Travels in the scriptorium

Travel in the scriptorium (ger .: Travels in the Scriptorium ) is a novel by Paul Auster in the year of 2006.

action

An old man is sitting in an empty room. He (and with him the reader) doesn't know where he is, nor how he got there. Nor does he know that he is being monitored. The man is henceforth referred to as Mr. Blank. It is not clear whether it is a prison, sanatorium or the man's accommodation. On his desk he finds a typescript by an author named John Trause (an anagram of Auster), which he begins to read: It is the report of a prisoner in the garrison town of Ultima who was apparently sentenced to death. This is where the section of the book in the book begins. In the middle, however, the narrative breaks off and Blank is asked to continue. A pile of photos he discovers look somehow familiar, but he can't quite remember. He receives visits from people he also knows who accuse him of previously sending them on a dangerous mission.

Mr. Blank turns out to be another alter ego of the writer Paul Auster, who this time does not refer to individual works or characters, but rather uses his entire staff. Among others, the following characters from his books appear: Marco Fogg (from Moon over Manhattan ), Anna Blume (from In the Land of Last Things ), Benjamin Sachs (from Leviathan ), David Zimmer (from The Book of Illusions ), Peter Stillman ( from City of Glass ), Walt Rawley (from Mr. Vertigo ), Fanshawe (from Behind Closed Doors ), John Trause (from Night of the Oracle ). Here, too, the book-within-a-book principle is applied again, with Auster revealing at the end that the typescript described is the book itself: Blank reads the entry lines of journeys in the scriptorium , the end leads to the beginning.

Relationships with other works

Auster's self-reference in journeys in the scriptorium and the labyrinthine structure of references and fictions require a minimum knowledge of Auster's books. A new reader will find it difficult to find their way around this austeresque world. The book was not a great commercial success in the United States. Literary echoes suggest Kafka , Beckett , Thoreau , O'Brien , Borges and the French Oulipo , but the suggestion remains. In addition to the characters appearing, the name of the protagonist, Mr. Blank, is reminiscent of an earlier book: Cast Shadow , in which the characters are all named after colors (a trick reminiscent of Samuel Beckett's Absurd Theater). In an interview, Auster indicated that all of his stories are part of a larger map. This narrative could be seen as an attempt to put the different pieces of the mosaic together. Just as an imaginary journey in the writing room. The author holds a family reunion with himself. Many of the characters are Paul Auster's alter egos . Others are based on people in their immediate environment, such as his wives and children. Mr. Blank can also be read as a self-portrait of the writer as an old man. The author is haunted by his creatures, but cannot really remember them or himself. Blank stands for the empty side, the change from creation to amnesia, possibly also for Auster's fear of loss of language.

In Georges Perec's book Life. Instructions for use , reviewed by Auster in 1987, are available to the eccentric millionaire Bartlebooth, who learned to paint with watercolors for ten years, then traveled the world painting for twenty years and then put the watercolors back together, transformed into puzzles. In order to finally have the sheets chemically treated in such a way that only the blank or bare paper remains. Auster's travels in one's own writing room can be read as an attempt to look beyond one's own fictions.

reception

“No real story is told here that is lined with fabric, has a beginning, a middle, an end and a meaning. Once again Auster has conjured up a literary finger exercise up his sleeve [...]. "

- the daily newspaper , July 28, 2007

"He [Paul Auster] succeeds in keeping the" Journeys in the Scriptorium "in balance between the pathetic self-portrait of an aging writer and an amusing game with set pieces from his own work."

- Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , August 22, 2007

"The ideal reader of this novel must be a fan of the author."

- Süddeutsche Zeitung , November 15, 2007

expenditure

• Travels in the Scriptorium Faber and Faber, London 2006, ISBN 0-571-23255-8
  • Translation: Travels in the Scriptorium . German by Werner Schmitz . Rowohlt, Reinbek 2007. ISBN 978-3-498-00074-5

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bartlebooth's fools in The Art of Hunger. German by Werner Schmitz. Rowohlt, Reinbek 2000. ISBN 3-499-22719-3 .
2. ↑ taz.de: "Who is Mr Blank?"  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ FAZ.NET: "Jelly for the Poet"