, the writing is lovely, but it has been done before. I lost interest in Baumgartner halfway through this slim novel.

Paul Auster has obviously drawn from his own life to encapsulate a character who is, from all angles, human, imperfect, thoughtful, brilliant and kind. After I read the book I went back and outlined the various connections he had with other characters, minor and major, including his late wife and a utility worker who comes to his aid after a fall in his home This resulted in increasing my appreciation of the skill of the story teller and the way he weaves these relationships into stories within a story. All of these characters are interesting and give color and substance to this interesting and satisfying novel. As I am in the aging demographic it had particular resonance. Highly recommend.

As a long time Auster reader, I wanted to love this book. I do like it and find it well written, as usual. I had a harder time getting to know Sy and still didn’t feel that I did by the end. Auster is one the best I’ve read in character development. With Sy, I didn’t feel that connection that I’ve with so many of Auster’s characters. It was a good, easy read with a lot of Auster’s life philosophy undoubtedly intertwined. I wanted it to be more because I’m 56 and know 71 isn’t so far away. Maybe he’ll write Sy’s last chapter soon. All things considered this is a good read. Not his best but anything he writes is excellent and incomparable to most authors of the day.

A touching story of an old man, frail, trying to cope with age. Novel ends abrupt as if the author was unable to continue due to his cancer treatment. He talked about it in various interviews in 2023.

En el mundo de Auster, Los barrios de Nueva York y sus casas; los años 60s y la actualidad; la poesía y la narrativa que Auster nos deja regalo-legado de magnitud gigantesca

So far so godo

Underbart språk

“Baumgartner” è un romanzo intimo e toccante che affronta con grande sensibilità i temi dell’amore, della memoria e della perdita. Paul Auster riesce a costruire una narrazione raccolta ma emotivamente potentissima, capace di entrare in profondità senza mai risultare pesante.

La scrittura è elegante, misurata, quasi contemplativa. Il protagonista è tratteggiato con grande umanità: le sue riflessioni, i ricordi e il modo in cui affronta l’assenza diventano lo spazio in cui il lettore può riconoscersi. Non è un romanzo d’azione, ma un viaggio interiore che richiede attenzione e restituisce emozioni autentiche.

Particolarmente riuscita è la capacità dell’autore di parlare del dolore e dell’amore maturo con sobrietà, evitando sentimentalismi e mantenendo una profondità filosofica sottile ma costante.

Un libro breve ma intenso, che lascia una traccia duratura. Assolutamente consigliato a chi ama la narrativa introspettiva e la scrittura di qualità. Cinque stelle meritate.

Paul Austers umfangreiches Werk umfasst Romane, Essays, autobiographische Skizzen, Übersetzungen und Gedichte. Seine Bücher wurden in mehr als 30 Sprachen übersetzt und vielfach ausgezeichnet. Immer wieder wurde er als Kandidat für den Nobelpreis gehandelt.

Sein jüngster Roman «Baumgartner» ist ein melancholisch-nachdenklicher Text über das Altern, das Sterben und den Umgang mit dem Verlust eines geliebten Menschen. Besonders eine Passage bringt es auf den Punkt: "I miss her, that's all. She was the one person in the world I've ever loved, and now I have to find a way to go on living without her."

Viel Autobiografisches steckt in dem schmalen Buch: die Herkunft seiner Familie aus dem galizischen Stanislau, dem heutigen Iwano-Frankiwsk, seine Zeit in Paris und vieles mehr ... - Viel Trauriges, manches Heitere, ja Komische.

Ein ebenso berührender wie unterhaltsamer Roman.

Published only a short time after Paul Auster's death, in April 2024, this is as close as it gets to what we might call a perfect book. Old age, the work of love and memory, a reinvented life, and the wise, but not dispirited long view on all that was, and all that is. A short novel that resonates with meaning, and a virtuosic display of style by a contemporary American master.

Haven’t read the book yet, but have been a long time fan of Paul Auster! The book is in great condition, fast delivery- excited to get into his final novel!