The Washington Times
  • Subscribe
  • Times News Services
  • RSS
  • Mobile Headlines
  • e-edition
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • REGISTER
  • LOG IN
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • WELCOME
  • Your Profile
  • Log Out
  • Front Page Image
  • Classifieds
  • Autos
  • Real Estate
  • Jobs
  • Special Sections
  • Customer Service
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Sports
    • NFL
    • NBA/WNBA
    • MLB
    • NHL
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • Motorsports
    • Soccer
    • NCAA
    • Olympics
    • Outdoors
    • Other
  • Culture
    • Home & Living
    • Family & Kids
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Washington Visitors
    • Books
    • Military History
    • Life
    • Auto
    • TV Listings
    • Movie Listings
    • Death Notices
    • Entertainment
  • Themes
  • Communities
  • Marketplace
    • Autos
    • Jobs
    • Real Estate
    • Classifieds
    • Shopping
    • Dining Out
    • Education
    • TWT Store
  • Videos
    • Two Guys
    • Birnbaum on Washington
    • Liz Glover
    • Amanda Carpenter
    • Morning Briefing
    • Documentaries
    • Joe Giganti
    • Video Game Minute
  • Podcasts
    • About Headlines
    • Audio and Radio
    • America's Morning News
  • Sports

    Offense erupts in Caps' victory

  • National

    KUHNHENN: 10% jobless rate is Obama's troubling world

  • World

    Joint forces probe NATO air strike

  • National

    Fla. shooting suspect 'mentally ill'

  • Business

    Parents buying homes for kids at college

  • Politics

    Looking to 2010, GOP focuses on fiscal restraint

  • National

    Sunshine vitamin stirs new debate

Saturday, March 10, 2007

A misstep in meta-fiction

Rate this story

Average 0.00
after 0 votes
Login or register to rate this story

  • Font Size -+
  • Print
  • Email
  • Comment
  • Tweet this!
  • Share
  • Article
  • Comments ()
  • Click-2-Listen
  • Videos

More Stories

  • Iran frees journalists swept up in protests
  • Fla. shooting suspect 'mentally ill'
  • Afghan ministry: NATO strike kills Afghan forces
  • Obama praises those who ended Fort Hood violence

By

TRAVELS IN THE SCRIPTORIUM

By Paul Auster

Henry Holt and Company, $22, 260 pages

REVIEWED BY JOANNE MCNEIL

A microphone is embedded in the wall and a camera is implanted in the ceiling. Second-by-sec

ond, the camera secretly snaps photos of an old man sitting in a near-empty room. But "even if he knew he was being watched, it wouldn't make any difference. His mind is elsewhere, stranded among the figments in his head as he searches for an answer to the question that haunts him."

And so begins Paul Auster's 14th novel, "Travels in the Scriptorium," a postmodern puzzle paying tribute to Samuel Beckett, Flann O'Brien and Italo Calvino, without ever quite reminding the reader of Mr. Auster's own past literary achievements.

Aptly named "Mr. Blank," the man under surveillance is locked in an embodied conundrum -- the "scriptorium" is housed in the deep recesses behind Mr. Auster's eyes. Mr. Blank looks at a wall, with the word "wall" written on it, and reads the word aloud.

But like Searle's Chinese Room, "what cannot be known at this point is whether he is reading the word on the strip of tape or simply referring to the wall itself. It could be that he has forgotten how to read but still recognizes things for what they are and can call them by their names, or, conversely, that he has lost the ability to recognize things for what they are but still knows how to read."

123Next »

Post a comment

There are comments on this article, submit your opinion!

Commenting is disabled for this entry.
If you feel there is still something worth mentioning about this entry please contact the author or the site admin.

Ask a Question

You Report

Do you have another point of view, photos, audio, video or more information about a story?

Top Stories

Most Read

  1. EXCLUSIVE: Rare virus poses new threat to troops
  2. Sniper's ex-wife speaks out on abuse
  3. PRUDEN: Corpse sits up, gets nice salute
  4. Inside the Beltway
  5. Armored troop carriers called unsafe for duty
More Top Stories »
  1. 13 killed at Texas army base; psychiatrist accused
  2. Aborted fetus cells used in beauty creams
  3. Army: Suspect said 'Allahu Akbar!' before shooting
  4. Can the 10th Amendment save us?
  5. 60 Plus leader: Senior 'tsunami' coming

Most Shared

  1. EXCLUSIVE: Rare virus poses new threat to troops
  2. Aborted fetus cells used in beauty creams
  3. Making fun of faith
  4. EDITORIAL: Too scared to recognize terrorism
  5. Obama's new world order
More Top Stories »
  1. PRUDEN: Corpse sits up, gets nice salute
  2. Martial mythologies
  3. EDITORIAL: The grass roots keep growing
  4. 'Gentle' Army psychiatrist displayed worrisome signs
  5. Wife of envoy raises funds to help women, children

Most Commented

  1. 13 killed at Texas army base; psychiatrist accused
  2. Army: Suspect said 'Allahu Akbar!' before shooting
  3. Muslims stunned by Fort Hood shooting
  4. Furious scramble for health reform support
  5. 'Gentle' Army psychiatrist displayed worrisome signs
More Top Stories »
  1. 60 Plus leader: Senior 'tsunami' coming
  2. PRUDEN: Corpse sits up, gets nice salute
  3. EXCLUSIVE: Rare virus poses new threat to troops
  4. Panel OKs climate-change bill without GOP
  5. EDITORIAL: Greedy autoworkers

Listen to Washington Times Radio

  • America's Morning News

    with John McCaslin and Melanie Morgan

Blogs & Columns

  • POTUS Notes

    New Dem talking point on Obama approval doesn't wash

  • The Back Story

    12 arrested at Pelosi's office

  • Belief Blog

    Washington goes Greek this week

  • Out of Context

    Foods that might kill libido

  • Technology

    Facebook wins round against phishing spammer

  • On the Fly

    United lifts some 'award' blocking

  • Redskins 360

    He Said, She Said Week 9

  • Tara's Two Cents

    On their way to summer vacation..

  • SNOBlog

    Beyond 'Woody'

Videos

Advertising Links
TWT Store
  • e-edition
  • Print Edition
  • Weekly Washington Times
TWT Affiliates
  • Middle East Times
  • Golf
  • UPI
  • Arbor Ballroom
  • Washington Times Global
  • About TWT
  • Press Room
  • F.A.Q.
  • Work for TWT
  • Advertise
  • Sponsors
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Map

All site contents © Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC.