When I immigrated to USA, his books were my way of learning English in high school. I still (23 years later) consider Moon Palace one of my favorite books of all time. Paul has a way of making the real world feel somewhat magical, wistful, mysterious. The only similar feeling I got since then was when playing the game Disco Elysium.
I got to love baseball after seeing a Paul Auster interview at Shea Stadium on a German-French arts-focused TV channel. That was more than 20 years ago, and it’s interesting that while I’ve never been to the States I still care about the Mets (with all the good and the bad that comes with that, mostly the bad).
Moon Palace was one of my favourite books in English class too! I read it again as an adult a couple years ago and didnt enjoy ih too much unfortunately.
>In a recent interview, Auster described the American obsession with “closure” as being “the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard of.
I'm having a hard time with the logic that follows this statement. Losing a loved one is indeed tremendously painful, and while I agree that no sense of closure will ever make it "OK", it can significantly ease the pain somewhat.
My father died of cancer when I was 24. He fought almost to the end, and in the day or two between that moment and when he lost lucidity for the final time, we were able to make sure nothing was left unsaid and share our collective loss together.
While it took me years to come to grips with his death, having the ability to share everything and say goodbye provided tremendous comfort.
I contrast that with the experience of a very close cousin who lost her dad when he had a fatal heart attack and died suddenly. For my cousin, there was no closure, and that's something that still causes pain years later.
So yes, I agree that closure isn't a magic solution to eliminate allmpain, but I disagree that it lacks real value.
